4 YouTube Strategist Hot Takes

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Hey guys, 

You wanted it, you got it! After polling my LinkedIn community on future topics for this newsletter, the results were clear: you want PIPING HOT TAKES!

YouTube is a perfect platform to kick up debate. With so many creators trying new things every day, YouTube is more than a platform: it’s a massive hub for experimentation. It’s constantly showing us new data on how to retain and grow audiences, and what they’re responding to. 

At Upload Club, we’re constantly evaluating this data… which means we’re constantly forming new hypotheses and checking our biases. The learning is always ongoing. (This is why we love YouTube, and love what we do!) 

So, it can strike a nerve when we see folks post on LinkedIn (or wherever) using the language of absolutes. “Vlogs are over!” “Outros are bad!” “Golf Content Flops” Etc. etc. This is the behavior that puts us in Debate Me Bro stance. 

So in the spirit of getting past the Always-es and Nevers, here are our hottest takes:

4 Things YouTubers Love to Have Opinions On:

#1 VLOGS

The Absolutist Take: “Vlogs don’t perform well on YouTube”

Our Take: “They can if done right”

Slice-of-life content helped launch Youtube 20 years ago (happy B-day YT!). But

Youtube now hosts almost 114 million channels. It can be tricky to make a personalized video diary stand out. But it can be done! 

Don’t believe us? Look at Emma Chamberlain: 12M subscribers plus a spinoff podcast and a coffee company. Or, if you think she’s an outlier, look at Hamimommy, Claudia Sulewski, or a recent favorite from an emerging creator, Camille Latzke. 

The main challenge for vloggers is typically retention. If your video doesn’t have a clear throughline, viewers can easily drop off. But vlogs can have throughlines, just like a scripted video. You can still apply compelling storytelling tools like foreshadowing, hooks, suspense… and of course, a compelling title and thumbnail. Peep the above examples for proof that a vlog can hold an audience’s attention. 

When the creator community hates on vlogs, we think they’re actually hating on poorly executed & packaged vlogs. Do it thoughtfully, and you won’t have to fear this format. 🔥

#2 EPISODIC CONTENT

The Absolutist Take: “Never do episodic”

Our Take: “Try mix-and-match instead of sequential”

This is one we see a lot—you likely have too. Many, many consultants will advise you to steer clear of episodic content on YouTube. Why? Because YAO: Youtube Abhors Order. Youtube’s interface isn’t geared towards sequential playlists (...yet). And casual viewers won’t diligently queue up your “Part Six” after they just watched “Part Five.” It’s a point of friction, and friction drives down viewer counts. 

But we say, episodic can work… if you construct your episodes in a way that isn’t order-dependent. Think, ‘mix-and-match’ instead of serial (Her86m2 does this exquisitely).

Take the Netflix series-turned-meme-factory, I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson. Is this an episodic show? Definitely. Does it matter if you watch the hot dog sketch after Brian’s Hat? Not at all. 

(So much TV used to work this way, btw! The makes of Seinfeld and Friends assumed no one would be able to see every episode. So even though they built long-arc plotlines and running gags, it was possible to miss a few eps or watch reruns out of order, and still know what was going on.) 

So keep calm and carry on making episodic: as long as you don’t mind a little remixing. 🔥🔥

#3 “THE YOUTUBE ALGORITHM CHANGED… AGAIN”

The Absolutist Take: “Curse the algo”

Our Take: “Embrace change”

Be honest: how many hours have you personally spent cursing YouTube’s inscrutable algorithm? The most important metric is click-through rate. No, it’s watch time. No, it’s unique users. Come on, YouTube! Can creators catch a break here?

But imagine for a second that the algo never changed, and once growth hackers cracked the secrets of scale, they worked forever.. The result would be… a SUPER boring YouTube. Because every video with millions of views would look the same. 

YouTube’s algorithm is just a reflection of how people use the platform—it’s a reflection of us! Without these tweaks, YouTube might have peaked at Dramatic Prairie Dog. Let’s lean in, embrace change, and help keep YouTube growing. 🔥🔥🔥

#4 “SHOULD I LEAVE MY JOB TO BECOME A YOUTUBER?”

The Absolutist Take: “Yes”

The Other Absolutist Take (lol): “No”

Our Take: “IYKYK”

This one’s never easy to answer, because it’s so personal to every creator. Some people work best when they’re allowed to focus… even if it can be scary to put all your eggs in one financial basket.

Other folks need the stability of a financial safety net in order to really cut loose and take creative risks. Legendary music producer Rick Rubin writes about this in his book, The Creative Act: A Way Of Being. “It’s okay to have a job that supports your art habit,” he writes. “Doing both is a better way of keeping the work pure.” Well said, Rick. 

So why do we keep seeing people posting all-or-nothing rules on this? “You will NEVER be successful unless you quit your day job!” “If you have to ask whether to quit your day job, DON’T — it means you’re not ready!!”

BOTH of these takes feel presumptuous to us. This choice is sooooo individual to every creator and their situation! Do you have kids / family? How much is your rent? How flexible is that day job? Are you a natural risk-taker? Or do you need extra nudging before taking any big step? 

Our hottest take of all may be this one: “If you know, you know.” That’s YOU, not us! 

What we can do is point out common traps to avoid, like wishful thinking (‘My growth is flat now, but if I quit my job and put EVERYTHING into this channel, it will definitely spike!’) But the only person who can actually tell you with certainty is you. 🔥🔥🔥🔥

–  Hayley

Disagree with any of these hot takes? Let us know at [email protected]! We love a debate. Also, next month we’ll be talking about…. Podcasts on Youtube, so stay tuned.

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