The Top 1% Of Creators Rely Heavily On This Growth Tactic
I’ve seen it used by Youtubers, Tiktokers, Bloggers, and even media companies like Barstool Sports.
It’s a tactic that’s favored by the algorithms, provides long-term benefits, and yet is extremely underutilized by newer, smaller creators. It’s been used to expand audiences long before social media was invented. The tactic I’m referring to?
Collaboration.
To see the power of collaboration, let’s look at fitness-Youtuber, Bradley Martyn (3M subscribers).
Bradley Martyn grew his social media following by posting educational fitness videos. The majority of his audience consists of young males interested in learning how to build muscle.
In the last 6 months, Bradley has published videos with Noah Beck, Tristan Jass, Stevewilldoit, Tfue, and Chris Bumstead.
At first glance, there aren’t many similarities between Bradley and some of these others creators. Tristan Jass posts videos playing basketball, Stevewilldoit posts videos of himself drinking massive amounts of alcohol, and Tfue posts Fortnite streams.
This begs the question, why would Bradley collaborate with these Youtubers?
The answer lies in their audience’s demographic. All of the creators above have audiences primarily made up of young males.
By collaborating with these creators, Bradley Martyn gains exposure to the group of people most likely to enjoy his content. This is because the chances that someone interested in basketball or Fortnite is also interested in learning more about gaining muscle are pretty high. There’s a natural overlap.
In terms of audience growth, both parties benefit regardless of who posts the video. If it lives on Stevewilldoit’s channel, Steve’s fans will see it and if they like Bradley, they’ll go check out his channel. If he posts it to his own channel, he can advertise that Steve’s in the video and Steve’s fans will want to watch it.
In fact, two of the first six videos Youtube displays for the search query “Stevewilldoit” live on Bradley Martyn’s channel.
That’s the power of collaboration.
But, as a smaller creator without millions of followers or any connections to other creators, how do you do it effectively?
Who should you collaborate with?
Where can you find other creators to collaborate with?
How do you pitch them?
How often should you collaborate?
I’ll be answering all of these questions in a bi-weekly newsletter I’m launching on May 7th, 2022. By joining my newsletter below, you can expect a focus on strategic collaboration, a sprinkle of relevant news pertaining to the creator economy, and an ongoing list of tools I use to create and distribute content.
