Gaming is a multi-billion-dollar industry nowadays.
And even though the biggest companies do snag the biggest part of the financial cake for themselves, that doesn’t mean that you don’t have a lot to gain by launching a solo career as a professional gamer.
Now, there are many ways you can succeed in gaming. But one of the most lucrative opportunities lies on the YouTube platform, as this is one of the most popular mass media platforms in the world.
YouTube allows you to stream and upload some amazing gaming content, but most importantly, it allows you to build a devoted community of followers.
In turn, this will help you build your brand, attract people to your business on YouTube (it is a business, after all), and pave the road to stable growth and success.
The keyword here is stable, of course, because you need to find a way to stay afloat and grow your gaming channel no matter how the platform evolves over the years.
That said, this doesn’t mean that making it on YouTube is easy, because this is a pretty saturated space in the online world.
You will need to employ some effective tactics to promote your gaming products, your gaming channel, and your brand as a whole.
So let’s take a look at the five tips that will help your YouTube gaming channel thrive in 2020.
1. Start by building a unique identity
You might have some truly amazing content ideas that you just can’t wait to share with the world, but before you log into your editing software, take a step back to consider if you have a strong brand identity.
Brand-building, like in any industry in the business world, is an essential step all entrepreneurs must make in order to build their competitive advantage and their unique value proposition.
Without a captivating brand identity at your side, you risk becoming just another YouTube gaming channel enthusiast in a sea of professional gamers.
Always remember that people connect with the person, not the content, on an emotional level so your goal should be to use your brand’s image and personality to establish a meaningful relationship with your audience.
This way, you will build a memorable gaming brand and an engaging channel people will subscribe to almost immediately.
To that end, start by creating a set of values for your personal brand that resonates with the values of your target audience.
Next, create a distinct tone of voice and personality that will set you apart from your peers, because being unique makes you more memorable.
Lastly, build a visual identity for your gaming channel that will include a logo and a color scheme, and of course, a powerful intro.
2. Choose your YouTube gaming niche
To make an impact on the gaming community on YouTube, you can’t just start posting random recordings of you playing video games.
Instead, you need to have clear goals and objectives, you need to have a structure in place, and you need to know whom you are speaking to.
After all, the FPS community responds to a different format than the RTS community. While some audiences subscribe to YouTubers that stick with one niche, but others love gamers that cover a wide range of different games.
If you want to gain and monetize your YouTube traffic as much as possible, then you have to choose your niche wisely.
Among the most popular niches, you will find your basic gaming genres, plus popular video formats like reviews, playthroughs, walkthroughs, highlight videos, opinion videos, gaming insights and news, tips and tutorials, and “best of” videos.
Of course, you can make several of these formats on different days of the week to gain as much exposure, traction, and recognition from the global audience as possible.
3. Use a unique intro engage the audience
No matter the gaming niche and the type of videos you plan to make, you need to have a powerful intro for each.
In fact, gaming intros are so important nowadays that they can mean the difference between a successful and memorable YouTube gaming channel, and just another gaming account that nobody knows exists.
Intros make your brand unique, your channel engaging, and your content more interesting to watch, plus they show the world that you are a professional.
This is why you will see the top YouTubers using a custom intro maker to create truly engaging and memorable intros for their videos that people will resonate with, which helps elevate the quality of the content and the entire gaming channel in the eyes of the audience.
Along with a short intro, you should create your unique introductory phrase to greet your viewers, as well as a sign-off phrase and a short outro to conclude every gaming video.
4. Craft a schedule for consistent uploading
Consistency is one of the keys to long-term success in the modern business world, but when it comes to growing a gaming channel on YouTube.
It is not only important, it is paramount.
Not only do you need to create memorable and engaging content to wow your audience, but you also have to publish that content at regular intervals and on specific dates.
As there is nothing that the YouTube audience loves more than knowing when a new video from their favorite channel is going to hit the news feed.
Having a strict schedule is not only important for audience engagement, but it is also important for your internal organization and success.
When you upload consistently, you are able to stay productive and creative throughout the week, and you can use the schedule to plan your content weeks and even months in advance.
This is one of the best ways to keep innovating to keep your channel fresh.
5. Build a thriving community
Last but not least, always keep in mind is that you are doing this for your audience, not personal gain.
Sure, your end goal might be to become a rich professional gamer, but in order to build your wealth, you need the support of your followers and subscribers.
This is why building a loyal and passionate community should be one of your top priorities.
To achieve this, make sure to interact with your subscribers on a daily basis in the comments section, and always post your own pinned comment posing an interesting question and asking the audience for their opinion.
Be sure to respect each and every one of your subscribers, and don’t forget to engage with them on your discord channel and other social media pages.
Wrapping up: Grow a YouTube gaming channel
YouTube gaming is getting bigger and more popular every year. And now is the time to launch your own YouTube gaming channel, especially if your goal is to make gaming your livelihood.
The sooner you start the sooner you’ll be able to take advantage of the current situation, so there is no reason to hesitate – if anything you should kick your plans into high gear.
With these tips in mind, you should have no problem setting yourself apart from the other YouTube gamers and building a recognizable brand that will one day attract millions of subscribers to your gaming channel.
Sophia Smith is a lifestyle and social media blogger, and graphic and UX designer. She is an aesthete and photography lover by heart who absolutely loves everything that includes visual communication. Lately, she writes mostly about digital marketing topics, from content to social. She has contributed to a number of publications including Women Love Tech, Leader Maker, Legal Reader, Businessing Mag, Ruby Connection, Cause Artist, and many others. You can find out more about her writing by following her on Twitter: @sophia_bri
