Is your content just as great as always, but the traffic is dropping instead of increasing? You’re most definitely not alone in your troubles.
Last year, we conducted a survey among more than 3 thousand creators and discovered that traffic drop was the number one problem for most channels. At least 55% of bloggers struggled because of it.
So what do you do when traffic drops, and how do you make it grow again? We’ve prepared a seven-step plan to get your channel back on track. Read it below — or watch our detailed video guide using the following link.
Develop a Data-Based Channel Strategy
Why would you even need data when your content is good? Well, for several reasons, actually.
Even if you feel like you know your audience inside and out, you still have to monitor and analyze metrics regularly for the channel to grow and stay safe.
For instance, keeping an eye on viewer metrics will help you find the channel’s main growth points. If most of your viewers reside in a particular country maybe you should try making more local content.
The most important thing is to be thorough in channel analysis. Pay attention to such things as viewership, watch time, subscribers, CTR, top geographies, when your audience is on YouTube, and revenue.
And if all this sounds way too complicated, no need to dive into the metrics alone. You can always request assistance from our team at AIR Creators Ecosystem. To help creators who struggle with growing their channels despite creating interesting content, we’ve specifically created the Personal Coaching Program. This program allows you to receive channel analysis and recommendations to increase your views, subscribers, and revenue from leading AIR experts.
Create a YouTube Channel Design That Stands Out
It’s great that you’re the best League of Legends streamer out there, but sometimes having fantastic content is simply not enough. You also need to attract the viewers’ attention — and channel design is a great way to do that.
Elements like thumbnail design, channel logo, or video intros will be the first things your potential subscribers will see, so it’s essential to make them visually appealing. Here are a couple of things to keep in mind:
Your design should be colorful and eye-catching. Not to the extent where it blinds viewers, but you get the idea. Going for a bright palette with faces or objects close-up might be the best option.
Don’t mislead the audience. With great power comes great responsibility, which is why you should always use your thumbnail and title to convey the subject of the video clearly. At first, viewers may find the clickbaity thumbnail intriguing, but they’ll only get frustrated after seeing irrelevant content.
Optimize your thumbnails. Make sure the thumbnail design and the title are displayed correctly on all devices; no need to make some viewers feel excluded.
You can create an effective design by yourself or with help from experts. In our Creators Ecosystem, a team of professionals well acquainted with the platform’s specifics will design a channel banner, a thumbnail, video intro, and video ending for you — making your content hard-to-miss and improving the CTR.
Optimize Your Videos
Video optimization may not seem like your top concern when growing the channel. Still, it’s crucial to your success — allowing you to promote the channel without unnecessary investments and attracting new viewers. And while there are several tools you can use to optimize your videos, the best one will probably be VidIQ Boost.
Basically, VidIQ is a plugin that finds video tags and adds them to your content quickly. It also analyzes the video for popularity and position in search pages, and offers an analysis of your competitors.
Meanwhile, VidIQ Boost offers creators advanced optimization opportunities and even more functions, such as providing recommendations for titles, descriptions, and tags.
The only challenge is the pretty high monthly price. Luckily, at AIR Creators Ecosystem, you can use the whole package of services for free. This way, you'll get access to all the best tools for video optimization, detailed analytics, and info on the latest trends. Imagine how much time you'll save on searching for the right tags!
Let Knowledge be Your Weapon
Knowledge is power, so the more channel knowledge you have, the more power you possess to grow it. To succeed, you need to keep an eye on your competitors and pay close attention to the channels your audience watches. In other words, keep up with the trends.
Following trends is crucial to growing your channel and attracting new viewers. With user preferences constantly shifting, you need constant updates on the situation, and there are a number of ways to get those. For example, you can follow channels similar in category, content format, audience, geography, and size. Following top-tier channels in your region or globally is a good idea, too, as they often become trendsetters for the platform.
Of course, that doesn't mean you should copy someone else's content instead of creating your own. Just watch what your competitors are up to and keep it in mind when creating your own unique videos.
Some creators unknowingly step in the way of their own growth due to mistakes made during niche and audience analysis. That’s where the channel audit steps in. During an audit, an experienced specialist with access to multiple tools performs an extensive analysis of your channel as well as your competitors'. They then provide personalized recommendations followed by a detailed explanation.
