motonomad
Wannabie Member
Fair enough! That seems like pretty fast growth for a new channel! I'm sure things will get exponential soon. Glad to hear of your success, I've just started a TikTok account
Maybe I should just Tik-Tok!
- Thread starter lonerockz
- Start date
Drakhen99
The Forrest Gump of Motovloggers
I did a video recently about how much I dislike shorts, reels, all the TikTok stuff. I just don't enjoy them. Sure, if I have 30 seconds or so, I'll watch one that scrolls by on FB, but I don't go looking for it.
What I record doesn't lend itself to short-form. Occasionally though, I will have a snippet of video that does fit, so I post it. Most of them do nothing, so it's sort of a wasted effort for me. I'd much rather spend a few hours editing a longer video.
I still haven't "cracked the code" of YouTube, though. I have slow, steady growth, and a lot of engagement with regular viewers, which I cherish. It's what keeps me going in this hobby.
I do know a guy who has IG and YT, and he uses IG to funnel viewers to his YT channel. It sort of works, he's at 51k followers on IG and 5k on YT, so he's doing well. Monetized on both, and it's not full-time money, but it certainly doesn't hurt! I just can't be bothered to do both well.
-John
What I record doesn't lend itself to short-form. Occasionally though, I will have a snippet of video that does fit, so I post it. Most of them do nothing, so it's sort of a wasted effort for me. I'd much rather spend a few hours editing a longer video.
I still haven't "cracked the code" of YouTube, though. I have slow, steady growth, and a lot of engagement with regular viewers, which I cherish. It's what keeps me going in this hobby.
I do know a guy who has IG and YT, and he uses IG to funnel viewers to his YT channel. It sort of works, he's at 51k followers on IG and 5k on YT, so he's doing well. Monetized on both, and it's not full-time money, but it certainly doesn't hurt! I just can't be bothered to do both well.
-John
motonomad
Wannabie Member
So, tried TikTok. The impression rate is insane, but that seems to be for shorts in general. My shorts on Youtube got thousands of views as well. Instagram, not so much. Instagram kind of seems like the least useful social platform thus far (for me). The cool thing about youtube/tiktok/instagram shorts is I can just make one short and apply them to each of the platforms. Sooo, thanks for this! I likely wouldn't have touched shorts or TikTok without seeing this post. TikTok is by far the most successful for me so far with only two shorts, and 12k+ views
MotoWolfUK
L Plate Member
I noticed a strange thing with TikTok live, though. I get thousands of “loves” but as soon as the lives over it stays the same amount of likes on my page? Where do the “loves” go? Suppose they’re temporary which is a bit disheartening. 
lonerockz
Wannabie Member
Glad that some folks are finding this discussion helpful.
A quick tip, Analytics aren't on by default in TikTok. If you hit the hamburger icon in the upper right, then select creator tools and then analytics. It will ask you if you want to turn it on. You will not get data from before then, just once you turn it on, and its only updated overnight.
TikTok has slowed down for me quite a bit. I'm guessing that they blast out anything that that is getting traction early on, but then as they begin to identify your audience they focus in on people that engage with your content. So my clips on TikTok have settled down a lot. Most now are getting 1k views, with some exceptions getting about 4k views. My follower growth has dropped to about 20 new followers a day. TikTok seems to bias showing people content that you might like, over showing content from people you follow. Its a more natural viral generator. If people that don't follow you engage, then TikTok will start blasting it out to a wider audience. I'm now at 860 followers after 2 weeks being on there.
My Instagram has also been growing. I'm just over 500 followers in 4 weeks. My clips are slowing down as well, but I still get 10-15 new followers a day. I'm not sure but I think Insta does show your content more if you spend time on the platform viewing content. Insta is biased to show you content from people you follow. It suggests a lot less content from people that you don't follow than TikTok. It will not generate the kind of viral content that TikTok does.
YouTube shorts is just a mess. What a shit show. Don't get me wrong, I love YouTube, but its no secret that creators hate their shorts. Most times YouTube will blast out one of my shorts and give it a shot for 1-2k views. I'll get 20-40 likes and 1-3 new subs. Then last week something changed and I was only getting 200-400 views on a clip. But I still got my 1-3 subs, the only thing I care about. The new subs are the only reason I bother on YouTube. Maddeningly sometimes YouTub doesn't give my short a chance. Yesterday I posted one that has only 20 views! My clip today? 1600 views until they pulled the plug. Why?!? Only YouTube knows and they aren't telling. Once a clip get pulled after it's initial trail it almost never gets another shot. It will get one or two views a day, but my guess is they are from your home page, not the shorts feed.
