For just a moment, let's forget about the growth tips we normally discuss, like using the right keywords, designing thumbnails, and finding the perfect video title. They're crucial on YouTube, but you need more than that to stand out in 2023. These days, it's more important to know 

In other words, what perspective will you bring to YouTube? Turning your small channel into a big one happens much faster when you have something to say and when you target the right viewers.

3 Mistakes to Avoid if You Have a Small YouTube Channel

But by now, you probably know that any old perspective won't cut it on YouTube. It must be 

. Your viewpoint should draw people in and bind them to your channel. It should connect people to you and not just your content.

How to Find Your Unique Perspective on YouTube

Male YouTuber filming a low angle shot in an alleyway

This will sound a bit cliché, but we have to say it: Unique channels are run by creators who know how to be themselves.

You've probably heard that before, but it's 100% true. We don't think of someone as "unique" until they dare to be themselves, and that takes a lot of authenticity — 

So, how do you build a unique perspective? We've seen it happen in multiple ways:

Combine two interests to create an uncommon YouTube niche.

Share your personal story or your life's mission.

Let's play a game real quick. Grab a pen and paper, and then write down all the hobbies and interests you could talk about on YouTube. When you're done, combine any two interests and see how they fare as a YouTube channel topic.

What's the point of doing this? Well, you'll notice that the most interesting channels are pretty unconventional. 

, a channel that reviews the most basic stuff, is the perfect example. Their latest video is a review of cats and their existence, and before that, they reviewed air, water, and anxiety.

Mikasacus has a unique perspective, which is

 — to dull things, common things, hidden things, or, frankly, everything. To illustrate that point, they combine the idea of "video reviews" with the practice of extreme observation. And a new YouTube niche was born: uncommon reviews.

A common misconception is that small creators shouldn't share their personal stories on YouTube — just search-based content. And sure, maybe you don't have thousands of viewers just yet. But if a story connects with 

, it doesn't matter if you're virtually unknown. You can still hook people with relatable content.

. He makes vulnerability a habit by opening up to his audience about his past, explaining his life choices, and encouraging others to hang on through tough times. His latest upload is about choosing a plant-based lifestyle, and it has all the ingredients of a soon-to-be viral video. There's 

 no matter what happens. And his subscribers (180,000) seem to agree.

You're bound to stand out if you do things nobody one else can do. That's why 

, a creator who does elaborate challenges, is so famous today. His main channel has 169 million subscribers, but that wasn't always the case! MrBeast was once a small creator who stood out by doing the impossible on YouTube.

In fact, he first went viral for counting to 100,000 in one sitting!

It was hard. (Seriously, who has the patience to count to 100,000?)

Nobody expected it, so the video caught people by surprise.

You could argue that MrBeast has a unique perspective, but it's not about wild challenges and stunts. He's telling us that 

You've probably heard this a million times:

"The number one way to stand on YouTube is by making content people are searching for."

And while that's correct, it's also true that thousands of people are doing the same thing.

On YouTube, 10,000 videos can share the same keywords. They're in the video title, description, hashtags, or all three. But the 

 video — the one YouTube recommends to viewers — stands out because it's satisfying.

. Use the best keywords, hashtags, and thumbnails in your arsenal. But also, make sure your video has an original, authentic message. That's going to bring 

Female YouTuber vlogging in public on a smartphone

Young woman recording vlog with smartphone and microphone in urban outdoor setting

Getting people to notice you on YouTube is simple in theory but difficult in practice. Let’s explore why (and how) small channels become big ones.

The Secret to Standing Out as a Small YouTube Creator

If you're reading this, you've probably heard that YouTube automation is the best thing since the internet itself. There are stories of creators making $10,000 

 by outsourcing the creative work for their channel, including video scripts, thumbnails, editing, or sometimes the actual videos!

And best of all? The creator doesn't have to do anything. They don't appear in the videos or lift a finger in the process.

This is nothing new, of course. YouTubers have outsourced their work for years and will continue to do so in the future. The only thing that's changing is 

and there are two types of people in the AI world:

Is there any danger in using AI? It all depends! If you want to 

 (YPP) and make money, you could hit a few roadblocks.

Is Your Content 100% AI? Getting Monetized Will Be Tough

A popular question floating around the internet today is, "Can AI videos get monetized on YouTube?" The short answer is yes, they can! However, YouTube has clear rules about using AI responsibly in your content. And one of the biggest rules is actually a warning, in which YouTube says channels with redundant, machine-generated content won't get monetized.

(AdSense is the program that pays creators), and it states that:

"Channels consisting of similar content, where videos are only slightly different from one another, are not eligible for monetization."

Screen shot of YouTube's policy, showing that videos should be unique to one another

So if you're going full speed ahead with YouTube automation, remember to 

. Let AI be your helper, not the star of the show.

