Channel feeling dead and it’s breaking my spirit

[u/nickdebruyne]

I really need some advice. Your responses really would be appreciated. Instead of growing with consistent views, so many of my videos from the past 6-8 months are barely breaking 250-400 views anymore. For some context:

I have a gaming channel that’s around 4 to 5 years old now with around 300 videos, monetised for nearly 3 years I think. I have just under 3000 subscribers, and recently passed 1 million views… But it feels like barely any of my recent videos ever get many views except for the odd occasion. It breaks my spirit because despite it making a bit of money and getting some decent overall views from the entire library, (around 40k hours a month), I make videos in the hopes that people watch them and we can also connect and chat, etc. The channel feels a bit lifeless.

I got to a point here I considered 1000 views on a video to be a success, and I started getting more 5,000s and some 10,000+ with a few really big performers, but this is killing me… 300 views, 130 views, 260 views. Some old performers are still performing day after day, but this is breaking me. The biggest misconception I had was that as I got more subscribers, my videos would have a higher consistent floor of viewers - but honestly it feels more like people subscribe and then forget the channel exists, as so many views are from new viewers.

Where I know I could improve: I haven’t picked a hard sub-niche, and I know that I experiment with formats and video concepts too much, so my content isn’t a consistent format for returning viewers. I possibly tweak and update thumbnails and titles too much. I really need some advice, I feel like i want to throw in the towel because I love it but it’s a lot of work and energy and it sucks to feel like it’s not really going anywhere.

[u/B_Bearington]

It seems that your core audience isn't connecting with your content. There's no easy fix for this. You have to find what people want from you and do more of that. I don't making gaming content, but there's so much of it out there. You really have to bring something unique and special to your content if you want to get ahead.

[u/nickdebruyne → u/B_Bearington]

I do think, especially with my original approach and style, I am bringing something a bit unique to the space… However I think one of my major hurdles is that because I’m a broad gaming channel that covers all game releases and reviews different games, I can’t lockdown a niche of people who play a single game. Someone sees my video, really likes what I’m doing, subscribes, but then has no interest in the three next games that I cover. It’s a tricky one, but I really also don’t want to lock myself down to cover covering just one game, or even genre

[u/B_Bearington → u/nickdebruyne]

Yeah, that seems to be a major issue with game channels. People are not there for a variety of content, just one specific game. I honestly don't think I have ever subbed to a game channel besides AVGN back in the day.

[u/Big2xA → u/nickdebruyne]

I apologize, because I haven't watched your videos. But a glance at your channel didn't really give me the sense of a unique approach and style. Your thumbnails are very well done and look great, but look exactly like what I'd expect this content to look like. Your titles are also a bit "old media" - lots of "is this good?" "Is this worth it" kinds of titles, when the modern method is more focused on making declarative statements that surprise or intrigue people. Especially considering most people already have a channel they go to or trust for this kind of current events video. You're operating like you're IGN and people are coming to your channel and you're politely labeling every video. In your shoes, I would think about how can I get people interested enough to click through and see my unique style and approach.

[u/nickdebruyne → u/Big2xA]

Great points, and thanks - truth be told I’ve been moving further away from my original unique approach and maybe that’s the problem, because by experimenting and branching out I’m maybe becoming a bit too generic. Believe it or not the “is it worth it / is it good” titles have actually been very good to me especially when I swap to them a while after publishing because they are very effective at pulling google and YouTube search traffic, because it’s essentially exactly what people type in”

[u/Big2xA → u/nickdebruyne]

That's actually pretty legit - I can't blame you for swapping to the questions for long-tail, I like that. But I do think there's gotta be titles that are bigger draws to the random youtube passerby!

[u/Necessary-Star-6619]

I feel this in my bones. 3000 subs and 40k watch hours a month is actually really decent for a channel that experiments a lot. The experimenting is probably why it feels dead, not because you're doing something wrong but because the algorithm needs time to figure out who to show each new style to

I had similar thing with my horse training channel, whenever I switch between western and dressage content the views tank for a bit until the right audience finds it. Maybe pick one game or format and commit for like 10 videos straight, see if the consistency wakes things up

[u/nickdebruyne → u/Necessary-Star-6619]

Thanks, this is potentially really good advice. I should try this sort of short term consistency on format and see how it goes.

[u/Forward_Problem_7550]

Mate, I can relate to this more than you know.

I've been doing YouTube for around a year and a half now sitting at nearly 1,500 subscribers and just over 570K views. I've had videos reach 15K, 30K and even 40K views, only for my next upload to struggle to break 100.

It's honestly one of the most frustrating things about YouTube. You put hours into a video, genuinely believe it's some of your best work, and then watch it go absolutely nowhere.

But something I've had to remind myself is that growth on YouTube isn't linear. Just because your videos aren't performing like they once did doesn't mean your channel is dead or that you've suddenly become a worse creator.

You've built a channel with nearly 3,000 subscribers, over a million views and a library of content that's still bringing people in. That's a pretty incredible achievement when you think about it.

I also think one of the biggest traps we fall into as smaller creators is letting our best performing videos become the standard we expect every upload to reach. Suddenly 300 views feels like a failure because we've experienced 10,000 before.

If you're feeling burnt out, take a break. Experiment with something you genuinely want to make rather than something you think will perform well. There's nothing wrong with slowing down.

At the end of the day, most of us started doing this because we enjoyed creating videos, not because we wanted to spend every waking moment worrying about impressions and CTR.

You've already achieved something the vast majority of people who start YouTube never will. Don't let a rough few months/years take that away from you.

Keep your head up mate, you're doing better than you think.

