Trust me when I say this – there are many mistakes you can make when starting or growing a YouTube channel. And even if we only talk about the production process, for instance, writing, labelling (i.e., EU energy label), shooting and editing a video, a million things can go wrong.
However, while video editing can be challenging, it can also be accessible. After all, you can edit videos from your smartphone these days. (Or even edit your YouTube videos after uploading, which is crazy for me.)
So today, let’s look at some of the biggest and most common mistakes that directors and creators make when creating videos specifically for YouTube.
1. Immediate Success on YouTube
You deserve nothing until you prove your worth to your audience and then to YouTube. Note that this is a free setting. You can speak to a worldwide audience and influence their lives, but you have to do it first before you get any rewards.
Yes, it would be nice if YouTube was the perfect playground and everyone could enjoy the success they deserve depending on their creations.
But there will be creators who have a viral moment and incredible content, while others work to create great things that cannot be seen by an audience that should see them.
Unfortunately, this is YouTube, but the moment you think you should get this or that creator, you shouldn’t get it because your content is better. When you lose the YouTube mindset and who should be rewarded for content is your audience first, then you.
2. Misunderstanding their Audience
One of the most common things YouTubers do is not understand their audience. This can happen in many ways, such as not understanding their audience or what kind of content they should create for them. Therefore, spending time researching your audience and understanding what they want to see from you is essential.
For example, if you’re creating a food and cooking channel, your target audience will likely be people who love to cook or want to learn how to cook. So you have to do things for them like recipes, information on how to cook certain foods, etc. Understanding what your audience wants to see will help ensure they stay on your channel long enough until you can create followers and start making money from your YouTube channel.
It is important to remember that YouTube viewers consume content from different channels. So, the critical question YouTubers should ask is why anyone would watch their channel, not a competitor’s.
The answer to this question is the key to understanding your target audience. The next step to avoid the mistakes made in the beginning is to create content that solves your audience’s problems.
3. Not understanding the YouTube algorithm
Unless you’re making specific videos for a select audience, most YouTube videos and content aim to capture new viewers. And for this, you need to understand the YouTube algorithm and how it works. To help, here’s our complete guide on how to beat the YouTube algorithm and get your videos high quality.
The trick is to focus on your YouTube videos and optimize content at every production stage. This means that by the time you get into video editing, you must ensure your video is aligned with your algorithmic strategy to prioritize content.
Yes, this will help you ensure that your videos are sold abroad, satisfied, accessible, and without copyright issues or warnings.
4. Confused Messaging
Most YouTube marketers make the mistake of using confusing messages. If you create a lot of individual videos on random topics, it may not be beneficial for your audience.
Viewers who find your video in a Facebook post will expect to find more videos like this when they click on your channel. But they leave if they see a video that doesn’t suit them or find three-hour Zoom calls, family vlogs, and other videos they don’t want.
Think about the next burning question that viewers might ask so you can create videos they would like to watch and eventually subscribe to.
5. Not Allowing Yourself to Make Mistakes
Who said mistakes aren’t evil? It almost seems that most people who want to create a YouTube channel should think from the beginning that their content should be perfect. And they will never start a road because of this.
Evan Carmichael could do it best. I asked him the best advice for someone starting on YouTube, and his simple advice was, “I hope to get wet.” But there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Because if you don’t start somewhere, you will never begin, and everyone has to go the YouTube way.
Start somewhere, look back at what you’ve created and see where there are pain points, blocks, and bottlenecks that you need to address. And try to improve them by two percent with every new video you make. In the short term, you may not see any progress from video to video.
But when you look back at your videos over the past six months, you’ll see the dramatic changes and improvements you’ve made, and your audience will surely notice. And these are just some of your mistakes on YouTube. Keep doing it, take it, and I hope you do better next time.
Concluding Remarks
While YouTube allows you to upload as many videos as you want, you need to be specific about what you want to upload to your channel. Focus on what makes your audience or viewer understand that they can turn to you as a source of information about your products or services.
Some companies make the mistake of publishing everything they do. While your 1-hour Facebook life might be great, it’s not intended to allow people to use YouTube content. The best way is to find pieces long-range that match what people might be looking for, your message or brand.