I have stopped posting daily shorts. I've switched to every other day. This is because I don't want to post the long from tips videos each week. I don't have the time/interest to post each week. This feels more sustainable. But it looks like YouTube may punish my old shorts because of this. I'm going to try to create some shorts from my travel stuff to see if I can get back up to one a day.
Good luck!
A quick tip, Analytics aren't on by default in TikTok. If you hit the hamburger icon in the upper right, then select creator tools and then analytics. It will ask you if you want to turn it on. You will not get data from before then, just once you turn it on, and its only updated overnight.
TikTok has slowed down for me quite a bit. I'm guessing that they blast out anything that that is getting traction early on, but then as they begin to identify your audience they focus in on people that engage with your content. So my clips on TikTok have settled down a lot. Most now are getting 1k views, with some exceptions getting about 4k views. My follower growth has dropped to about 20 new followers a day. TikTok seems to bias showing people content that you might like, over showing content from people you follow. Its a more natural viral generator. If people that don't follow you engage, then TikTok will start blasting it out to a wider audience. I'm now at 860 followers after 2 weeks being on there.
My Instagram has also been growing. I'm just over 500 followers in 4 weeks. My clips are slowing down as well, but I still get 10-15 new followers a day. I'm not sure but I think Insta does show your content more if you spend time on the platform viewing content. Insta is biased to show you content from people you follow. It suggests a lot less content from people that you don't follow than TikTok. It will not generate the kind of viral content that TikTok does.
YouTube shorts is just a mess. What a shit show. Don't get me wrong, I love YouTube, but its no secret that creators hate their shorts. Most times YouTube will blast out one of my shorts and give it a shot for 1-2k views. I'll get 20-40 likes and 1-3 new subs. Then last week something changed and I was only getting 200-400 views on a clip. But I still got my 1-3 subs, the only thing I care about. The new subs are the only reason I bother on YouTube. Maddeningly sometimes YouTub doesn't give my short a chance. Yesterday I posted one that has only 20 views! My clip today? 1600 views until they pulled the plug. Why?!? Only YouTube knows and they aren't telling. Once a clip get pulled after it's initial trail it almost never gets another shot. It will get one or two views a day, but my guess is they are from your home page, not the shorts feed.
I have stopped posting daily shorts. I've switched to every other day. This is because I don't want to post the long from tips videos each week. I don't have the time/interest to post each week. This feels more sustainable. But it looks like YouTube may punish my old shorts because of this. I'm going to try to create some shorts from my travel stuff to see if I can get back up to one a day.
Good luck!
motonomad
Wannabie Member
Damn, that's embarrassing. I didn't have analytics turned on as somebody who frequently deals with analytics as a day job. Thanks for this tip, too!
One thing I noticed, which is pretty unfortunate for myself, is that when I registered for TikTok here in Thailand, my region is set to Thailand. I'm unable to switch to Canada unless I have "been there for 90 days" (whatever that means). I guess the alternative is to setup a new account with location services off and my VPN set to Canada. For now, I'm likely building an audience whom will be unable to understand my commentary based videos (luckily only have one thus far). Guess that's a tip for anybody who is making vlog videos outside of NA/EU whom has a primary audience of English speakers!
lonerockz
Wannabie Member
As I posted in my other thread on a little success TikTok seems to love me. So I'm rethinking my plan as a "Creator".
There are three creators that do a great job that I'm going to try to emulate. AdoboMoto does a great job doing "Tips" type content in shorts. I'm not as good looking or charismatic as him so his style won't work for me, but what he delivers in a short is really valuable.
Then Nata_ontheroad and cylinderella do really good very short travel videos. I like my travel videos because they are highly edited and tight and not just someone riding on a bike. These two creators make 20-30 second daily updates that are fun and informative. I'm going to try to recut my videos into 30 seconds clips and see how they do and more importantly how I like them.
