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Nikhil Gopalakrishnan of Pentad Securities, Kochi, Kerala has over 2.50 lakh subscribers on his Malayalam YouTube Channel ‘Money Talks With Nikhil’.
In his YouTube journey of three and half years, Nikhil has curated over 400 educational videos.
Nikhil said, “Making consistent and captivating content created my brand. Also, it gives me an opportunity to reach out to prospects with whom we otherwise do not get an opportunity to interact.”
The YouTuber MFD shared with us five lessons that has worked for him:
1. Picking the right topic
I stay in constant touch with all my existing clients. This helps me understand needs, fears and problem areas. I identify their common concerns and address them on my YouTube channel. Likewise, taking queries from prospects is also a good source of content ideation.
The idea is to create videos that can address their concerns and offer them solutions. Another important aspect is keeping the content independent i.e. I don’t do sponsored videos.
2. Pay attention to video quality
Invest if you want to make it big. I invested in a good camera and gears like a tripod and ring light. This gives a professional touch to your video content.
Further, get your video edited by experts. They use clean thumbnails and graphics that can make your video more engaging and smoother. I have outsourced video editing to professionals. I spend Rs.50,000 – Rs.70,000 per month on editing. But now, over the last one and a half years, I am able to recover this cost through monetization.
3. Connecting with your target audience
Everyone needs food and water for survival and money is also a basic need. This simply means that each and every individual is a part of the target audience.
I use storytelling to hold viewers’ attention and simplify financial concepts. I try to talk in a way that even a school going kid can understand what I am explaining to them.
More importantly, all my videos are in Malayalam. This makes my viewer more comfortable.
4. Maintaining consistency
Consistency is very important and creates a high probability of having loyal viewership. Keep a fixed day and time. I post videos twice a week. Given the busy work schedule, having a dedicated team becomes helpful. I currently have a two-member team who take care of content management. They ensure timely co-ordination and release of videos.
5. Evaluating the reach
One good thing about YouTube is transparent feedback. I have set my own evaluation benchmark. If a particular video is not getting a certain number of views, it indicates the content is not so good. I thus change my approach and think of newer ideas and ways of presenting.
The YouTube effect
Every video has my contact details. Viewers typically reach out to me for their queries and concerns. This gives an opportunity to personally interact with them. Once they are convinced about the value that professional advice can add to their lives, they eventually become my clients.
And lastly, YouTube monetization acts as the cherry on the cake. This financially supports my content creation activities and my marketing becomes free of cost.
