In the ever-evolving YouTube landscape, more and more creators are finding success through short-form content. Enrico Incarnati recently walked us through how this works, providing a YouTube Shorts strategy with the three key steps that lead to growth.
Let’s break down these insights and understand how they can elevate your YouTube Shorts.
Irresistible Intros: A Strategic Approach
The opening intro of a YouTube short is pivotal. Most viewers will decide within the first few seconds if they want to watch your video or scroll on to the next one.
To hook them in, Enrico recommends the YouTube Shorts Formula:
By sparking curiosity, stirring emotion, and establishing relevance, creators can captivate their audience from the start.
Trim The Fluff: Maintain Viewer Engagement
Once you have their attention, keep them interested. The discussion on “trimming the fluff” centers around the importance of removing unnecessary elements to keep audiences engaged.
To test out videos, editor Hayden Hiller Smith, who has edited for Logan Paul, Yes Theory, and Mr Beast, uses what he calls the distraction test. Before he plays a video he’s working on, he pulls in his phone, tablet, his pet cat, and a book. If he finds himself reaching for a distraction while he’s watching, then he knows something’s lacking in the video.
If your video leaves your cat wanting more attention, that’s probably a good sign.
Content Flavors: Vary Within Your Niche
As Jon YouShaei said, “Marry your niche while you’re varying your format.”
While it’s important to stay on topic, it’s also important to approach it in different ways. Pick three different types of short-form content that are relevant to your channel niche, then produce ten short videos for each. Then, analyze performance metrics and use the data to inform your decisions for your next ten. Stick to the ones that are working and let go of the ones that aren’t.
And if you need some inspiration, TubeBuddy AI is here to help with Suggested Shorts.
In short, by crafting irresistible intros, trimming the fluff, and embracing diverse content flavors, you’ll have a YouTube Shorts strategy that will engage and expand your audience.
Genius Ways to BLOW UP on YouTube Shorts: Video Transcript
I have gained hundreds of thousands of followers and millions of views with short form content. And if you want to do the exact same thing, all you need to know are these three simple steps:
1. Irresistible Intros.
The first three seconds of your YouTube shorts matter the most. YouTube even shows you how many people viewed your video or swiped away. Follow this formula: curiosity + emotion + relevance.
YouTube Shorts Formula
Curiosity:
The goal is to spark curiosity. You do this by asking a question, challenging a belief, or calling someone out. Here’s an example to watch: “the reason why your clothes don’t last and look like this is simple. You’re breaking one of these three rules…”
The Curiosity component was the three things. And if your clothes look that way, well it’s due to one of three reasons which he’s going to tell you.
Emotion:
Whether it’s joy, shock, or rage, if you can evoke an emotion in someone, they are immediately hooked. Just like this example: “Don’t make this mistake when you’re working on your
own happiness…” She said the emotion right away in the video. It’s happiness.
Relevance:
The goal of making a video relevant is so the audience knows you are creating content that is relevant for them. This video right here is a great example of that. “Here’s a new trendy way to make your favorite sushi at home. I call it a California fold.”
A video teaching you how to make sushi at home. If you’re someone who wants to make recipes at home, cook at home, or do anything with food at home, that’s the channel for you. There’s multiple ways to achieving a successful hook you just have to find what’s best for you number
2. Trimming The Fluff
One of the biggest issues creators face is having too much fluff on their videos. That’s causing them to lose views. Watch this video: “Hey, so uh, welcome to the video. Welcome to the video… Today, uh we’re going to talk about how you can get more subscribers on your YouTube channel and, um, I’m going to share with you…”
Boring! It’s taking way too long to get into the content. And you’re going to lose people.
Now, watch this video: “Do this if you want to get your first thousand YouTube subscribers in less than 30 days…” Better! Whether it’s leaving filler words in on the video or taking too long to get into the content, you’re going to lose people’s attention. And they’re going to find something else to watch. Remove the filler words, pauses, or cut anything that might cause someone to lose their attention.
The Distraction Test – Hayden Hiller Smith
Here’s another trick you can use when it comes to “trimming the fluff” on your videos. I learned this one from Hayden Smith from the Editing Podcast who has edited for Logan Paul, Yes Theory, and Mr Beast. It’s called the distraction test.
“…Ever done the distraction test. This is something that I do where it’s I get every single potential distraction possible. And so when I’m going for a video, I’ll get my phone in front of me, I’ll get my tablet in front of me, I’ll get a book that I am avoiding reading in front of me, I get my cat in front of me. And then the second I want to pet my cat, I want to look at my phone, I get a notification, I’m interested. Or finally, I’m gonna pick up that book that I’ve been avoiding in all those months. Something’s wrong here…”
3. Content Flavors
Jon YouShaei said it best. “Marry your niche while you’re varying your format.”
One thing you need to stay true to is your niche. That doesn’t mean however you need to live in a box. Think of your channel like a variety show. You could have talking head-style videos, clips from long form YouTube videos, podcast clips, interview clips.
Better yet, think of it like this: your YouTube channel needs to be like an ice cream shop. When your viewers go to your ice cream shop, there are many flavors for them to choose from. Your ice cream shop can be whatever your channel is about. Whether that’s fishing, cooking, gaming, whatever that is, let’s look at some examples. If you’re a cooking show, you can show tutorial-style videos, collaborative-style videos, or outlandish and explorative style videos.
If you’re a fitness channel like my buddy Marcus, you can do sit down talks, you could do in the kitchen nutrition tips, and you could do exercise demonstrations. All different flavors but at the end of the day, the ice cream shop, or whatever their channel is about, is serving the audience the exact content that they want.
Decide on 3 Flavors
Decide on three series or flavors for your channel. Post 10 videos from each of these. If after 10 videos you want to remove one and add a different style, go for it. If all three are performing really well, keep going. But I’m curious to hear from you and let me know in the comments below. Tell me the three series that you’re going to create for your channel so we can all go check out your channel.
If you haven’t already hit the Subscribe button or smash it or whatever thing kids are into nowadays, I don’t know. And I will see you in the next video. But before you leave, check out this video. I shared some secret websites that’ll help grow your small YouTube channel.
I’ll see you there.
Suggested Shorts is available to all TubeBuddy licensees. TubeBuddy Free users can use the tool to get five Suggested Shorts insights; TubeBuddy Pro users get unlimited Suggested shorts recommendations; TubeBuddy Legend and Enterprise users get unlimited access to over 70 TubeBuddy tools, including unlimited Suggested Shorts insights.
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