There are three creators that do a great job that I'm going to try to emulate. AdoboMoto does a great job doing "Tips" type content in shorts. I'm not as good looking or charismatic as him so his style won't work for me, but what he delivers in a short is really valuable.
Then Nata_ontheroad and cylinderella do really good very short travel videos. I like my travel videos because they are highly edited and tight and not just someone riding on a bike. These two creators make 20-30 second daily updates that are fun and informative. I'm going to try to recut my videos into 30 seconds clips and see how they do and more importantly how I like them.
LimeyRider
Who left the rain on?
Did not know about that little tik tok analytics tip, gone and turned it on now!
Meifesto
Semi-Suicidal Dutchie
Never used shorts on Youtube (or maybe one), as I don't want to clutter the channel.
Insta I only use for photo's so maybe not the best way to gain traffic to youtube.
Something to improve on?
I used TikTok randomly, but I have started a test something the last month.
Using roughly 30 secs clips of my youtube video on tiktok. Lower quality render ofcourse.
I haven't seen much improvement on the youtube size, but did gain some followers there.
I could use the tiktok clips on insta I guess?
Insta I only use for photo's so maybe not the best way to gain traffic to youtube.
Something to improve on?
I used TikTok randomly, but I have started a test something the last month.
Using roughly 30 secs clips of my youtube video on tiktok. Lower quality render ofcourse.
I haven't seen much improvement on the youtube size, but did gain some followers there.
I could use the tiktok clips on insta I guess?
lonerockz
Wannabie Member
Posting an update for those who care.
I know many people have commented that they hate shorts and so they don't use them. My key take away is that shorts are what YOU make them. I am learning to produce content that is well received on all three platforms, and I can be proud of. I'm happy that I'm not just reproducing the same meme crap that 99% of people on these platforms are slinging out. I think this is really helping out my growth on TT and IG.
The last 3 weeks have seen good growth on all three platforms. Subscribers sit at: 204 YT/1648 TT/ 1915 IG. Approximately +100% YT/+200% TT/+300% IG. I consider that fantastic growth considering I have no boobs to flash. I don't think flashing my moobs will increase growth!
I have abandoned all hope of getting IG or TT people to move platforms. While I'm sure that there are one or two that do this, it will never happen in big numbers, so why swim against the stream. So I have adjusted and now post all seven shorts on all platforms. In addition on my latest 7 Iron Butt tips (Thanks for the watch @Theodor and @Drakhen99!!) I posted the long form video on all three platforms. I recut the video for vertical format for IG and TT.
I had guessed that TT would perhaps force more people to watch the full 7 minute video. TT is trying to get people to post long form content and so I was curious what would happen. Either they are doing this or my video got good engagement. In 3 days it has 34k views, 800 likes and 110 comments. The comments are very high (partially to one asshole and 2 defenders that decided to go at it in the comments
). Now only 1% of viewers watched the whole thing. BUT that is 340 people, I have only 350 views on YT, with 49% retention, so more people watched the whole thing on TT than YT. But it also reinvigorated my TT followers. I had fallen to less than 10 new followers a day, it sparked a storm of 400 new followers in 3 days.
My average views on TT are pretty high when I compare myself with other non-boobie moto-centric content on TT. My content is getting about a third of the views that Adobomoto gets on his, and he has 460k followers! So I'm pretty happy. My top TT video appears to be a happy mistake. On my 7 things not to take on a moto trip vid I started with "#7- Tires" I of course meant SPARE tires. But didn't say that. This engaged well with non-moto people and I have 220k views on TT.
TT is a very bursty platform. They really are all about the Memes and the traffic pattern you get there is like turning the fire hydrant on and off. Feels great when the burst is happening, but you wonder what the hell happened when it stops.
Over on IG its still a positive story, but different that TT. IG is much less bursty. I get steady growth all the time. My long video hasn't gotten much attention. I think IG really doesn't know what the hell to do with long content. But IG keeps content around for longer and shows new people my older posts, so I'm getting growth across from all my clips there.
Back on YT and I appear to be in phase 2 of the shorts game. Periodically one of my older shorts will make it back into rotation. This has happened a few times. YT takes it off the shelf, forces a few thousand people to watch it and then I get a few followers. I'd estimate that 50% of my followers directly subscribed while watching a short. I'd also guess that it helps my long from content get more views. I think people watch the short and come to the channel to watch the long.