When you're weaponizing yourself with knowledge, AIR’s Big Data service can be a priceless helper. It offers creators insights on channel metrics, trends, audience, and top-creators, while also offering personalized content ideas. This way, you can be sure you need all the information crucial to your channel growth.
Advertise Your YouTube Channel Right
This may seem a bit obvious, but simply advertising your channel is not enough. You have to choose the right ad type that will be effective and spare your finances.
Some of the best ad types that allow you to use your budget efficiently are TrueView for reach, TrueView in-stream, TrueView discovery, TrueView for action, Bumper ads, Reservation Ads 15/20s, Outstream video ads, Masthead, and Universal App Campaign for Video.
You can learn how to set up ad campaigns and find your perfect strategy on your own, but remember that it will take lots of time and effort. In this video, we explain how to set up effective ad campaigns on your own. Or, if you need results right now, you can always turn to AIR Ads. A certified Google Ads partner for 11 years, we’ll help you build a personalized ad strategy based on your niche and type of content. And if you feel like making adjustments, just say the word — we'll work together to achieve the results you expect.
Choose Your Friends Wisely
Remember how in ‘Squid Game’ the participants sought to team up with the strongest players in order to survive? On social media platforms, it’s pretty much the same — except you don’t have to play Red Light, Green Light with a giant murderous doll. Probably.
Collaborating with like-minded creators is one of the most effective advertising methods on YouTube, but for it to work, you have to choose your partner in crime wisely. Namely, the target audience should be a match for both channels, and the content strategy should be developed in a way that allows creators to switch between audiences.
Keep in mind that your collaboration can be considered successful if it:
- Increases viewers' loyalty
- Grows key channel metrics
- Expands your target audience
- Attracts new traffic and subscribers
- Diversifies your content
Now, if you're wondering where to find these like-minded creators and how to make everything work successfully, remember that you can always ask AIR for help. Tell us your concerns, and we’ll help you start the most productive collaboration possible.
Make the Most of Existing YouTube Content
Your existing content can still bring you brand-new income — if you know what to do with it.
Ever heard of live streaming 24/7? Basically, it means running a video on a loop until Thanos snaps us all away or, well, you terminate it. Why is it important, you ask? The thing is, YouTube algorithms prioritize streams over regular videos. They are the first to be seen by viewers in the Suggested section — and you want to get into the Suggested section to grow your audience and channel.
There are two ways to set up a 24/7 stream — on your own or using a streaming service. If you have all the required technical skills and powerful equipment, you may use OBS Studio, but it may be easier to choose a continuous streaming service instead.
One of the safest and most reliable options is Gyre Streaming Service, which works within YouTube guidelines and doesn’t require access to your personal data. And although it’ll seem rather pricey for most users, our partners can use Gyre for free — unlocking new opportunities for their existing content.
Ask for the Investment You Deserve
There are a lot of tools for channel growth, but it’s not like you have money to use all of them, right? Good point. Lack of investment is the killer to channel progress.
That’s why we launched our Channel Boost Program that has already proven to grow channel metrics by at least 10% in three months. Participating in the program allows you to use our 53 advanced products for free for three months. Nothing is asked in return: you don't have to sign a contract or make any commitments. And when the three-month period is over, you can simply look at the results and decide whether you want to go on or part ways.
However, keep in mind that you must meet the following requirements to participate:
- Your channel should have at least 2 million monthly views
- Your audience should be based in the US, UK, Canada, Europe, Mexico, and Australia
- You should be making content in Kids, Teens, Entertainment, Experiments, Lifehacks, or Lounge Music categories
- Your channel should be connected to AdSense
- You should publish at least 2 videos a month
Get more detailed tips on how to grow your YouTube channel in our “Accelerate Your YouTube Channel Growth” video guide. Leave your questions in the comments or write to us to receive professional assistance.
There’s always room for growth, and there are always ways to grow faster. All you have to do is make the best use of opportunities the platform gives you — and AIR Creators Ecosystem is always here to ensure you’re not missing out.
