Filling the Void: The Beginning of Your YouTube Journey
When we launched our efforts earlier this year, our YouTube channel hadn’t been updated in several years. A community that once thrived on gamers and promotional videos was now just gathering dust. It was clear that we needed to expand our efforts there. Our focus was to engage the audience and throw everything at the wall to see what sticks.
Our initial livestream focused on beta testing a new online community storytelling game called Blood Vessels, in which mutant vampires roam the dark alleys of 19th century America. We created some really great content with this project, including some amazing animated live play videos.
From there, we’ve expanded into weekly live streams where our fantastic community team can interact and chat with each other while playing the latest and greatest games on Kongregate.com. Since then, we’ve hosted people from across the company, from game designers to artists. Even C-level leaders stopped by to say hello. 🙂
We’ve also started producing short gameplay videos of the latest games as a way to promote and support the indie gaming scene, as well as trailers for popular games we think you’ll like. Some of these have become spotlight videos. A long-form video showcasing some of our favorite games, with audio commentary giving us a personal feel and some thoughts on the tactical gameplay.
Each week there will also be a Badge of the Day video to support players on their journey to earn the highly coveted Kongpanion. These fun and informative tutorials provide valuable insight, making the badge earning process fun and rewarding.
We recognize the impact YouTube Shorts have on discoverability, so we’ve incorporated them into our strategy. By recycling content from a variety of sources, we were able to get the most out of each piece and increase engagement and impressions across channels.
Analytical observation: quality over quantity
As I experimented with different videos each week, I noticed that the number of views decreased over time. However, YouTube Shorts continued to thrive due to algorithmic support and improved discoverability. This realization led us to reevaluate our approach. The content was good, but the flow was a mess.
By looking at how engagement metrics affected click-through rate, average watch time for each video, and reach, we were able to assess the need for some strategic changes to our approach.
Once we had our data, we decided to shift our YouTube strategy. Now our focus is shifting to producing fewer but higher quality videos. We aim to captivate our audience with well-crafted content that sparks interest, fosters community interaction, and showcases the best of Kongregate.
new content
As we begin this new phase, we’ll keep you informed about the latest Kongregate games and updates through carefully curated and engaging content. Stay tuned for engaging gameplay videos, a continuing Badge of the Day series, live streams, and fun Shorts that will not only entertain but empower players!
We focus on quality and involvement, so we invite you to join us on this exciting adventure. Together, we will continue to build a thriving and vibrant community.