'Rain Sound' Videos: An Example of Automation Gone Too Far

Have you seen those rain sound videos on YouTube? That's a good example of repetitive, mass-produced content. Many of those videos have the same thumbnail, the same thunderstorm audio on repeat, and, most of the time, the same title.

In the AdSense policy, YouTube describes videos like these as "mindless" and "low educational." It also says that "templated, mass-produced, or programmatically-generated content" cannot make money.

 YouTube won't monetize videos that are all "machine" and have no human spark. 

If your content is 100% AI (and redundant!), it may fall into that category.

How YouTube Reviews Your Channel for Monetization

If you plan to join the YPP with an automated channel, you should know how the review process works.

One surprising detail is that real humans review your channel. They'll check some key areas, including:

Video titles, thumbnails, and descriptions

A screenshot of YouTube's policy about what they review on creators' channels

But what is YouTube looking for? Reviewers mostly check for 

 violations — hate speech, spam, graphic content, etc. But regarding AI and YouTube automation, they may check your most popular videos for signs of mass production or overly-templated content.

How to Use AI and Still Get Monetized on YouTube

 After all, we're not saying you can't use it in any part of the process; we encourage it! Here at vidIQ, we make a bunch of AI tools to help streamline your workflow:

: Get a content plan for your next video, including a title and description, keywords, video script, thumbnail backgrounds, and voice-over.

 Talk to our AI-powered chatbot to analyze your channel's performance, suggest your next video, and more.

Get a catchy YouTube title to make your video stand out.

Receive up to 50 daily video ideas for your channel.

AI should make creating easier, not replace it altogether. You don't want to generate a bunch of videos with no warmth, depth, or transformative information. Humans will watch your videos, so create videos for the 

Please record that awesome YouTube challenge. Just remember that an AI video editor can help you 

Go ahead and make that long-form video. If you want, plenty of AI tools will 

And if nothing else, let this quote from our senior executive producer guide you:

"The moral of the story is that creators who use AI to aid in content creation instead of fully automating it are going to win," says Dan Carson.

Watch the video below to learn more about AI, YouTube automation, and how to navigate the two, according to Dan.

Here's how to build a success mindset for YouTube, whether your channel is automated or not.

Hand pressing play button on futuristic transparent video player interface on screen

YouTube automation is hot right now, but does it pose any risks to your channel? Spoiler: It depends!

The Truth About AI: Can YouTube Automation Ruin Your Channel?

Which type of YouTuber are you: the one who embraces every content type or the one who prefers a single video format? If you silently answered, 

, we're guessing your channel is pretty diverse! You probably make all of the following:

. You boldly go where most creators haven't gone (shameless

 plug) and are always up for a challenge. It's a great quality to have because the more you experiment on YouTube, the more likely you are to find what works for you.

But with all that content-making, you now have 

 and track performance for. After all, it's normal to wonder how everything competes with each other!

For example, how many people watch your livestreams versus your regular videos (sometimes we call these "longs" since they're compared side-by-side to Shorts)? Or, curiously, what percentage of viewers watch your Shorts compared with your lives?

YouTube's Viewership Panel for Shorts, Longs, and Lives

To help you out, YouTube has released a new panel called 

. It compares your viewership across all video types, including YouTube Shorts, long-form videos, and livestreams. Notably, this panel only tracks data for returning viewers, not those who never came back to your channel.

Viewers across formats panel in the youtube studio

If you click through the uppermost tabs, you're able to compare viewership on:

The breakdown is in percentages, so you get a bird's-eye view of what's happening on your channel. And for each comparison, you can see the percentage of people who watch 

Finding the 'Viewers Across Formats' Panel

Analytics menu option in the YouTube Studio

Content menu option in the youtube studio

 on the right side of the screen. You'll notice that it only shows data from the last 28 days.

viewers across formats panel in the youtube studio

Knowing the percentage of people who watch your Shorts, longs, and lives reveals what you do best on YouTube. It also shines a light on the following:

For example, here's what our viewership looks like on the vidIQ channel:

viewership on long-form videos versus Shorts

viewership on long-form videos versus livestreams

 is regular videos first, then Shorts, and finally, livestreams.

 of viewers watch both content types. Since many people are interested in both, we have an opportunity to cross-promote each type and boost their collective views.

Promote Your YouTube Channel - 17 Tips for Small Creators

So, how does it work? If you want to cross-promote on your own channel, build a bridge between your short and long-form content. 

One strategy is to recommend a long-form video in the description or comment section of every YouTube Short. If you're using the comment section to do this, 

 to the top so everyone sees your recommended video link. If you want to use the description area, use a call to action 

Recommended video link in description section

Want another strategy that works? Make Shorts and longs that complement each other!

