Exactly, if it's a popular news item, use that tag. Another thing is to ask the viewers to leave comments, questions they have and when they do ask questions/leave comments its best to respond/answer some of them. Any engagement is good engagement! It pumps up the algorithm. The more YT sees engagement the more they promote the vid (assuming they aren't shadow banning this stuff...) Popular YT channel names can be good tags, some good channels have been mentioned in this thread. Another tactic people use is deliberately, saying or doing something in the video that people will want to jump into the comments section to "correct" the uploader. -I'm personally not a fan of this tactic, but it works. Example: Labeling a Yamato as a Bismarck or calling a carrier a battleship, something obvious and essentially harmless. It basically prompts a knee-jerk reaction from the viewers, LOL.
Remember what I said earlier about the youtuber who showed up to a SCRAP battle with a "boat" made from a lunchbox, an airsoft pistol, and some spoons? Yeah, not all exposure is good exposure. There is an exactly 0% chance that any regular viewers from that channel would actually join the hobby. Remember, our goal is active new members, not just clicks or views. We don't just want the 0.00001% to see the hobby, we want them to join the hobby. Part of that means treating the viewer with respect - blatantly mis-labeling ships that clearly require a large amount of effort to build comes across as though we think the audience are idiots who won't know the difference. That's a huge turn-off to people who want something better than a quick-play WoWS game. Things like comments, questions, likes, etc. are great. Effective use of tags, thumbnails, video titles, etc. is also very important. But I will never falsely represent the hobby.
I agree and I hate it (that's why I never watch the "Dark series/channels" of vids, it's their bread & butter) I was just listing an example of what people do to drive engagement and when YT sees people reacting/engaging, they push the video higher up the search rankings/listings. Same with misleading thumbnails/titles. I ignore and click "do not recommend" and report the misleading content.
Well if you're actively reporting it and also not watching videos with misleading content then why would I want to use that to promote myself?? Every legit person I talk to hates misleading content.
It was an EXAMPLE. Responding to comments/questions is a great way to do it. Also asking the viewer what they'd like to see more of. What they like/don't like.
Ok; so let me try to redirect the conversation. I don’t think we have a ton of difficulty getting people to see us. YT and/or Ticktok will do that perfectly well without clickbait. Most of our issue is converting interest INTO captains. Anyone have ideas on improving adoption rate?
Follow up? I was in sales for about 6 months... hated it. But I did learn that follow up is one of the most important thing to a sales person. I can only speak for the NW here, but I think we could do a better job at follow up and being supportive, and even a little pushy about getting interested people to keep coming back.
To my mind, I got in to this hobby because it has GUNS I live on a lake and for a fraction of my costs I could buy a run -out -of -the- box beautiful boat. I knew I would be board soon. Instead of watching a track meet, I would rather see a basketball game. Dynamic ! We are aware of the difficulties of the hobby. You have mentioned a few more BUT We happy few LOVE it.
There is a specific balance between supportive, pushy, and aggressive. More than one new person has been put off by the "overly helpful" attitude of some veterans. We mean well. But sometimes it doesn't translate well.
Why is that video "for kids"? That means nobody can post comments, which limits viewer engagement for the algorithm.
Is there any interest in having a repository for high-resolution combat footage that's free for people to use? think open-source software or DRM-free media, but specifically for video clips intended for edited video. I have lots of onboard video from the last few years, but don't have the time to edit the footage into quality content, nor do I have a good method of sharing my video with the people who can edit the footage.
I had a thought a while back about starting an archive of still photos that captains have. Getting them uploaded, tagged/captioned, and backed up. Perhaps this is a joint project? A hosted server with some storage and a template/simple front end?
Google pictures seems pretty user friendly and you can pay to have more storage. Git repo is not user friendly and takes a big learning curve but it’s free.
In my head, the way to grow this hobby starts with stronger local clubs. What’s the first thing newcomers ask… “looking for clubs in my area” If your area has more than 1 captain, that’s the best leverage we have. Turn two captains people into three+ in your community. Getting someone into the hobby from three states away, is a big ask. Get local battles or build sessions on a consistent cadence. “Every third Saturday of the month”. Easy to remember, easy to communicate. Then find simple LOCAL ways to get the word out. Do demos at you LHS or MakerSpace. If your pond has any visibility, use it. Even if it’s a sign along the road saying “combat robots this way”. Honestly, I doubt the hobby can be grown that much through the internet at-large. We have to put in the work locally first.
I'm moving to the eastern side of Atlanta within the next 12 months. We've been moving around alot for my wife's work but we finally get settle for at least 5-6 years. I hope to find a pond and establish an Atlanta Squadron. We already have 3 or 4 active guys in ATL plus one in more in Athens. Our pond is down by Savannah so having one up here will be a game changer for regionals.
perfect. That’s should be plenty to creat a spark. Now you just gotta advertise to some places like minded locals will notice.