[u/nickdebruyne → u/Forward_Problem_7550]

Thanks man, I appreciate that. Maybe the takeaway here needs to be that I need to slow down my output, so that I don’t feel burnt out by working a lot on something that isn’t giving me the feedback I want. Maybe just work a bit less and on things I really want to work on. I appreciate it

[u/Ok_Antelope9918]

Hey I understand; I’m about to hit year 3 on a gaming channel and even though I’ve had success, it’s not been a linear experience. I’m around 3 million views and 1 million watch hours, but consistency is hard when doing retrospectives for random games.

Another wrench was that I did lore videos for specific games which got me a decent amount of subscribers, but I didn’t want to keep doing that so I decided to fully focus on retrospectives which is much slower growth. I’m about to hit 18,000 subscribers but as you said, that doesn’t make the floor for videos greater.

Sometimes it’s hard not to conflate views and earnings with success and purpose. I have to remind myself that if it was worth it when making 10 dollars a day, it’s worth it at 30.

But yes, the ups and downs, especially with impressions being so linked to views and not having control over that is mentally exhausting

[u/voxxhoxx]

I was in your position once. 26k subs. 3mil views but video barely cracking 1k view. I would go as far as considering 500 views a success.

Now im at 100k subs. Videos constantly gets more than 20k views and even more.

But it took me 3 years to get there and it all happen because I decide to stop chasing whats everyone was playing and start doing something on my own.

[u/nickdebruyne → u/voxxhoxx]

Interesting thanks. Whats your channel. I don’t see it on your profile.

[u/voxxhoxx → u/nickdebruyne]

I removed my channel's link from my profile after my channel started seeing growth. I figured I don't want any outside interference since I'm active in all yt subreddit.

[u/NeutralMilkHotel_00]

It's almost impossible to make it with gaming content. You need to do something that makes yourself stand out and likable to viewers. It's such saturated content.

[u/wh1tepointer]

I took a look at your channel and I'm going to be honest - you're not doing anything that sets you apart. As others have said, gaming is a saturated niche, and you need to be doing something unique that gives people a reason to watch you. You're trying lots of stuff to see what clicks, and I can relate, I was doing the same thing until I landed on something that worked. But the stuff you're trying is, itself, also oversaturated. You can't just be reporting gaming news, hundreds of channels are already doing that. You can't just be reviewing games or doing let's plays, thousands of channels are already doing that. You can't just be complaining about stuff like game exclusivity, physical discs, multiplayer etc because this is well trodden ground that many other channels cover. What reason do viewers have to watch you in particular rather than all of the other channels doing the same thing?

Your thumbnails for the most part are also pretty generic - most of them are a face close-up (either yours or a character from the game) specifically on the right side of the image, with text to the left of it and a saturated background image behind it. It pretty much just looks like a copy-paste job from thumbnail to thumbnail.

You need to find your own identity. You need to find your own sub-niche, as it were, that isn't heavily populated by other channels but still has a potential core audience and go from there. It took me over 6 years to even get monetised, but once I found my audience and I managed to make that happen I haven't looked back. You can't just be doing what everyone else is doing and expect to find success. Good luck.

[u/nickdebruyne → u/wh1tepointer]

Thanks man, I appreciate the feedback and that you checked out the channel properly even. The branching out to news and lets plays and all has been some recent experimentation, while my original dedicated style was game reviews (I do have the advantage of reviewing games before they launch along with other global outlets), but my own spin on the reviews was that I played with a quick, fun editing style with a lot of meme or movie references or little gags that would get people laughing. That’s also what I enjoyed creating the most (some examples would be Helldivers 2 review, starfield review, resident evil 9 review, space marines 2 preview).

I think what’s luring me into videos like longer, more unscripted game coverage is that I toyed with them a bit and some of them did really well (is star wars outlaws good now, Diablo 2 good now, etc) because I quite enjoyed doing something a bit more casual and unscripted and they seemed to perform very well.

I’m interested in what you said about the thumbnails because I’ve really been working on that a lot - and to my knowledge it was about keeping it consistent so that people can identify them easily in future too, but you framed that consistency almost like it’s cut and paste (and it really isn’t, I spend way way way too long on thumbnails and doing like 12 versions) - but it’s something else I’ll take to heart.

Thanks again, I appreciate it. If my response brings any other thoughts to mind I’d love to hear your thoughts.

[u/jimgpayne]

I would strongly suggest that you try doing a 30 minute livestream once a week to engage with and talk to your viewers in addition to your normal videos.

You are hoping for connection, so you need to give them a way to reach out directly to you and this will help a lot in that.

Also, you will find that there is a small hardcore group of subscribers that have been with you from the very beginning. Connecting with them is vital for you to feel like you're making a difference.

Give the 30 minute weekly livestream about a month for them to settle in with you.

I've been doing this for years now, and the core group of about 10 subscribers have literally become my best friends. We actually end up doing multiple group zoom calls each week in addition to the channel livestreams.

[u/nickdebruyne → u/jimgpayne]

Hmm thanks a lot, interesting idea. I’m gonna think about this. I’d like to rather build an audience I can connect with rather than (only) just have videos that get views as products of their own

[u/jimgpayne → u/nickdebruyne]

Let me know if you do this and how it works for you.

Don't be discouraged.... Being a content creator is not an easy job. And it is way too easy to feel like no one is listening.

[u/nickdebruyne → u/jimgpayne]

Thanks, I do have one question though. When you say a live stream, do you mean like playing a game and chatting to people or something on a channel like mine… Or do you mean something more like just me on camera chatting about something and other people can jump in the chat and join?

[u/Localmate25 → u/jimgpayne]

This

[u/Fearless-Basil-6644]

youTube has never been through a real recession.

Recession = less ads and less views.

It's a race to the bottom business which is why I rarely contribute videos.