SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
An established provider of free betting tips and valuable sports information, all created by a team of talented journalists, Betarades – part of the growing stable of Better Collective brands – has taken its output to the next level by converting some of the content into video.
For the latest instalment in the Better Collective Spotlight series, the Greek firm’s video producer Christos Xaritidis shared the five key factors that helped its YouTube channel to grow by more than 16,000 subscribers in just five months.
Engage with hot topics
Hot topics related to sports news, popular tournaments and topics that are most looked up on YouTube, I believe, help sports channels to get discovered. In our case, it was the World Cup 2019 – we made videos for every match and received a lot more views, interactions and appreciation than usual.
This season, Superleague (the Greek Football league) is especially competitive and we decided to increase the number of videos that we produce weekly. Right now, we produce daily videos for all matches of the five most popular clubs. That was one of the key reasons why our subscriber count increased from 2K to 18K in just five months.
Consistency breeds success
We consider consistency to be extremely important for growing a YouTube channel with loyal fans. In our case, our daily videos keep the audience engaged and leads to them coming back to our channel regularly. Consistency within a video, meaning having the same specific parts or topics discussed in the beginning, middle and the end of the video, is essential.
Attaching certain background music to each part also works, as does having one-liners that you say regularly, jokes that you use often, common reactions etc. All those things give our show and the hosts a strong identity which the audience can expect and look forward to.
Bring the backstage fun to the camera
When we started our channel, we were mainly focusing on sports and betting analysis and we were explaining our personal betting picks. Yet, we realised that it wasn’t nearly enough to build a big audience. Since we have so much fun during the planning, preparation and production of the videos, we thought, why don’t why bring all the fun that we have backstage in front of the camera?
Then we started satirising sports news, just like we did behind the camera and so changed our speaking style to become more casual. We started commenting on viral videos (mostly related to sports), and manipulating those videos to spice them up. That drew a lot of attention to our channel. Our main focus still stands today, which is betting tips, we just serve them in a different way.
Project the enthusiasm you want from your audience
Speak fast and loud. Having long or short pauses and all sort of uncomfortable moments can happen to the best hosts in the world but it’s extremely crucial to cut them out and keep the video fast and cool (except if it’s something that is funny).
It’s very difficult to keep someone’s attention nowadays, since the internet is full of other interesting things to watch. But slow videos will negatively affect the viewers attention, which is the worst thing that can happen to a YouTube channel. Being fast and thrilled in front of the camera will cause the same enthusiasm in the audience.
Let the viewers play their part
Replying to every single comment, whether you have something important to say or not, is really helpful when starting a channel. It makes people feel personally addressed and that they are special to you. Liking positive and funny comments is also a good way to interact.
Also, interaction inside the videos, like mentioning fans and their comments, asking them for ideas or something interesting about the topic that is being discussed. It is important to let viewers become part of your channel.
Meet the people behind the bettingexpert.com team at next week’s LAC (B19).
