ChatGPT Analyzed The Top 1K YouTubers – Here’s How to Build a Successful, High-Paying YouTube Channel

Introducing the #AISummer2023 series, a continuation of the original #30DayAIChallenge in Spring. As the field of AI evolves, this series delves deeper into the latest advancements in AI tools and capabilities. It represents not just my practical tinkering over the Summer, but a metaphorical ‘summer’ of AI growth and evolution.

I’m a huge fan of YouTube…not only is it a great place to find amazing creators and content, but the company has also done a tremendous job of helping creators monetize their work. For my latest Summer AI experiment, I decided to dive into data from the top thousand (995 to be accurate) YouTube channels. As usual, the dataset was sourced from Kaggle.

In case you were wondering, here are the Top 10 YouTube Channels at the moment based on overall Subscriber and Video View counts.

How to Build a Successful, High-Paying YouTube Channel

What factors influence a channel’s success, and how can creators optimize their earnings? Let’s explore!

1. Category Matters

Our analysis revealed that the category of a channel significantly influences its success and earnings.

Channels in the “Music,” “Film & Animation,” and “Entertainment” categories tend to have higher subscriber growth and earnings. Meanwhile, categories like “Gaming” and “Education” have lower median earnings.

When selecting a category, consider your interests and skills, as well as the potential for earnings and audience growth.

2. Know Your Audience

Understanding your target audience is crucial for success. Channels in the “Education” category that focus on nursery rhymes and kids’ songs tend to be more successful. This is likely because young kids love watching colorful animations and hearing sounds, and they enjoy repetition. Additionally, parents can safely play videos from these channels to keep kids engrossed.

In contrast, gaming channels with popular personalities have a loyal following, as they cater to an audience that enjoys watching gameplay and commentary from their favorite gamers.

Think about your audience’s preferences, age, and interests, and tailor your content accordingly. For example, if you’re targeting young children, consider creating colorful, engaging, and repetitive content that captures their attention and provides entertainment or educational value.

3. Channel Age Doesn’t Guarantee Success

While older channels tend to have slightly more subscribers, channel age is not a strong predictor of success. Factors like content quality, audience engagement, and marketing efforts play more significant roles.

Consistency, creativity, and engagement with your audience are essential for long-term success, regardless of your channel’s age.

4. Earnings Per View Vary by Category

The earnings per view differ significantly across categories. The “Autos & Vehicles” category has the highest earnings per view, while the “Trailers” category has the lowest.

Consider the potential earnings per view when selecting a category, but remember that high-quality content and audience engagement are key drivers of success.

5. Analyze Successful Channels

Analyze the titles and content of successful channels within your chosen category to identify common themes and keywords. For instance, the most popular channels in the “Education” category often feature nursery rhymes and kids’ songs. Here are some insights into the content that is most likely to be present or successful in each category based on the titles of the most popular channels:

• Autos & Vehicles: The keywords in this category are not very informative, but we can infer that channels might feature supercars and car-related content.
• Comedy: Channels in this category seem to have unique names, indicating that they are likely personality-driven.
• Education: Channels in this category often feature content related to nursery rhymes and kids’ songs.
• Entertainment: Channels in this category have unique names, suggesting that they are driven by individual personalities or brands.
• Film & Animation: Channels in this category include movie-related content, such as movieclips and film production companies.
• Gaming: Channels in this category are often associated with individual personalities known for gaming content.
• Howto & Style: One popular channel in this category is “5-Minute Crafts”, indicating DIY and craft-related content.
• Movies: Channels in this category are related to movie distribution or movie-related content.
• Music: Channels in this category are often associated with music production companies.
• News & Politics: Channels in this category are often associated with news networks.
• Nonprofits & Activism: One popular channel in this category is “TEDx Talks”, indicating content related to talks and presentations.
• People & Blogs: Channels in this category often feature content related to kids and family entertainment.
• Pets & Animals: The keywords in this category are not very informative, but we can infer that channels might feature content related to pets and animals.
• Science & Technology: Channels in this category include popular science communicators like “Mark Rober” and “Mr. Indian Hacker”.
• Shows: Channels in this category are often associated with TV networks and TV shows.
• Sports: Channels in this category include sports organizations like WWE, NBA, and FIFA.
• Trailers: Channels in this category are associated with movie trailers and music distribution.
• Travel & Events: The keywords in this category are not very informative, but we can infer that channels might feature travel and event-related content.

