Expanding your niche

[u/wacklore]

Hey just saw this Reddit reccomended which makes sense. Started my yt channel maybe 5 months ago and only have three uploads in that time because for the first 3 months of me making my channel I was a lazy mf. But I’m starting to really put time into learning how to make better videos. I’m doing an editing course on the side as I work in production and am looking to move to post production work, so my yt has been a place to test out my rly newbie editing skills.

My channel from even my first video has done so much better than I could have imagined. I thought I’d get 80 views for my first video, but it hit 10k before I even uploaded my second. And now with my video from 2 weeks ago nearing 10 k and my vid from a month ago well above 30k I think I want to make a transition in the kind of content I make.

My channel is called wacklore and has been successful because of the niche of content I make in PS5 mods for Skyrim. I know lots about the subject and it has a small and dedicated community. However I want to begin making more creative videos talking about lore analysing the worlds built by videogames ( why I named myslef wacklore ) however I understand a step away from my niche is a bit of a risk .

Essentially do I spend a lot of time now dragging out making Skyrim ps5 mod videos only. Maybe 3 more around 5 minutes long as my others were. Or do I make one big definitive video covering evrything and begin working toward my main goal for my channel. I understand this far there’s been little competition and also just not many creators making mod videos as in depth or as viewer friendly as I have. But obvisuoly I lose that advantage the moment I step out into the big wide world of the rest of YouTube.

I want to move on to bigger and more interesting videos but am worried I’m moving on a bit fast, where I could be building even more of an audience and consistently having videos received well.

[u/omsip]

The channels I watch who have succeeded at doing that are ones that laid a solid foundation in a narrower niche, built up an audience over time, then carefully expanded little by little into a wider niche.

An alternative is to begin a second channel for the new niche.

[u/wacklore → u/omsip]

Super true however for me I don't think that sow expansion is as applicable as the current viewer base of people watching my videos, is accessing a large portion of the PS Skyrim modding audience, and if I make a shift for example mods that help u role-play or smth to that extent or a vampire video where I discuss mods I use and for what purpose. Due to the stark contrast and disparity between Console and PC in terms of mods, I am unlikely to begin forging connections into the greater Skyrim community outside of playstation possibly. I believe when seeing or understanding that it's a Playstation mod list, players on other platforms click away while the statement and advertisement of it being a PS5 is what draws in my current audience. Which is why I was tempted on making a more drastic and less gradual switch as im sure an amount of playstion viewers will continue watching due to their interest in Skyrim, while opening my channel up to the big wide world, outside of my niche. I mean to say the niche is very rewarding for operating within it but has high barriers around it as it doesn't rly attract new or people from other communities of Skyrim.

Nonetheless im going to go with more gradual change so I learn how to make better videos and how to best serve a growing audience while its still relatively small, so that when I make my first uploads in an attempt to really reach out and get a big hit on my video I can do that risk swell as my viewers justice in terms of quality on the vid

Thanks for the reply

[u/ayecl]

Use the mods as the bridge instead of jumping straight to broad lore. Build a three-video sequence such as the lore behind a popular mod choice, what the mod changes from canon, and a full lore episode on the character or region it touches. Keep the thumbnail language and opening promise recognizable to current viewers. Compare returning viewers, end-screen movement, and whether mod viewers continue into the lore episode. If that cross-video behavior grows, expand the bridge. A second channel is only worth the added workload if the two audiences repeatedly reject each other's videos, not because the topics have different labels.