What we're up against

I missed this guest post on TechCrunch last year, about how to get your videos to climb the YouTube charts. It’s worth reading, in part because it’s rather depressing, though do see the follow-up.

Still too much for you? Here’s a video summarising the main points.

Ouch.

Things to remember, though:

• YouTube isn’t the only video site that’s important. It’s merely the most visible one. It’s a very broad, unfocussed audience. Is that what your video needs?
• 100,000 views is, in the UK, minority cable/satellite channel territory. The rule of thumb for BBC2 evenings used to be that one million viewers was a bit low, two million meant a recommission. 100,000 views globally is trivially small. Hence:
• What matters isn’t volume, it’s proportion. What proportion of your target audience sees your video?

It’s entirely valid for your video to have a target audience of one. If that person sees your film, and they react the way you’d hoped, then the other 99,999 viewers are either bonus or irrelevance.