For example, imagine that you've just filmed a video about traveling on a budget. In either the comment section or description area, you could recommend a Short that offers a "checklist" for budget travelers. Remember, you'll get more views if both videos are related yet contain new information!

Content That's Not Relevant (Or Needs Work)

If one content type is struggling on your channel, it doesn't 

 mean you should stop creating it. In our case, people don't watch our livestreams nearly as much as the Shorts and longs on our channel. But our livestreams are valuable in their own way! We give free channel audits to small creators, so 

the overall impact is greater than the views we receive

On your channel, you might decide that your low-performing content just isn't worth the effort. In that case, dropping those videos could help you focus on the ones that 

What would your viewership look like if you had 

No such thing exists, but if it did, it would look something like this:

the perfect viewership scenario on youtube

For any content comparison, 100% of viewers would happily watch both video types. Sounds amazing, right?

One way to come close to this scenario is by speaking to the same target audience in your videos. Whether you create longs, Shorts, or lives, have a core message that appeals to one group of people!

With this new panel, YouTube reveals what your viewers gravitate toward the most: your Shorts, your longs, or your lives. With that information, you can narrow your focus quite a bit. After all, maybe you don't need to go after every type of content on YouTube; perhaps one or two will do the trick.

No matter what you decide, we'll help you get views on 

. Check out the links below for more guidance!

How to Get More YouTube Shorts Views on Your Channel

A Simple Trick to Make Viewers Watch Multiple YouTube Videos

6 Things to Do Before Your First YouTube Livestream

Man wearing headphones celebrating success while working on laptop at home desk

Are you a multi-format creator? Now you can compare views across all content types, including YouTube Shorts, livestreams, and regular videos. Here's how!

Shorts, Longs, and Lives: How to Compare YouTube Views from All 3

If there's one thing creators of all tiers struggle with, it is finding means to keep their viewers engaged beyond their content and keep the conversation going. 

 are the obvious choice here but reaching people who genuinely want to connect with your videos never gets easier! 

So, we figured it's a good time to talk about one of the most underused features on YouTube: the community tab. The YouTube community tab is still an overlooked feature that can boost engagement. With options like quizzes, image polls, videos, and text posts, it offers many ways to start conversations with viewers. For growing channels, this tool is a must for keeping viewers interested between uploads.

YouTube's Community Tab Is Your Super Secret Weapon for Channel Growth

The YouTube community tab is located on the homepage of your channel, between the playlists and membership sections. 

YouTube Community Tab location on a channel homepage between playlists and membership sections

It's a bite-sized social media network where viewers can see all of your interactive posts, such as quizzes and polls. 

Various types of YouTube Community Tab posts including polls, quizzes and text updates

So, if you don't have any videos planned, you can use this tab to promote yourself on YouTube and engage with your audience in the meantime!

The community tab used to be a locked feature, but earlier this year, 

YouTube's official documentation on community posts

, mentioned how the barrier to entry has. Previously, a creator needed 10,000 subscribers. But now, you can simply 

Accessing YouTube Studio to manage community tab posts and analytics

YouTube Studio Settings menu for enabling community tab features

. At the bottom, turn on advanced features.

Alt Text:  YouTube's feature eligibility page showing how to enable advanced features for community tab access

Posting on the community tab is quick and easy. Everything you need is in the YouTube Studio, and there are plenty of features to customize your content.

 icon at the top of your YouTube homepage. Select 

Creating a community post using the Create button on YouTube homepage

2. Type a message to create a short text post. You can also add a gif, poll, image, video, etc.

YouTube community post creation interface with text, poll, and media options

In a recent update, YouTube has introduced a new feature that lets viewers post on your community tab. The new feature, simply called "Communities" is YouTube's way of trying to improve audience interaction and form a more vibrant community. 

YouTube Communities: Connect with Creators

You can monitor the performance of your community posts as well. This can help you improve your future posts and also give you a taste of what your community wants from you.

2. Find the left navigation menu and click 

Accessing Content section in YouTube Studio to monitor community post-performance

On the next page, you'll see some tabs at the top. Click on the one called 

 to see all the community posts you've published on your channel.

YouTube community tab analytics showing post-performance metrics like views, likes and comments

The posts are in chronological order by default, but the columns are sortable. If you want to know something specific, such as which community posts have the most comments or likes, you can easily shuffle through the data.

Tips for Navigating Your Community Posts   

You can post various types of content on the community tab, including images, videos, polls, plain text messages, quizzes, and animated GIFs.

When browsing the community posts page, these content types will appear in different ways. Plain text posts display an alphabet symbol, ‘Aa’, to quickly represent non-media messages. Any post with an image or video will be shown with the image it comes with, while voting polls are displayed with three blue horizontal lines.

If you mouse over each community post, you’ll notice a drop-down menu with more options for managing the feature. The first one lets you edit a post directly from the YouTube Studio, which is pretty cool. You can also manage and respond to comments or click a link to take you to the original community post on YouTube.

