I’m going to show you the stats from two videos I’ve recently published on YouTube.
Which one do you think took the longest? Which one do you think I’m most proud of?
I’ll answer those questions later, but I’d first like to discuss the brutality of the YouTube algorithm and why it should never stop you.
If YouTube was a mate, it’d be the mate who only ever wants to go to the same pub for a catch-up. You understand why; that pub is special - it’s the first one you both remember delivering a truly awesome night out when you began that phase of your life. You’ve had countless great nights there, in fact - it always seems to deliver; the beer selection is spot on, the atmosphere is perfect, and the decor makes you feel at home.
There’s just one problem: you’re getting itchy feet. As much as you love that pub, it’s starting to feel a bit stale, a bit predictable - a bit uninspiring. Unfortunately, there’s a conflict. You want to head somewhere else, but your mate doesn’t - you’ve realised that you don’t share the same sense of adventure or desire for exploration. You can sympathise with your mate, too, because he does have a point - the good times always roll in that pub, and it never lets you down. Why break something that is guaranteed to make you feel good?
Quite why I’ve decided to use a pub analogy for the business of being a YouTuber is beyond me, but it’s the first thing that came to mind this morning. The point I’m trying to make is simple: head to a different pub without your mate, and there’s no guarantee you’ll have as good a night. The chances are it won’t be a good night and you’ll regret having not joined your faithful friend in that safe place.
This is what it feels like when you try something new on YouTube. For me, that safe, homely, and ultimately satisfying pub is an Apple-related video. Whether it’s iPad, Mac, or iPhone, if I make a video about an Apple product, it will probably perform pretty well and bring in a bunch of new subscribers. If I decide to instead make a video about an expensive BMW, an e-bike, and a bunch of other battery-powered gadgets, it probably isn’t going to perform very well at all. To tell you the truth, over the last few years, I’ve learned that it’s guaranteed not to perform very well. If it does, I’d consider it a small miracle.
Why does this happen? I think it’s pretty simple: YouTube has always - and probably will always - pigeonhole creators. If you become known as the creator who makes iPad videos and, over time, you draw in a sizeable audience for that topic, YouTube will reward you with exposure - if you continue to make videos on that topic. Whenever you stray from that path, YouTube will test your video in front of a much smaller audience, which in turn means it’ll never hit that wave of views and engagement you’re used to with your bread-and-butter content.
It is possible to straddle topics on YouTube. Despite what I’ve noted above, I do it myself. I’m not only known as an Apple reviewer - I’m also playing successfully within the headphone review niche. Content I produce on either side of that fence generally performs well, and I can even dip my toes into the world of Android smartphones with admirable results.
However, all those videos have one thing in common: they’re tech reviews. That’s the box into which I think YouTube has placed me. Sure, I could argue until I’m blue in the face that a battery test video is still technically tech, but YouTube doesn’t care; I’m not known for it, and the title of the video doesn’t include the keywords for which I’ve become successful on the platform, and therefore my audience probably doesn’t care as much.
This isn’t fair - particularly when the video which you’ve created beyond your zone of genius is a really good video. It’s even more unfair when you know that your regular audience will probably really enjoy it if they’re just given the chance to watch it. This is where your subscriber count means absolutely nothing. I’ve got over 153,000 subscribers on YouTube, yet only a minuscule portion of them have seen that battery test video. Why didn’t YouTube push it to those subscribers’ feeds? Because YouTube thinks they won’t be interested. It’s making a huge assumption, but there’s nothing I can do about it.
The answer to the question I posed at the start of this newsletter is as obvious as it is simple. The $150,000 battery test video took the longest to make and is by far the video I’m most proud of out of the two. It was a proper team effort, it involved a bunch of planning, travel, and investment into the content, and it’s also the first full-length YouTube video I’ve not edited myself.
It won’t be the last of its kind on Mark Ellis Reviews, either. I’m not the sort of creator who can make the same video again and again (although, admittedly, that’s a practice in which I have no choice but to indulge occasionally to keep the business growing). I have to step off that trodden path and try different things. As much as I’d like big numbers on those off-the-wall videos, I’ve accepted they’re highly unlikely. I don’t care, though - life’s too short to go to the same pub every time you fancy a drink.