I'm really happy with my viewership on my long videos on YT. I have 2 videos that are closing in on 1,000 views and my latest clip has over 300 views after only 4 days. I compare myself with other larger channels and those seem really good. I'm not sure I can keep the content up, but if I can it's only a matter of time.
Thanks for reading!
Steve
I know many people have commented that they hate shorts and so they don't use them. My key take away is that shorts are what YOU make them. I am learning to produce content that is well received on all three platforms, and I can be proud of. I'm happy that I'm not just reproducing the same meme crap that 99% of people on these platforms are slinging out. I think this is really helping out my growth on TT and IG.
The last 3 weeks have seen good growth on all three platforms. Subscribers sit at: 204 YT/1648 TT/ 1915 IG. Approximately +100% YT/+200% TT/+300% IG. I consider that fantastic growth considering I have no boobs to flash. I don't think flashing my moobs will increase growth!
I have abandoned all hope of getting IG or TT people to move platforms. While I'm sure that there are one or two that do this, it will never happen in big numbers, so why swim against the stream. So I have adjusted and now post all seven shorts on all platforms. In addition on my latest 7 Iron Butt tips (Thanks for the watch @Theodor and @Drakhen99!!) I posted the long form video on all three platforms. I recut the video for vertical format for IG and TT.
I had guessed that TT would perhaps force more people to watch the full 7 minute video. TT is trying to get people to post long form content and so I was curious what would happen. Either they are doing this or my video got good engagement. In 3 days it has 34k views, 800 likes and 110 comments. The comments are very high (partially to one asshole and 2 defenders that decided to go at it in the comments
). Now only 1% of viewers watched the whole thing. BUT that is 340 people, I have only 350 views on YT, with 49% retention, so more people watched the whole thing on TT than YT. But it also reinvigorated my TT followers. I had fallen to less than 10 new followers a day, it sparked a storm of 400 new followers in 3 days.My average views on TT are pretty high when I compare myself with other non-boobie moto-centric content on TT. My content is getting about a third of the views that Adobomoto gets on his, and he has 460k followers! So I'm pretty happy. My top TT video appears to be a happy mistake. On my 7 things not to take on a moto trip vid I started with "#7- Tires" I of course meant SPARE tires. But didn't say that. This engaged well with non-moto people and I have 220k views on TT.
TT is a very bursty platform. They really are all about the Memes and the traffic pattern you get there is like turning the fire hydrant on and off. Feels great when the burst is happening, but you wonder what the hell happened when it stops.
Over on IG its still a positive story, but different that TT. IG is much less bursty. I get steady growth all the time. My long video hasn't gotten much attention. I think IG really doesn't know what the hell to do with long content. But IG keeps content around for longer and shows new people my older posts, so I'm getting growth across from all my clips there.
Back on YT and I appear to be in phase 2 of the shorts game. Periodically one of my older shorts will make it back into rotation. This has happened a few times. YT takes it off the shelf, forces a few thousand people to watch it and then I get a few followers. I'd estimate that 50% of my followers directly subscribed while watching a short. I'd also guess that it helps my long from content get more views. I think people watch the short and come to the channel to watch the long.
I'm really happy with my viewership on my long videos on YT. I have 2 videos that are closing in on 1,000 views and my latest clip has over 300 views after only 4 days. I compare myself with other larger channels and those seem really good. I'm not sure I can keep the content up, but if I can it's only a matter of time.
Thanks for reading!
Steve
Drakhen99
The Forrest Gump of Motovloggers
You're doing great! I enjoy your videos - they're informative without being overly long... so basically, the antithesis of minePosting an update for those who care.
I know many people have commented that they hate shorts and so they don't use them. My key take away is that shorts are what YOU make them. I am learning to produce content that is well received on all three platforms, and I can be proud of. I'm happy that I'm not just reproducing the same meme crap that 99% of people on these platforms are slinging out. I think this is really helping out my growth on TT and IG.
The last 3 weeks have seen good growth on all three platforms. Subscribers sit at: 204 YT/1648 TT/ 1915 IG. Approximately +100% YT/+200% TT/+300% IG. I consider that fantastic growth considering I have no boobs to flash. I don't think flashing my moobs will increase growth!
