It's kinda weird how some of these videos manage to get so many subs and viewings, whereas others of apparently better quality get ignored. I've watched a lot of the most successful ones and still haven't discovered what makes them so popular. I wonder if it's just a snowball effect--keep producing videos and eventually a new sub here and there starts to accumulate. Of course, it's also completely unpredictable how many people will not just watch the video but do something to promote it, perhaps sending the link to their friends or making it one of their favorites. Then there's the factor of glut--it would take a lot of time every week to watch all of the new retrogaming videos being made, and that starts to add up.
In any case, it's really not just about the subs and viewcounts. Many people who sub to a channel never watch it, and as I said before, most people only watch the first minute or two of a video before moving on (yet it counts as a view). I'm more interested in the folks who watch a show and leave some comments or responses--that's what is really fun.
I've been reading "Tipping Points" by Malcolm Gladwell and trying to glean some useful strategies from that. I haven't finished the book yet, but he does talk a lot in there about why shows like Sesame Street or Blue's Clues got so popular (a lot of psychological research went into them, actually). I'll try to explain it briefly. Let's take for a given that you have a nice youtube channel with quality content. Now you need three other things -- a "connector," a "maven," and a "salesman." The connectors are the folks who know lots and lots of people--someone like John Romero, for instance, who have gigantic social networks. The "maven" is someone whose opinion is highly valued and who likes to give you word of mouth advice just for the sake of being helpful (they "get off" on helping people, say, choose a certain or restaurant or who really know their stuff). So, if TheLoguidice was telling you that you should buy a Vic-20 multicart, you'd buy it because you trust his insight and knowledge. Lastly, the "salesman" are the people who are able to persuade others to do something. So, they might be able to convince you to check out a youtube channel even if you don't normally go for that sort of thing, or convince you to invite your friends to check out the channel. These folks are connected in interesting ways. So, maybe a maven finds the videos and lets a connector know about it, who then subs it and gets it into the network. Or, a salesman type might persuade folks to watch the video, and some of them may be connectors or mavens. I'm still reading the book, so maybe more insights will come. I'm very curious what he will say about the salesmen.
There are other things, too, such as the concept of "stickiness." Being "sticky" essentially means that it sticks in your memory. Say, a catch jingle, title, or some aspect of the channel/films that stick out. This could be catchphrases, funny way of pronouncing things, or certain things that are repeated. In short, you need something about your videos that people can cling to and remember. Otherwise they'll just forget about it and won't recommend it to anyone else. I think that may be one reason why the AVGN has done well; it's easy to remember his moniker and style.
It's kinda weird how some of these videos manage to get so many subs and viewings, whereas others of apparently better quality get ignored. I've watched a lot of the most successful ones and still haven't discovered what makes them so popular. I wonder if it's just a snowball effect--keep producing videos and eventually a new sub here and there starts to accumulate. Of course, it's also completely unpredictable how many people will not just watch the video but do something to promote it, perhaps sending the link to their friends or making it one of their favorites. Then there's the factor of glut--it would take a lot of time every week to watch all of the new retrogaming videos being made, and that starts to add up.
In any case, it's really not just about the subs and viewcounts. Many people who sub to a channel never watch it, and as I said before, most people only watch the first minute or two of a video before moving on (yet it counts as a view). I'm more interested in the folks who watch a show and leave some comments or responses--that's what is really fun.
I've been reading "Tipping Points" by Malcolm Gladwell and trying to glean some useful strategies from that. I haven't finished the book yet, but he does talk a lot in there about why shows like Sesame Street or Blue's Clues got so popular (a lot of psychological research went into them, actually). I'll try to explain it briefly. Let's take for a given that you have a nice youtube channel with quality content. Now you need three other things -- a "connector," a "maven," and a "salesman." The connectors are the folks who know lots and lots of people--someone like John Romero, for instance, who have gigantic social networks. The "maven" is someone whose opinion is highly valued and who likes to give you word of mouth advice just for the sake of being helpful (they "get off" on helping people, say, choose a certain or restaurant or who really know their stuff). So, if TheLoguidice was telling you that you should buy a Vic-20 multicart, you'd buy it because you trust his insight and knowledge. Lastly, the "salesman" are the people who are able to persuade others to do something. So, they might be able to convince you to check out a youtube channel even if you don't normally go for that sort of thing, or convince you to invite your friends to check out the channel. These folks are connected in interesting ways. So, maybe a maven finds the videos and lets a connector know about it, who then subs it and gets it into the network. Or, a salesman type might persuade folks to watch the video, and some of them may be connectors or mavens. I'm still reading the book, so maybe more insights will come. I'm very curious what he will say about the salesmen.
There are other things, too, such as the concept of "stickiness." Being "sticky" essentially means that it sticks in your memory. Say, a catch jingle, title, or some aspect of the channel/films that stick out. This could be catchphrases, funny way of pronouncing things, or certain things that are repeated. In short, you need something about your videos that people can cling to and remember. Otherwise they'll just forget about it and won't recommend it to anyone else. I think that may be one reason why the AVGN has done well; it's easy to remember his moniker and style.
Matt Barton, Managing Editor
Location: St. Cloud, Minnesota, USA
Email: matt@armchairarcade.com