Whenever YouTubers present at conventions, they often share advice on making your channel successful based on their own experiences. At EduCon UK, Scottish creator Mike Boyd shared his tips for creating a winning YouTube format.
At #EduCon UK, Scottish creator @mikeboydvideo gave his tips for creating a winning YouTube format:
✏️ Put in place a well-defined set of rules
👌 Build a recurring structure that’s easy for your audience to digest
📆 Ensure it’s open-ended so you don’t limit channel lifespan— YouTube Creators (@ytcreators) February 20, 2020
Taking advice from other creators requires more than just reading it in a tweet. Below is a more in-depth analysis of Mike’s advice and how you can apply it to your own content creation.
Established your own set of rules.
In fiction, every genre has its own set of rules. Romance novels have to have a happy ending. Thrillers require action and suspense. Fantasy needs some sort of magical element. While the lines may be blurred between genres, authors tend to meet the same sort of parameters while determining their own rules for what sets their stories apart.
Think of your content as its own genre. It should fit within a wider niche, but it should also be made unique in its specificity. The rules you establish for your own channel will determine what sets your content apart from other channels in your niche.
For example, Glam & Gore is a beauty channel. However, it is unique in that the creator is an SFX makeup artist. So, her videos combine the popular glam beauty tutorial format with special effects makeup.
Build a recurring and easily digestible structure.
Your video format forms the skeleton of your content. It’s the platform you build the rest of your video upon. So, if your foundation is strong enough, it can be the same each time. Think of how you would pitch your channel in a single sentence. If you can’t summarize the main idea of your videos quickly, then your format isn’t strong enough.
In order to create a recurring structure, think of your videos as episodic. Instead of individual videos, you are creating the channel as a whole. Each video is another piece of the puzzle, the next chapter in a book. Keep the skeleton the same while changing the way the rest of it looks.
For example, the Try Guys have a simple and fun idea behind their channel—they’re four friends who will try anything together. Every video is formatted as”The Try Guys Try Something.” Because there are endless things to try in the world, they can follow the same structure every time.
Keep it open-ended.
Finally, your YouTube format should be without a predetermined limit or boundary. It should continue to seek answers rather than pursuing one ultimate question. You want it to be open-ended rather than “case closed.”
Series are a good way to keep your channel concept open-ended. That way, you can pursue individual answers, such as how to beat a new video game or what the perfect red lipstick is. Then, rather than your channel expiring when you find the answer you’re looking for, you’ll be able to move on to something new.
Mike Boyd seeks a new answer in every video. In fact, the tagline of his channel is, “Learning new things every week!”. Even after he completes the mission of a single video, his channel format is left open-ended because there’s always something new to learn next.
In order to create a winning YouTube format, follow Mike Boyd’s advice. Establish your own set of rules, build a recurring structure, and keep it open-ended.
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Kristen Harris enjoys listening to a wide range of music, from Taylor Swift to, on occasion, Celtic instrumental. She also spends her time writing, reading, and baking.
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