I have abandoned all hope of getting IG or TT people to move platforms. While I'm sure that there are one or two that do this, it will never happen in big numbers, so why swim against the stream. So I have adjusted and now post all seven shorts on all platforms. In addition on my latest 7 Iron Butt tips (Thanks for the watch @Theodor and @Drakhen99!!) I posted the long form video on all three platforms. I recut the video for vertical format for IG and TT.
I had guessed that TT would perhaps force more people to watch the full 7 minute video. TT is trying to get people to post long form content and so I was curious what would happen. Either they are doing this or my video got good engagement. In 3 days it has 34k views, 800 likes and 110 comments. The comments are very high (partially to one asshole and 2 defenders that decided to go at it in the comments
My average views on TT are pretty high when I compare myself with other non-boobie moto-centric content on TT. My content is getting about a third of the views that Adobomoto gets on his, and he has 460k followers! So I'm pretty happy. My top TT video appears to be a happy mistake. On my 7 things not to take on a moto trip vid I started with "#7- Tires" I of course meant SPARE tires. But didn't say that. This engaged well with non-moto people and I have 220k views on TT.
TT is a very bursty platform. They really are all about the Memes and the traffic pattern you get there is like turning the fire hydrant on and off. Feels great when the burst is happening, but you wonder what the hell happened when it stops.
Over on IG its still a positive story, but different that TT. IG is much less bursty. I get steady growth all the time. My long video hasn't gotten much attention. I think IG really doesn't know what the hell to do with long content. But IG keeps content around for longer and shows new people my older posts, so I'm getting growth across from all my clips there.
Back on YT and I appear to be in phase 2 of the shorts game. Periodically one of my older shorts will make it back into rotation. This has happened a few times. YT takes it off the shelf, forces a few thousand people to watch it and then I get a few followers. I'd estimate that 50% of my followers directly subscribed while watching a short. I'd also guess that it helps my long from content get more views. I think people watch the short and come to the channel to watch the long.
I'm really happy with my viewership on my long videos on YT. I have 2 videos that are closing in on 1,000 views and my latest clip has over 300 views after only 4 days. I compare myself with other larger channels and those seem really good. I'm not sure I can keep the content up, but if I can it's only a matter of time.
Thanks for reading!
Steve
-John
lonerockz
Wannabie Member
Lol. You've got a lot of great videos too! I need to add some humor to my vids, something you do well!You're doing great! I enjoy your videos - they're informative without being overly long... so basically, the antithesis of mine
-John
Yeah, I'm keeping mine short. I don't really care about monetization. So watch hours don't matter to me. So I keep them super short rather than babble on. I watched some other videos on how to tour, and they were like 30 minutes long and said less than my 5-minute vid!
My tips videos all have great watch %. However, everyone tunes out in my Outros. So I'm going to move those up in the video. Right now, it's Tip 7, Intro, Tips 6-1, Ourto. I will go to Tip 7, Intro, Tips 6-2, Outro, Tip 1.
Drakhen99
The Forrest Gump of Motovloggers
Thanks - when you can't be informative, at least be entertaining... that's my motto!
As for moving your outro, it just may not be necessary. I watch a fair number of videos on "how to youtube" - and they just END. info info info [call to action] info info [watch this video next] [end].
The [call to action] can be an ask to hit the like button, subscribe, whatever, and [watch this video next] is usually something related [doesn't relate to me, my stuff is all over the place usually, and i mention other videos where applicable earlier in the video] and then they just end.
I stopped doing my daily mantras at the end, but someone commented that they liked hearing that, so i leave it in, and just throw an info card over it and call it a day. If I remember earlier, or if I say something particularly helpful or funny, I'll ask for a like. And I add a subscribe overlay sometimes, wherever it seems to fit, and that's about it.
What I don't particularly care for [it works for others, just feels insincere for me] is the "before we get started, don't forget to like/comment/subscribe" thing. Nah, the "pros" all recommend doing that AFTER providing value, whatever you deem that to be.
And now that I typed all this, I'm pretty sure if you scroll up, I said the same thing. Oh well, I put the effort into typing, you can read it again. It might help, who knows. I'll see myself out!
-John
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