If you want YouTube views, one avenue to try is the shopping vlog. Everyone shops, so turning an everyday activity into a source of income can be fantastic. However, it can be challenging to know where to begin. Let’s look at several tips to get you started.
Find Your Niche
First, you must know your niche. YouTube is a highly competitive platform, with many people having similar ideas. You can make videos shopping anywhere, but if you focus it on a specific type of store, you may grow a fanbase easier. Ideally, you’ll choose an untapped niche that has an audience.
For example, you may devote your channel to shopping at dying malls or have a channel dedicated to local businesses. When you have an idea for a niche, see if there is anyone else with a similar niche. Study their audience as well. It would be best if you had an idea of who your audience is how old they are, and learn any other relevant info about them you can.
Know What Style of Videos You’re Making
When it comes to being a shopping vlogger, what types of videos will you make? There are many types of shopping vlogs, but most take place in the store or at your home. You may record yourself shopping in the store, show its interior, and let viewers feel like they’re shopping with you.
Meanwhile, some vloggers will record a video from home and show their haul. They may review the products or unbox them, covering several other popular YouTube niches.
Some videos may be a little bit of both. A channel may have different types of videos, but focusing on one can help you find your niche.
Have an Idea of Your Persona
Your YouTube persona consists of how you speak to your audience, your greeting, sign-off, and more. Do you want to sound like someone’s best shopping buddy? Does your audience like someone sassy? Think of your persona and develop it over time. Your early videos may not reflect what you become, so keep that in mind.
Keep Things Well-Edited
You don’t need to be an editing wiz to record a shopping vlog, but you should have basic editing skills. When showing the footage of you shopping, you want to ensure you’re showing the best parts and quickly transition to the next scene whenever the previous footage’s highlights have been shown. Cutting out the stuttering, ums and ahs, and other mistakes can keep your video looking professional as well.
Have Good Equipment
One bit of common knowledge is to have good video and audio equipment. You don’t need to invest in high-end studio equipment, but you should have a decent mic and camera. Nowadays, 4K cameras are affordable, and mics with clear audio are also inexpensive.
With shopping vlogs, however, you may want several travel cameras. At the bare minimum, you can strap your phone to your chest and record, but travel cameras can give you high-quality video and audio without being too much of a hassle to carry.
Know the Recording Rules
If you’re going to record yourself shopping, remember that you’re doing it in a private business. Some businesses will not mind the free publicity, while others may not feel comfortable. Some establishments, such as Walmart, forbid unauthorized recording, but it is not enforced that much, with entire websites being dedicated to photos of Walmart customers.
If you’re not sure, ask someone. If you’re given permission, be sure to be respectful. Don’t bother other customers who don’t want to be in your video, and don’t be too distracting to the shopping experience.
Don’t Share too Much Information
If you’re shopping at businesses near you, you may have the temptation to tell the names of the businesses to shout them out. This is all good, but make sure you’re comfortable doing this.
You may be revealing where you live if you overshare. Now, you may believe that since you’re a small YouTuber, you may not care about this too much. But even smaller YouTubers can be victims of stalking and harassment. Plus, there is the potential for your channel to grow, and when it does, you may be in trouble if people know where you live.
Have a Shopping Budget
The thrill of recording a shopping vlog can lead to some unnecessary purchases. It’s good to do a little retail therapy occasionally, but if you have a low budget, you should ensure that your videos do not break your budget. Only when you start gaining money from the channel should you shop until you drop. Plus, it may be a tax write-off!
Utilize Shorts and Live Streams
YouTube has Shorts and live streaming capabilities. Shorts are vertical videos under a minute long. You can upload a Short showing of a video highlight or footage not shown in your videos. Shorts can gain traction and subscribers much quicker than traditional videos, especially for the TikTok generation.
Occasionally, doing a stream can benefit you as well. If you’re making a haul video, live streaming it may not be a bad idea. You can answer audience questions, take donations, and demonstrate products in real time. Be sure that you have a good webcam for this and that you have a steady, fast Internet connection.
Be Consistent
Consistency is key. You don’t need to upload daily, but you should upload at least three times a week. You can use your analytics to see when your audience is the most active and then upload during that time. If you upload sporadically, you may lose your audience. If you upload too much, you may swamp your audience with too much content.
Check Your Analytics
Finally, you must check your YouTube analytics every once in a while. If you’ve been gaining subscribers, have had people watching until the very end, and your other numbers are going up, then great. If you’ve noticed a drop, consider reinventing your channel. There may be something you’re doing that doesn’t appeal to your audience, or you may have too broad of a niche.
The post How to Start a Shopping Vlog on YouTube: Tips for Beginners appeared first on Shopping Kim.