Know Your Data, Know Yourself

In these difficult times, it’s never been more important to have a solid understanding of your own platform. The secret sauce? Data.

YouTube’s been getting a lot of negative press lately, with their overzealous bots demonetizing videos at alarming rates and creators scrambling to innovate new profit-models that can keep their channels afloat. And, let’s be serious; this problem isn’t going away for them any time soon, and they very much should have to deal with the consequences. Still, the team over at Alphabet’s seemingly least favorite toy managed to do something kind of neat this week when they released new channel metrics to their “Studio” app. Game changer? Not really. But, it manages to deliver more data to creators so that they can get a more holistic impression of their channel’s health, and more data is always, always a good thing.

A lot of smaller creators are cutting back on the amount of content they create as the realities of smaller budgets become a reality. Some are even being forced to leave their channels entirely, which is a real shame. Meanwhile, those that remain are being forced to look at a very different landscape and figure out how they can help their channels survive and thrive.

What that means is different for everyone. Content creators everywhere are launching GameWisp or Patreon campaigns, going directly to their fans to help support their work. Others sell swag, branded shirts and hats and whatever else their audience wants. Many, meanwhile, are entering into partnerships with game developers and brands, endorsing or showing off products they actually like to help develop a stronger foundation for their content. And, of course, a great deal are doing all three of these things, and even more.

One thing these all have in common? Data makes them easier. No matter how it is you’re monetizing your content and brand, you can do it better, easier, more efficiently, when you understand the strengths of your platform. It will help you figure out how to streamline your content release schedule, when people are watching and why. It will help you understand you audience, what they have in common other than you. If you look at things the right way, it will help clarify the path ahead of you, showing you where you need to go next to keep growing.

And, it’s not just about you. As we said, working with developers and brands is an enormous part of making content creation work in this new world, and there’s no more clear, objective way to demonstrate your value, to show off your platform, than solid numbers. Community managers often have to work with dozens, even hundreds of creators, and they’re constantly finding new partners to work with. They don’t have the time to watch all these streams, all these videos, and really get to know your community, so you have to use the tools at your disposal to make that process simpler, to tell your story.

Know you numbers. Both YouTube and Twitch provide a decent catalogue of numbers when it comes to your platforms viewership and performance, and creators need to be constantly keeping an eye on how they measure up, identifying strengths and weeknesses, and, above all else, simply better knowing their platform. The same extends out to social media platforms, not just things like follower counts, but also impressions and interactions. Every viewer-facing platform you touch is a part of your portfolio. And, when you really have a solid understanding of your own data, it becomes much easier to sell yourself as an asset to game developers and brands, so you can more easily support yourself and your work.

What strategies have you developed when it comes to monitoring and reacting to your own data? What parts of your platform remain a mystery to you? Ask yourself these questions, and consider how a change in your approach might help grow your content, even in these trying times. You just might stumble on something that will change the whole game.

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