How to grow your YouTube channel | Halek Hossain

 

 How to grow a YouTube channel according to a strategist who has worked with creators like MisterBeast and Preston

YouTube strategist Paddy Galloway has studied thousands of YouTube videos.

He has worked with some of the world's top manufacturers including MrBeast and Preston.

Here are his tips on how to grow on YouTube - especially in the age of YouTube Shorts.

Short-form video is having a moment as platforms like YouTube and Instagram - and even Pinterest - try to keep up with TikTok. Since the debut of YouTube Shorts in early 2021, creators have had to adapt, finding new paths to success on the platform. "It reminds me of the early days of YouTube, where the algorithm wasn't perfect," YouTube strategist Paddy Galloway told Insider. "A lot of the content wasn't great, but it made you fall in love with creating content because anyone could do it in a few hours in their bedroom."

Galloway is very familiar with platform changes. Now 26 years old, he has been creating content on YouTube for 15 years On top of having nearly 425,000 subscribers to his primary channel, he advises some of the world's top creators and companies on how to grow and thrive on the video platform. His past and present clients include megastar Mr. Beast, gaming creator Preston and British YouTube group Sideman.

He has been hired to help maximize reach, retain viewers and boost monetization of their YouTube videos And he's had to help them through many changes to the platform, including the introduction of YouTube Shorts. After some initial skepticism toward shorts, Galloway now advises all of his clients to create both long-form and short-form content. "I'm really bullish on shorts," he said. "With my long-form clients, we post shorts on their main channels. I've watched hundreds of thousands of videos, and I've never seen a negative correlation between posting shorts and competing with long form." Here are Galloway's top tips for growing on YouTube today:

1. Combine shorts and long-form content from the start

Galloway recommends a posting schedule that includes both formats, ideally alternating two posts per week - for a total of four videos per week. While shorts are great for generating subscribers, if a creator's ultimate goal is to create long-form content, they should be creating long-form content from the start, he said.

2. Go niche

In terms of content type, Galloway recommends choosing a narrow niche and steer clear of variety or broad entertainment videos. A suitable niche could be a specific sport, such as fishing, or a specific video game. "I will study all the viral shorts and the most viral long-form videos in your niche," he added. "See what you can adapt and what you can learn."

3. Use Shorts as a self-contained storytelling experiment

Galloway recommends not creating shorts using snippets from long-form videos, but instead creating your own 60-second stories. It helps creators learn storytelling and editing skills that can later be applied to longer videos. A good short will have a quick hook that grabs the viewer's attention - usually a "big one liner" - and a story that can be resolved in a minute or less. Galloway points to a short from his client Jesser, a basketball creator, asking, "How many pumps does it take to inflate a basketball?" This short has 37 million views. "It's an instant, in-your-face question," he said. "It takes a second to say, and it creates a story. For short form, I think it's just saying, 'Here's a thing, let me show you this'."

4. Focus more on viewership than customers

Subscriber numbers aren't always helpful in understanding whether viewers like your content. Instead, look at the audience as its more valuable indicator. Someone might watch a video, subscribe to your channel and then never watch another video, Galloway said, whereas someone else might not subscribe but watch four or five videos in a row. The second type of visitor is more likely than the first type to suggest your content on their home page, and therefore more likely to visit in the future. This advice does not necessarily apply to potential brand partners. "Subscribers aren't that important, but they're a nice fantasy metric that people care about and brands care about," Galloway said. "I get roughly the same amount of views per video as when I had 100,000 subscribers, but now I have 400,000, and I'm getting more money offers."