Please note that these insights are based on the titles of the most popular channels within each category (and only the top 995 channels), so they may not represent the full range of content within each category. Incorporate popular keywords and themes into your content to attract a larger audience and increase your chances of success.

6. Geographical Trends Matter

Our analysis of the distribution of successful YouTube channels on a world map revealed that countries with large populations and strong internet penetration tend to have more successful channels in terms of subscribers and video views. The United States, India, and Brazil stand out as countries with a high number of subscribers and video views.

Consider the geographical trends when creating and marketing your content, as they can influence your channel’s success and earnings.

We also looked at a few other potential relationships. Our analysis showed that factors such as gross tertiary education enrollment (%), population, unemployment rate, and urban population have varying degrees of impact on YouTube popularity and monetization success. Higher gross tertiary education enrollment (%) is generally associated with higher video consumption, as more educated individuals are likely to have better access to the internet and technology. Population size also plays a role, as countries with larger populations tend to have higher video consumption and more successful YouTube channels. The unemployment rate has a mixed impact, as higher unemployment may lead to more time spent watching videos, but it may also reduce disposable income and advertising budgets. Lastly, urban population is positively correlated with video consumption, as urban areas tend to have better internet infrastructure and more tech-savvy residents. Overall, these factors influence YouTube popularity and monetization success to varying degrees, highlighting the importance of considering multiple factors when analyzing a channel’s potential for success.

7. Other Considerations

Other factors, such as video length, video frequency, and video quality, also influence a channel’s success. Research and test different strategies to find what works best for your channel. Collaborate with other creators, optimize your video titles and descriptions for search, and engage with your audience through comments and social media.

Upload frequency is also key, especially to maintain a healthy subscriber base and engagement. The above insights suggest that channels in the “News & Politics” and “Entertainment” categories tend to upload content more frequently compared to other categories. However, there is significant variability within each category, highlighting the importance of factors such as content type, audience engagement, and marketing efforts in determining a channel’s upload frequency.

In conclusion, building a successful, high-paying YouTube channel requires a combination of selecting the right category, understanding your audience, creating high-quality content, and engaging with your audience. Stay consistent, learn from successful channels, and continuously optimize your strategy to achieve long-term success on YouTube.

BONUS ANALYSIS: What can we learn from the Top 20 earning YouTubers?

While I’m not sure exactly how the earnings estimates were generated in the dataset, I decided to take a quick look at the top 20 earners on an annual basis. This was done with a good old Spreadsheet sort function to keep things simple.

It’s interesting to see that besides the US, Asian (i.e. Korea, India, Pakistan) YouTubers dominate the Top 20 and there isn’t a very marked trend in terms of volume of videos, views and subscribers vs earning potential. Save for a handful of the names, most were new to me, so I looked up a few on YouTube. One interesting thing I noticed was how important short form content has become…for example, the top YouTuber on the list “KIMPRO” now has over 1.7k videos with over 22.6bn views (as of today) but only 11 of those videos are traditional long form format…everything else is in the YouTube Shorts category.

While media companies like T-Series, SET India (Sony Entertainment), Zee TV, etc. clearly have a LOT of content they can make available on YouTube, it’s also fascinating to see how “individual” (some do have production crews and studios behind them) creators can also use YouTube as a somewhat level playing field to compete against these behemoths. A lot of content here features comedy and the day-to-day lives of popular kids and families.

Did you find this analysis useful? What other insights would be useful and are there other critical factors that should be considered? Leave a comment (or send me a personal message) to let us know!