My client had 600,000 subscribers and quit. The result? 100x avg. their views.
Here’s how and why 👇
But first, context:
→ Channel: SnapBack Sports
→ Old Average Views: ~500 / video
→ New Average Views: ~57,000 / video
Disclaimer: this is NOT for everyone.
Please don’t say “TreNt sAId i sHouLD sTarT ovEr”
This is a choice that has to be made with context - not based on some random dude’s post on the internet. No matter how great his beard is ;)
With that out of the way, a few key lessons:
1) Know Your Audience
The majority of initial growth on the old channel was from generic short-form content that did not align with our target audience for long-form.
The pre-existing long form content had the theme of sports, but there was no driving force or continuity (aka strategy) behind it.
If you don’t know who you want to serve, you’ll end up serving nobody.
Our first step was to define who we wanted to be and who we wanted to watch our content.
The audience:
→ Sports fans
→ Generally male
→ Late teens and up
Note: We did not focus on one sport. That's never been the goal. The end goal is a broadly appealing sports channel where the audience is more bought into the personalities than any particular sports. Start with your goal in mind and build toward that.
Said differently: we wanted sports fans, not just basketball/football, etc. fans.
2) Improve Safely
Starting fresh was a discussion from day 1 of our time.
However, I suggested we improve everything to see where that got us.
The existing long form content needed a ton of work to even be viable for viewership via YouTube's recommendation system.
We needed the works:
→ formats
→ packaging
→ retention strategies
→ pre production overhaul
If we would have jumped straight into a fresh channel, we would have ended up in the exact same spot.
If you’re thinking about starting over: please take time to improve in a safe area.
Make your craft 10x better before a fresh launch.
Launching with mediocre content won’t help you or your viewers.
3) Start with Intentionality
Continuing that thought:
When starting fresh, start correctly. Give yourself the best chance to succeed from the outset.
→ Remix proven formats
→ Double down on packaging
→ Triple down on ideation
This is your chance to make a big first impression.
If you've made it to the point of a fresh launch, you should know:
→ your audience
→ what they watch
→ why they watch it
→ why they should watch you
YouTube is a game of momentum.
Shoot out of the gate and don't. Look. Back.
4) Do the Thing
I provided strategy, but credit for the execution goes to Jack, Casey, and the whole SnapBack team.
At the end of the day, you have to publish to grow.
Thinking about strategies and ways to be "perfect" will always be surpassed by people who take action first.
We'll end on some kind words from Jack
drop me an email if you want to grow your channel :)
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Find this helpful? Reply to let me know!
Happy trails,
Trent
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