How to Blow Up on YouTube Shorts
Enrico Incarnati, @EnricoIncarnati on YouTube, knows a thing or two (or three) about YouTube Shorts. A Creator with TubeBuddy, he shares tips on how to hook viewers, keep their interest, and send them looking for that subscribe button.
It all comes down to this: capture attention right off the bat. Trim the fluff to maintain their interest, and don’t let viewers get distracted. Simple enough but easier said than done. Watch this:
The Case for TubeBuddy
Is TubeBuddy from BENlabs worth it? There’s a lot creators can do for free with TubeBuddy but to really unlock all the workflow, SEO and YouTube algorithm optimization, A/B testing, and other features, creators can upgrade to a Pro or Legend license. Is it worth it?
Well… yeah. We’d argue it’s definitely worth it but our opinion isn’t exactly unbiased. Fortunately, we have data to back up our position that yes indeed, TubeBuddy is worth it.
We looked at a group of 60K creators (59,366 if you want to get all technical) over a three-month period. Both our Group A and Group B were active on YouTube, uploading at least five videos during that time. Both cohorts saw growth in views and subscribers. It’s just that group A, the group using TubeBuddy actively saw more growth; +170.85% growth in views vs. +91.37% for the group going it alone; an 86% improvement in views. Likewise, the active TubeBuddy user Group A saw +89.40% growth in subscribers using TubeBuddy vs. +57.39% growth for Group B, who didn’t use TubeBuddy to the same extent. A 55% improvement.
So is TubeBuddy worth it? Well, yeah. It is.
Full story: Is TubeBuddy Worth It? Let’s Look at the Data
Meet the Kumaar Family
The Kumaar Family — Logesh, Rachel, Zaden, and Kyren — are a Malaysian-American family sharing a slice of family life, couple life, and envy-inducing food and travel content.
Runners up in the Vlogging category in the 2023 TubeBuddy Emerging Creator Awards, the Kumaars are active TubeBuddy users with nearly 650K subs on YouTube alone. They put a lot of effort into their content… in addition to holding down full-time jobs… in addition to being active and engaged parents to two young children. And somehow the jetsetting family found time to answer our TubeBuddy creator spotlight questions.
Full story: Creator Spotlight: Living the Dream & Doing the Work – The Kumaar Family
Overcoming Challenges as a Creator
Being a content creator is a lot of things; fun, and rewarding among them. One thing it isn’t is easy. We asked TubeBuddy creators about the biggest challenges they faced, and shared some concrete steps they can take to overcome those challenges.
Standing out
With millions of creators and billions of active users on YouTube, standing out from the crowd was the #1 challenge creators flagged. Understanding the YouTube algorithm and how it promotes content to viewers is key.
The Algorithm
The YouTube algorithm’s primary goal is to connect viewers with content that will engage them and keep them on the platform for as long as possible. Create content your ideal audience will love, optimize content (title, description, tags, thumbnail etc.) so the algorithm understands and viewers engage. TubeBuddy can help; SEO Studio, Thumbnail Optimizer, View and Copy Tags, and other tools make it easy.
Channel Growth
Growth is at the heart of every content creator’s goals. Focus is key. As John Youshai puts it, “marry your niche while you vary your content.” Staying in your lane (your niche) while experimenting with how you present content within that niche, is tried and true advice. It comes down to testing, tracking, learning, and improving.
Grabbing Viewer Attention
The algorithm rewards content that engages viewers. Engaging viewers is key to turning them into subscribers. Create attention-grabbing thumbnails that spark curiosity and emotion. Demonstrate relevance in your title and description. Master the art of the hook (aka lead or lede) and viewers will be, well, hooked.
Getting Discovered
Breaking past the vaunted 1,000 subscriber mark and hitting the 40H of watchtime on long form videos or 10M YouTube Shorts views required to monetize a channel is an accomplishment and a major milestone. But it’s a beginning, not an end. Build good content practices early. That includes bringing an experimental mindset, following the data, optimizing for search, finding ways to hook your audience, and more. That’s the best way creators can set themselves up for success.
Where Creators Get Paid
Take the guesswork out of influencer partnerships. The BENlabs AI matching program analyzes your content and audience, and suggests your profile to brands looking for the right creators to promote their products and stories.
