- You know, in the past, I feel like I've done
a pretty good job at teaching you guys how to make videos
like how-tos and reviews that are valuable
and rank well in search, which is great.
And, since we've covered so many strategies to get ranked
with this type of content,
I decided it was time to go to the next level.
Now, I want to help you get
your next gaming video to actually go viral.
(soft music)
- This is definitely not a video about YouTube Shorts.
However, I will say thanks to our obsession
over short form content, thanks to YouTube Shorts.
Well, that was the inspiration behind this video.
Because I've witnessed countless gaming channels
have success with YouTube Shorts, with varying degrees.
So channels that were getting dozens of views before
have started to see hundreds and thousands of views.
Channels that were getting thousands of views
have jumped up into the hundreds of thousands
or even in some cases, millions of views.
There are a few problems with YouTube Shorts though.
One of them being that, short form content just isn't
for everybody, depending on the type of storyteller you are
you may just need long form content to
make the content that you want to make for your channel.
And, of course let's not discount just the overall interest
in YouTube Shorts, making this new sub platform
on YouTube already extremely competitive.
So, if you're the type of creator
that would like to increase your odds
of any of your gaming videos,
short or not, to go viral.
Then today we're going to layout the strategies
for you to do just that.
Before we dive into that though
let me just clear up real quick.
What I mean by the word "viral".
Just so there's no confusion.
Normally when we think "viral video",
we think of like the YouTube trending tab, for example
and obviously any of us as YouTube creators
would love to find ourselves on the trending tab.
However, I want you to set your sights realistically
depending on where you are right now
as a creator on YouTube.
As such, after watching this video
here's what I'd like to see from you as a creator.
Now, if you were getting tens of views on any given video
I want to see that go up to several hundreds of views.
If you were already getting hundreds of views
I want to see you pushing into the thousands.
And, if you were the type of creator
that was getting maybe one or 2000 views
on any regular video, I want to start pushing you
towards the 10,000, 20,000 mark on your regular videos,
and I think from there, you kind of get the point.
The first thing it's going to take
for your next video to blow up is testing.
You got to try something new
and while you're allowing yourself to do that
you also need to give yourself permission to fail.
Now, what does that mean?
Well, rather than thinking, all right, Dan, fine!
I'm going to try one of these test videos
but if it doesn't work, I'm done.
Instead, I need you to be scheduling these tests
on a regular basis.
Now, that could be once a week, once a month,
whatever works for you.
Your YouTube channel isn't made of glass.
You're allowed to test new things
and have them not yield the results you were hoping for.
That's because YouTube judges each video
on your channel individually.
Allowing you to try things, fail, have them go bad,
not get a lot of views.
And, that doesn't create this ripple effect
that somehow impacts negatively the rest
of your videos going forward for a period of time.
And, I really do think this is one reason.
People are afraid to try new things
on their channel, but seriously, try new things.
It's okay.
It's highly encouraged on YouTube.
Now, that doesn't mean you shouldn't have a channel focus.
If you're playing Minecraft regularly
but the new thing you want to try
happens to be Call of Duty.
You're going to start pushing away your regular viewers,
your returning viewers
and that's going to impact your growth.
But, if you create a content strategy
that is designed to try new things occasionally
and those new things are relatively based
in what you would normally talk about on your channel.
Then your regular viewers will simply be along for the ride,
willing to watch,
and then offering their feedback along the way.
This next tip I have for you
for having this next video go viral is going to
be kind of tough for some creators
but these videos need to have some level of intrigue.
The reason why this is so tough
for so many gaming creators is
that a lot of new creators gravitate towards
the "let's play".
Which is when someone sits down and just provides commentary
as they play a game.
These videos are casual and fun.
And, in some cases, depending on how you record them,
easy to make.
But, let me ask you this,
who's the last creator you watched
that had a viral let's play video?
Now, before you comment
my guess is that you're about to read
a name like, Dream, Tommyinnit or Jelly.
