The YouTube Formula

11Identify Your Audience

Most new YouTube creators use the classic “spaghetti approach” to make content: they throw it against the wall and see what sticks. This might work if you want your pasta just right, but it does not work for successful YouTube content. You can't upload content willy‐nilly and cross your fingers that everyone will watch it; you have to get tactical to figure out what works with a precise audience. Your audience consists of the individual viewer, which we sometimes call the avatar, or the representation of the actual person on the other side. I use these terms interchangeably throughout the book. Understanding the avatar is the most important thing you can do. It doesn't matter if you're using video to grow an audience or to sell something, you have to know who your audience is.

Before you worry about the audience, though, you must focus on your content. If you're not making good content in a niche you are passionate about, your channel will fail, plain and simple. Do something you care about, and make good content. Period. The audience will follow, and YouTube will follow the audience. I will show you exactly how to get tactical about it, but remember that you have to start with a commitment to a passion. I have seen plenty of creators who change their content too quickly; they aren't giving the content a chance to sit long enough to gather data and make a strategic plan. If you are working with something you care about, you should be willing to put ...