- Hey, Insiders, it's Rachel here.
And today, I wanna talk about how to decide
what video to make next.
So in particular,
that's how to use data and gather information
to find inspiration and opportunities
for all your new content ideas.
So I wanna touch on three things, market research,
so that's how to go about finding viewer needs
and opportunities, then tools and data,
so the actual sources that you can use
to find information about people, viewers,
and their interests, and then making decisions,
so how you apply and interpret all the information
that you've gathered to make decisions about your channel
and your content.
So let's get to it.
So the first thing you wanna look into is demand.
Is there already a desire for this type of content?
This can help you better set expectations
about how your content is gonna perform,
because it really is gonna impact,
what is the size of your potential audience?
You might wanna look at the type
of content you're creating and think about,
is this an established interest,
like something that there's already lots
of YouTube videos about and people are already watching,
or am I creating an original series
where I have to generate interest in something entirely new?
Which may take a little bit more time.
And to understand demand,
there's a few different tools you can use.
Of course, there's Google Trends,
which I mention in every video,
cause it's a really powerful public tool
to compare interest in different topics and size them.
You can ask viewers directly what they might want more of,
like posting in your community tab and saying,
"If I were to make this new video,
is that something that you'd be interested in or watch?"
And we are trying to build more of these tools directly
into YouTube Analytics,
like that experimental search feature
that might look like this,
to help you size interest in a given topic.
And so what you're really trying to understand is
how many people may be interested in this?
Like what is my potential audience size?
I always, one of the best ways that I like to do this
is of course searching for similar videos on YouTube
and checking out their view counts.
Putting this into an example,
let's say I want to start a channel about trains,
which is something that I am personally a big fan of.
So first I would just watch a lot of videos about trains
and try and understand what the potential audience size is
for different types of content.
So something that's really broadly appealing,
maybe there's a lot of train videos
about famous train journeys
and those get really high viewership,
versus something that's more niche interest,
which is like model train enthusiasts,
or maybe people even interested in trainspotting.
So once I understand the potential audience size,
I can better understand the opportunity.
So understanding demand,
which is something that really impacts their impressions
and your potential audience size, is absolutely step one.
Next, you want to build an idea of an audience profile
in your mind.
So who are your potential viewers and what do they enjoy?
And here, you're really trying to understand,
how do you tailor your content for specific people
and what they love?
And the audience tab in Analytics
is the best place to start.
So you can start with other videos
and channels your audience is watching,
look at demographic age, country, device type.
And you're just trying to figure out,
how do your viewers watch YouTube?
Why they're watching these videos.
Again, this will help you really make sure
that you're catering to what they love.
And so going back to the train example,
I would be trying to figure out different audience profiles
and figure out like, what type of viewer am I going after?
Are these people who watch train videos for like ambience,
like they have it on for relaxation?
Are these people who like actually like traveling
and riding in trains?
And then in that case, I need to give them travel advice.
Or are these people who are like real enthusiasts?
They like trainspotting
and they're like experts in this subject,
or are these more like hobbyists,
like people looking to make and collect model trains?
And so I might build out different profiles
and figure out what is the type of person
that I'm going after, what are their interests,
and how do I optimize and tailor my content
for a person like this?
And so start on the audience tab of Analytics
and think about like, really,
who am I making this video for?
The next thing you wanna understand is competition,
and that's really looking at what other videos are out there
and what are the gaps or opportunities?
And this is where you wanna watch a lot of YouTube.
You wanna consume things that are related
to what you wanna create,
or things that you think your viewers
are interested in already.
And what you wanna ask yourself
while you're doing this exercise
is can I make something better
or different than what already exists to stand out?
So going back to the train example,
you know, making something better than what already exists.
Let's say I've identified,
there's lots of videos about the Trans-Siberian route.
There's lots of interest because this is like
a historical route everybody wants to go on,
but there's no videos of people reviewing the experience
in different classes.
Like what if I travel on third, second, or first class?
So I think I could make a better video
than all of the others to stand out.
Making something different is finding a gap in the market.
So let's say that there's lots of interest
in a Trans-Siberian,
but there's not a lot of videos about
the best routes to take in the Highlands.
So I'm gonna focus on reviewing
the best train journeys in Scotland.
So again, you're looking for,
how do I make my piece of content stand out on the internet
when there's more things than ever for people to watch
by making something better or different
than what exists today?
My last idea is not coming from Rachel,
a product manager, but just Rachel the person,
and that's that I really believe that everyone is creative
and that it's a muscle that you can train
versus an innate talent that you're born with.
And I watched an interesting documentary recently
on creativity and it posed the question that it was like,
"What is creativity?"
but combining existing information or ideas
in new, interesting ways.
And one of the ways that you could practice that
is exposing yourself to lots of different things.
So maybe that's, again, videos,
watching lots of different things, new creators, art, books,
music, paintings, different foods.
They can all help with inspiration
and you're looking to really, yeah,
seeing and doing new things that are novel to you
can always help spark new ideas.
And I wish you the best.
And I was hoping that in the comments section,
that you may have your own creative process
that you could share with other creators.
So share below like what you do to find content inspiration,
your best tips and advice.
I'd love to hear it from the community directly,
'cause you're the creative ones.
I hope that was helpful. As always, keep it real.