Secrets to YouTube Success

At Podcast Movement in Dallas, one panelist shared how he grew his YouTube channel over six-thousand percent in three years.

It was standing room only for a panel at Podcast Movement on YouTube.

I moderated a session called Secrets to YouTube Success and every seat was taken with folks standing in the back.

Joining me left to right: Jay Nachlis from Coleman Insights, Neha Taleja from YouTube, Chris Colbert from DCP Entertainment, and Stephen Robles from Riverside.

Photo credit: E.B. Moss

Not thinking about YouTube? You should. Because podcast consumers clearly are. They are going there to look for shows, especially on their Smart TVs at home, said Jay Nachlis from Coleman Insights. He shared these trends and data.

So what is the key to growing your channel?

The truth is, there are no magical secrets to succeeding, said Neha Taleja who works on the YouTube team at Google. But you need to decode your data and see who’s watching.

“Understand your audience,” she said. “Leverage the YouTube Studio analytics. Understand where your users are coming from. Which of your episodes are getting maximum views? Where do you see the highest retention of viewership? And understand which content performs best. What time? What day?”

Consider audience data as your co-producer, she added. “When designing your content plan, think about what a viewer would search for.”

QUALITY AND QUANTITY

When you map out your content plan, think quality, quantity and then quality-quantity, said Stephen Robles from Riverside, whose personal YouTube channel has more than 150,000 subscribers.

“YouTube, like anything else, is a skill you have to practice,” Robles added. “Don’t get analysis paralysis, basically, where you’re overthinking ideas or gear.”

“Try to make one or two videos a week. Even if the editing or the quality isn’t what you’re happy with, you’re practicing making videos. Once you get a lot of reps under your belt, couple dozen videos, then think about quality. How can you up the quality? How can you plan your videos better?”

Once you have those reps down, and improve your quality, you can up your output and do quality quantity, Robles said.

THINK LIKE A YOUTUBER

“Try to make a thumbnail that is engaging,” Robles added. “Put you, your co-host or your guest large on there. Add any other elements. But also title your stuff so it’s interesting and makes people want to click it.”

Know your competition as well, he added.

“As a YouTuber, see what other videos perform well in your niche or in your category. See how they talk about their topics, and how they make their titles, and mimic those things to make those episodes more appealing specifically on YouTube.”

AMAZING GROWTH

As for who has grown his YouTube channel more than six-thousand percent since 2022? That honor goes to Chris Colbert, founder and CEO of DCP Entertainment

“Create a custom experience on your YouTube page like it’s a website,” Colbert said. “So you want to use things like a playlist function. You want to create a description of your channel that speaks to not only new subscribers, but returning subscribers. Also, make sure you’re pinning a video to the top of your YouTube page that is different for existing subscribers versus new potential subscribers. Treat it like a full experience. That way everyone feels there’s something special for them.”

He added you should get into the habit of cranking out Shorts.

“YouTube Shorts is honestly the thing that has contributed to our growth the most,” said Colbert. “The majority of our followers come from our YouTube Shorts. It really is the way to grow your subscriber base quickly. Long-form, horizontal video is more for generating revenue whereas Shorts really supercharge the following count.”

Photo credit: Rick McCauley

MY RECOMMENDATION

Thinking of starting a YouTube channel? Need to buy gear for your podcast? Check out the personal channel that Stephen Robles runs. Aptly, it’s called BeardFM.

John Wordock runs his own podcast and media consulting firm John Wordock Media. He served as Executive Editor and SVP for Podcasting at Westwood One from 2019 to 2024, helping build Cumulus Podcast Network into a top ten network and top channel on Apple. He also served as Executive Producer for Podcasts at The Wall Street Journal until 2019. He started podcasting back in 2006. Wanna talk? Email John@JohnWordockMedia.com.