The following paragraphs are adapted from a Twitter thread I made in 2020 in response to a complaint from a Ghanaian Youtube creator. This article is by no means an exhaustive list but is rather meant to give a sense of direction and guidance.
For any kind of content/media the more “low-brow“ it is, the larger the audience . Conversely, the more niche or highbrow you go, the smaller your audience.
You can choose to focus 100% on local (diasporans will become part of your audience) or go global by default. If you go local, your promotion has to factor how Ghanaians use the internet. Almost all iinternet usage in Ghana is WhatsApp, Facebook or Instagram. So you have to actively use that to drive traffic.
Think differently from your compatriots overseas. I’m sure most creators are already doing this, but a cool hack is to curate super-fans. These are subscribers who are not made of just your friends and who become advocates of your channel and content. Give them a closed group, talk about upcoming ideas etc.
When there’s a new video, drop it in the super fans group as an unlisted link. Let them go wild sharing it to their close friends ahead of it going public. Or you can just explore the premiere feature.
You might want to consider syndicating your content across FB,IGTV and Tiktok.
Are parts of your content memeable or GIFable? Create and share. See if you can turn unused content into mashups. Outside of your Youtube channel, actively promote your content or the area/lifestyle your content sits in. Explore using TIK TOK as well.
Think about your channel deeply. Is it content that is periodic or does each video standalone? If it’s periodic, try and stick to your schedule. Some of your content might be evergreen (timeless) . Consider rehashing or mashing up existing content and B-Roll to create new videos.
When it comes to channels and Youtube viewing audiences, the long term value is in returning subs. Be thinking about how to get people to stick around. See if you can create some relevant annual “events” people can look forward to watching.
Keep in mind who your target audience is and be realistic about how many people are aligned to your content as well as how many similar channel there are. Then aggressively grow your audience. Collaborations are strongly recommended and let you leverage network effects.
Also, not every foreign content type will work for a largely Ghanian audience. It has to be said, hhe internet connects multiple people across different countries with similar interests. However, the numbers in each country may not be high enough. Localise, adapt or discard.
TBH. You can do all this and you’ll still hit an invisible ceiling. That’s OK. I’ve seen accounts go from 30mil views to 50K views. It happens. Make the most of your climb, enjoy it and enable cashout (reasonably). Don’t jump the shark.
Lastly Ghana is an internet underdog. Keep that in mind and fight scrappy. See if you can get featured on larger platforms . Use data and insights. Have a unique position, create a unique offering, do the work 100x.
Learn Digital: Youtube Creator Academy, Google Primer etc.
When it comes to content, sometimes you bottle lightening. But if you must clone a content type, please do it Bollywood/Kumawood style…. be culturally relevant to your audience. Look beyond your own nose and most importantly….don’t feed the trolls or insult your audience.
Oh! Also consider the context your content will be watched in. ~96% of Ghanaians access internet on smartphones. 65% off them were low to mid range as at 2021. So you can’t be overheating them and chopping valuable data without reason. If you can’t carry interest for 45 mins+ Trim it to 10 mins.
I don’t profess to have the magic keys. These insights are based on several audits I’ve done for brands looking to engage with YouTubers in Ghana as well as conversations/workshops with Google reps.
Till next time..
