How to Grow Your 'Let's Play!'

Taken from the Hermitcraft Seven (58) Livestream 02/08/20

Edited by Adam Aarts

Links!

#xisumasays #letsplaygrowth #smpgrowth

[alpenglowup]

Finally a specific question! And a very good answer. :)

[SurpriseTea]

This might sound rather depressing, but I believe there is no solid answer to "how to be a successful youtuber".
If there would be one, then *everyone* would have successful channels, which is impossible.
There is no "recipe" on how to cook a youtube channel.
Also, it's a hard competition. And as in any competition, some contestants just _have_ to lose. On the other hand, you can't win a lottery without buying a ticket - it's _necessary_ to do your best if you want to become a successful youtuber, but usually not _sufficient_

[JustDevon]

With regards to calls to subscribe and all that: I find that if I do it, it's almost always at the end of the video, doing it at the beginning is a good way to put people off. Something I've only tried 3 times, but didn't feel great about, was to do what I've seen others do and mention the % of viewers who aren't subbed. It seemed to work to a degree, but there was a bit of push back about it. Now I only have 22k subs, and I was apprehensive about it and have since stopped doing it because it didn't feel right, despite growth being something I need. When I see guys like Dream doing it in every video with over 6m subscribers, it seems to come across as a bit ungrateful for the success. Maybe it's just me.

Side note: Shashwammy has some great insights about topics on this channel. Always looks at things without bias and gives a level headed and well thought out response

[lonesomewillyhandful]

I think just by loving what you're doing is success enough in its own right.

[JaydenDeppMusic]

I have plans to make a Livestream Let’s Play on LPM2 in September, I hope it goes well since it’s your amazing server and I love playing on it. :D

[Slushee]

The comment about the SEO is very true!
I do 3D printing content, and the thing that brings more traffic are searches. I think they make around 62% of traffic.

Specially, it's the compliant mechanisms. There are very little videos about them, but the demand for them is big, so if you really optimize the title, description and tags for the seearch engine, you're going to come up on top. And if the thumbnail is good, you're guaranteed to have clicks on it!

[PhoenixIncPi]

I think the biggest problem I have with making LP videos is definitely the amount of time it takes to make a single episode; with all the work I have IRL, it's hard to make consistent videos... So I just prioritize quality over quantity, though I'm pretty sure that the Youtube algorithm actually does promote channels that upload consistently more.

[Artorvian]

My let's play series, currently, is 100% for fun and relaxing. Because I only get 50-100 views per LP, I'm not bothered about being noticed - that will change with my channel.

If I'm close to a milestone, and I'm excited about reaching it, I'll post a tutorial, or something similar, but if I'm burnt out, and need something to fall back on, a LP is a great thing to have!

But at the same time, I still would like to get my LP noticed. I still try to make my thumbnails stand out, and I make sure my tags are on point, and I make sure my title has something that people will search for - that's just not my *main* motive.

[tachyonicnewt]

This was a great answer, thanks Xisuma
When I grow my world I will focus more on what is different about the world and community. (Big beautiful builds with hidden functional)(monthly’ish’ tournaments).

[broski]

Definitely agree with the idea of mentioning you have an upcoming video, rather than asking for subscribers. As a viewer, i have subscribed to many channels on the first of their videos, because they said something along the lines of "a follow up to this video is coming in a few weeks". Another good idea, it to inform the viewer of your older videos. If the viewer has time to binge watch a few older videos after watching the first one they come across, they're more likely to subscribe.

[TruzzleBruh]

LP Videos are so hard to make and keep consistent views. You should 100% have them near an ingame update like the nether update. Also i think im the first comment lmfao. Edit: So hard to make as in to grow from or get people watching

[Deathdealer]

Fantastic tips X! As someone who does a lot of Let's Play content I completely agree with your points. It is very difficult to grow a Let's Play on it's own in this day and age due to how saturated this niche is. In order to stand out as you said you need to do some other sort of content along side it. Personally I do Minecraft tutorials every so often and they pull in a lot of views and also subscribers. I also title and record my Let's Play videos in such a way that they could also be considered as tutorials. By doing so this has lead to over 40% of my traffic coming from YouTube search with 28% coming from external sites such as YouTube since I rank my keywords and reddit since I share videos quite a bit there.

Another metric that should be considered to grow is watchtime. If a video gets more watchtime it will be recommended more often. This is why creating playlists of content that goes together really helps in terms of getting watchtime. I have a dedicated section on my channel for new potential subscribers to watch tutorials and I have set one of my tutorials as my channel trailer.

If anyone wants any insight in to growth let me know. I'd be happy to assist anyone that I can.

[chiefdvm]

This was a really good topic to listen to X.... With hearing this you understand that youtube is a really tough job. You don't know which of your videos will go viral. And even if you do, you will only know when you are a veteran at youtube just like you. You know what kind of audience gets attracted to your videos. You try to mentain a balance between quality and quantity(still more affinity towards quality).

[onionbot]

I noticed that the channel turned one yesterday! happy birthday xisumasays!

[jpiii]

Hi, X. I know your Hermitcraft vids, and love this series. Dont normally comment but have to say keep up the good work!

[hexagonalchaos]

this is really helpful, as someone with one year of experience on YouTube I would suggest just doing your best thank your viewers for support find the things you do best and the things you enjoy just make as much stuff you enjoy making as possible and something might work, YouTube is very hit or miss, so just do stuff you like and hope for the best.

[hiimz]

Hmm, X posted this right when I start a new Let's Play series... is this a sign? Lol

[jacudoloko]

very true what you said, I remember watching your channel for years, and only when I started watching hermitcraft I notice that I never subscribed, I never understand that until now

[kabitabanerjee]

X is the best guy to go to when you need some advice and i have a minecraft YT channel and his advice gave me a lot of ideas. Thanks Xisuma

[beyond_xen]

Thank you! That was a good take on the call to action part.