Yes! I know, I just listed a bunch of Minecraft creators.
If you didn't know, by now that Minecraft was my go-to.
I don't know what to tell you.
Anyway, if you're a gaming creator who created your channel
because you were inspired by somebody of that caliber
then you need to ask yourself
what is it about their videos that makes them so popular?
Let's explore Jelly's channel for just a moment.
You could look at any of Jelly's videos
and probably classify them as "let's plays"
because after all it is just him playing games
with his friends.
When you simply look on the surface.
However, when you dig a little bit deeper,
you'll notice that all
of these videos create a lot of intrigue.
Focusing on some of these Minecraft ones for just a second,
"Speedboats in Minecraft, Speedrunner versus Hunters".
"Minecraft but Creepers beat the game".
"I opened a casino in Minecraft".
"10 new Minecraft tools to get rich".
"I entered a Minecraft talent show".
All of these make you ask yourself,
and then what happened?
Which is going to force you to click on the video.
And, the thumbnails are just fantastic.
They're all basically a duplicate of the title of the video
without actually using text from the title in the video.
Meaning, they paint a really clear picture.
Each one is 15 minutes or less,
which means not a big time commitment from the viewer.
He's also doing something with the game
that a regular Minecraft player would understand
but on a normal day of playing Minecraft would never
think to actually do for themselves.
Leaving you to go, "Oh man, why didn't I think of that?
That sounds like a lot of fun".
Jelly's simply reinvented the way he plays
and records Minecraft for his audience
or any of the games he plays
in his channel for that matter.
In doing so, not only does he inspire
you and me to make our own Minecraft channels
but he inspires millions of people all over the internet
who are fans of these games, to continue playing them.
That's because sometimes games can get a little boring.
However, thanks to channels like Jelly's,
on the surface it may seem like they're goofing around
but really they're providing the viewers
and the fans of these games a ton of value
because now they can play the games a little more
and bring these fun antics
to their own friends in their own communities.
Now, once you have your idea
and you start collecting footage for what will become
hopefully your next very viral hit video.
I want you to keep something at the top of mind
and that my friends is your editing.
Specifically, you need a strong hook
at the beginning of this video.
If you were to go and watch any
of the examples we just looked at, you'll find
that the presenter in these videos does a fantastic job
of jumping straight into the action.
And, they only say what needs to be said to bring the viewer
up to speed on what's going to happen in the video.
This is usually done through very engaging
and snappy edits that hold your attention
that make it really hard to click away.
Then once you have that strong hook
it's even more important to keep that same level
of energy throughout the entire video.
Let me just put it this way,
this video that you're watching right now
took kind of a long time to write down
because I couldn't stop watching videos
from these creators, who do such a fantastic job
of sucking you in and holding your attention.
The content that these creators make is addictive
and a lot of time and thought goes into
crafting these videos.
Yes! I said, crafting on purpose, I'm sorry.
And, they're designed to keep you
at the edge of your seat the entire time.
So if your final edit is 35 minutes long,
then in that 35 minutes, there better be no dull moments.
You need to do everything in your power
as the creator to make that 35 minutes fly by.
Something that Dream in particular,
is really good at by the way.
If possible, I want you to implement the strategies we've
discussed here today in your various next video.
If that sounds impossible
remember what I said at the beginning
allow yourself to fail.
These creators that we've looked at today
have been doing this for a long time
and they have a lot of practice under their belt.
And, they're also very disciplined,
making sure that they don't spend too much time
on one single video,
so that they can consistently upload.
Yes! You will need to work harder on this new style of video
but I just don't want you to feel so overwhelmed
by this concept that you freeze up
and you actually don't record or edit anything at all.
When you get into this mindset,
and you've never really tried these types of tests before.
It's really easy to get overwhelmed
and put this pressure on yourself
that this next video needs to be the one that gets thousands
and thousands of views.
Allow yourself to fail.
Try this a few times, then visit the vidIQ discord
or visit @vidIQ on Twitter
and let us know the results of how this went for you.