5 Things I learned from Posting 30 Videos on YouTube
- Time spent on video editing ≠ Number of Views
Time spent making the video does not guarantee the number of views & CTA (Call To Action, such as subscribing to my channel). Of course, there may be many other factors that have contributed to one video having more views than the other, but below is a comparison of "regular", longer video vs. #shorts video.
Regular Video
- uploaded 9 days ago
- Taken about 10 hours to make
- 28 views
#shorts Video
- uploaded 3 days ago
- Taken about 30 min taken to make
- 1.9k views (about 68x than that of above)
- https://www.youtube.com/shorts/BXgsqj8_4qs
2. Thumbnail could mean EVERYTHING
From analysing the ones with most views among the videos uploaded, it seems those with below conditions have higher chance of attracting people's attention to click.
- How-to videos
- Bold Title
- Person in the thumbnail
- Name of someone famous in the title
3. Use #shorts for exposure to larger audience (viral)
I noticed people with only/mostly #shorts videos can have big followers (without any/many long videos), and even those who have been uploading the long videos only are utilising the power of #shorts by clipping the highlight of the whole video into #shorts to attract more viewers to the original/rest of the videos.
In short, we need to create more #shorts to reach bigger audience (no pun intended)
4. Create 1 short video for 3 different platforms
From benchmarking influencers out there, I am using the method of creating a TikTok video of less than 60 seconds, downloading without logo, and uploading as #shorts in YouTube and #reels on Instagram. Among the #shorts uploaded, the 2 videos with Tokyo in the title had the most views. As for #reels uploaded, the one of myself doing fingerdance & stand up against the wall received most attention.
YouTube users seem to be more interested in "learning" and enjoy watching videos that shares valuable information. On the other hand, Instagram users seem to be more interested in "aesthetics", whether for people or things. Thus more attention is given on photos/videos with beautiful models and art-like photos on Instagram.
5. You become less scared of uploading
I am still nervous every time I upload anything, but I came to enjoy creating videos more and more now that I am getting faster at editing & knowing different ways to portray what I want to share through the videos.
It still feels "not right" to put myself out there as I feel like I am an imposter or feel that I have not done something significant enough to be sharing stories with others. But I have a clear goal of creating a supportive community revolving around the topics that I love. I trust with constant effort, I will be be able to reach a point where I can communicate, share knowledge, and grow together in this journey called life with many people around the world.
I am truly looking forward to the day x
