The Top 5 YouTube Collaboration Ideas to Try Right Now

Collaboration videos can be hard to pull off but are awesome for promoting your channel to different audiences. Here are the 5 best ideas to try for your next collab!

With over 210 million users in the U.S. alone, viewers' choices have become rapidly diverse on YouTube. Collaborating with a fellow YouTuber can help you attract more of those viewers and get extra watch time for your channel, a perk every creator wants!

A YouTube collab video is produced by two (or more) creators who typically work on separate accounts. By creating one video made for both of their audiences, the collaborators get to introduce new viewers to each other's content.

So what's in it for you? Well, those new viewers may decide to visit your channel. If they like what they see, they might even subscribe!

Collabs are refreshing for your own audience as well because they get to see new content from you. Collaborations allow you to show different parts of your personality that you wouldn't usually express. You can play new games, explore exciting locations, and do much more with your new YouTube buddy.

Read More: YouTube Collabs - 6 Tips for an Awesome Video Project

How To Find YouTubers To Collab With?

Before you collab with other YouTubers, you need to be clear on who you’re collaborating with. Ideally, your collaborator has a similar audience size and shares your niche (at least partially). The vidIQ Competitors Tool is for measuring yourself against similar creators, but it can help also help you find people to work with.

You can also check forums, subreddits, and other social communities where like-minded creators connect. Some of these will be paid communities, so you can expect a more serious crowd and look for potential collaborators.

Now that we've covered the basics, let’s dive into the five different collab ideas to try on your channel.

1. Challenges

A YouTube classic, challenges have been a safe bet for most creators looking to do successful collabs over the years. It’s got everything a good collab needs: great clips, uncontrollable laughter, epic fails, and top-notch content. The staple challenges you can try are "Try Not To Laugh," "Never Have I Ever," "Best Friend Tag," and any 24-hour challenge, among others.

Challenges are flexible in the sense that you can do them remotely instead of meeting in person. So, no matter your niche, there’s a challenge video for you! With YouTube announcing exclusive dance challenges on Shorts from time to time, you can also collaborate on trends like these!

2. IRL

This might not be feasible for many, but if you can, filming (or streaming) yourself doing fun activities outside is almost always a hit. IRL (In real life) might be one of the hardest kinds of content to make out there. Creators face technical difficulties, location-related issues, and the occasional “sniper” who wants to troll for fun. But the sheer variety of content that can be produced IRL should more than compensate for that.

Image Credit: golighstream.com

Amusement parks, haunted houses, picturesque walks, or a short trip to the mountains, could be great ideas for IRL collabs.

3. Cross Hosting

The YouTube community has seen a tremendous increase in cross-channel hosting in recent years. You get to be the presenter of another person's channel and publish content on topics you both find interesting. This will expose you to a new lot of viewers who’ll probably find you interesting!

The value of cross-hosting increased after the pandemic. The simplicity with which this collaboration concept can be executed is one of its main advantages.

4. Series Videos

Why create one video collaboration when you can create a whole series? Making two or more videos will make viewers eagerly anticipate the next one you and your collaborator will share. This is a very effective way to increase views.

  • Ensure your plot is captivating.
  • Upload the first video to one channel.
  • Upload the second video to the other channel.
  • Cross-promote each video on both channels.

5. Reviews and Tutorials

If you have an educational channel, activities that are not educational may not be beneficial for your viewers. But there is one YouTube collab idea you can try.

The opportunities that come with posting reviews and tutorials are enormous, particularly within the home and beauty communities. It's possible to get more views on how-to videos, particularly if your instructions are thorough and helpful.

Because collaboration videos have become so common, it's not surprising that even small YouTubers want to join in. Working together with another YouTuber to produce original material has a lot of advantages. Along with increasing interactions, views, and subscribers, you'll also make your audience find your material more engaging.

Now, it’s time to partner up with another YouTuber looking for a collab! And while you’re at it, check out some other ways to gain and retain your subscribers.