One thing to keep in mind, however, is that you can’t edit polls.

 This is probably a safeguard to stop creators from changing the answer choices once voting begins.

Lastly, there’s an option to filter community posts. This lets you view only the posts you want to see, such as plain text or animated GIFs. You can even filter the posts to see which ones have been published or scheduled for future publication.

Best Practices for Community Tab Engagement

The community tab on YouTube is more than just a space for updates. It is a great spot to connect with viewers between video uploads. Use it to start friendly chats and build bonds.

Think about when you are posting on the Community. Check your channel stats to see when viewers are most active. Many find that late afternoon or early evening works best.

Mix up your content. Try polls one day, behind-the-scenes photos the next, and ask a simple question later. This keeps the YouTube community tab lively and fun. If you create a poll, ask a question like, "Which topic should I do next?" This makes your viewers feel important. Use your posts to test new video ideas too.

Lastly, be present. Reply to comments and keep the conversation going. A chatty creator makes for a stronger community.

As your audience grows, keeping the chat clear is very important. YouTube offers several controls to help manage your YouTube community post. These controls ensure healthy discussions.

YouTube handles some housekeeping on its own. But you also have extra options:

Set filters to hold posts that might be off

Make a list of blocked words to keep harmful comments away

Invite trusted people to help moderate posts

Regularly check held comments in YouTube Studio

Posts that break YouTube rules can be taken down. Repeated issues may even limit your features. If your channel is flagged as 'Made for Kids', your posts will not go public. This rule helps protect children.

For years, the community tab has helped creators stay in touch with their audience, especially when only publishing one or two videos each week.

So, if you haven’t already, start using the community tab! Challenge yourself to post something every day for the next three to six months — polls, animated GIFs, or anything that brings you closer to your audience. And, as you keep growing through this content creation journey, 

don’t forget to avoid these mistakes as well.

Heart icon hovering over a man's open palm

Person holding phone with glowing heart icon hovering above hand, symbolizing social media likes

YouTube has a dedicated dashboard for managing community tab posts, and trust us — you'll want to use this feature! Learn how below.

How to Use the YouTube Community Tab and Engage with Viewers

Have you ever checked your analytics and realized that most of your views don't come from subscribers? If so, you probably saw what YouTube calls the 

The percentage of subscribers versus non-subscribers on a youtube channel

This image is from the vidIQ channel, so even large creators face this question. In our case, only 33% of viewers are subscribed. But why?

Subscribing Isn't a Viewer's Number One Priority

The short answer is that no one needs to hit "subscribe" to have fun on YouTube. The platform has a recommendation system, and it's 

at serving up videos to the right viewers. So even if you aren't subscribed to your favorite creator, YouTube will place their videos on your homepage like a personal assistant. 

If nothing else, this proves that subscribers aren't the most important metric on YouTube.

And yet, you still need subs to crack the biggest benefits of being a creator: 

 subscribers to access fan-funding tools and 

, turning silent viewers into subscribers is worthwhile. Here's how to do it!

On YouTube, a call to action (or CTA) is any request a creator makes to their viewers. Some people ask for more video likes, and others ask for various forms of engagement, such as leaving a comment.

But the trickiest of all? Getting people to subscribe! And viewers will only do it if they have a good reason to.

So the first step is understanding their journey on YouTube. You should know why they open the app, 

 they take that step. But you don't have to reinvent the wheel here; most viewers follow the same path on YouTube:

Problem > solution > satisfaction > subscription

Start by identifying the main problem your audience faces. After that, spend some time finding a valuable solution, then share that knowledge in a series of compelling, irresistible YouTube videos. If that goes well, viewers will subscribe as they become satisfied with your content.

Getting viewers to hit subscribe doesn’t have to be complicated. Sometimes, you just have to ask them nicely. Here are a few pointers!

Lydia Sweatt

Posts Written By Lydia Sweatt

The Secret to Standing Out as a Small YouTube Creator

The Truth About AI: Can YouTube Automation Ruin Your Channel?

Shorts, Longs, and Lives: How to Compare YouTube Views from All 3

How to Use the YouTube Community Tab and Engage with Viewers

How to Turn Silent Viewers into YouTube Subscribers

How to Monetize on YouTube Without the Partner Program

Going Live on YouTube: 8 Genius Hacks for Monetizing Your Streams

6 Emotional Triggers That Unlock Massive YouTube Views

ChatGPT for YouTubers Is Here: How to Use vidIQ’s AI Coach

YouTube Shorts Not Paying the Bills? 4 Solutions to Boost Your Revenue

Understanding YouTube Viewers: 6 Steps to Build an Audience Persona

7 Types of YouTube Video Titles That Get Massive Clicks