Transcription
YouTube just rolled out a new shows feature, and everyone is now asking, "How do I use this new feature?" But I think that's the wrong question, because this isn't just about a feature. This is YouTube telling you in plain sight exactly what they're building the platform to reward. YouTube now wants viewers to stay on the platform, but your business model has always depended on driving them off. And if you're a founder, a coach, a consultant, or a creator building a business, I want to show you why this opportunity is much bigger [music] than it first appears and what it actually means for your business model.
Hi, I'm Daren. As a Writers Guild Award-winning creator and producer, I have spent years watching social media become television. Welcome to Story Caffeine, where we turn random videos into bingeable shows. For the last year, I've been making what felt like a pretty bold claim: that social media is becoming television. Not the old television, but that the platforms are rewarding the same things television has always rewarded. And that's shows, that's recurring formats, that is characters, that is episodes, reasons to come back. And you now need to think like a showrunner, not an influencer, not a marketer. Because as a content strategist, every time YouTube ships a new feature like this, I don't just look at what it does, I ask, "Why did they build it?" Because companies don't spend engineering resources on features that they don't believe supports the future of the platform. And that is what makes this announcement very interesting.
Now, if you have not seen it, this new shows feature lets partner members organize related videos into a dedicated show with seasons and episodes. Now, you might say, "Darren, that sounds like a playlist." Well, yes, it is a playlist, but it's cleaner and it's easier for viewers to binge. It feels, dare I say, more like Netflix. And keep in mind that YouTube has been the number one TV streaming platform for several years. But, honestly, I don't even think that's the real story. The story is what YouTube is now optimizing for.
So, let me read their recent post. "We're excited to share that we're rolling out shows to more creators. If you're in the YouTube Partner Program and have playlists of high-quality videos that share consistent themes and stories across episodes, you can now designate those playlists as shows." And I want you to note: high-quality videos, consistent themes, and stories across episodes. Those are YouTube's own words. And then it goes on to talk about having a dedicated show page and a made-for-TV banner, which then helps the show, your show, get discovered on the TV homepage.
Think about how YouTube has evolved. Years ago, it felt like every upload kind of lived on its own island. Every video, you basically started over. New thumbnail, new title, new hook, new chance to prove yourself. YouTube was a search engine. You were trying to rank each individual video for keywords. But, over the last few years, YouTube has become increasingly obsessed with watch sessions, with session time. Not just getting someone to click that one video, getting them to stay, to keep watching, to watch another video, and another video. Because the longer someone stays on YouTube, the better it is for YouTube. But, is that better for your business?
Here is the thing. The business model on YouTube has typically been to drive people off the platform, because AdSense, while great, we appreciate it, typically is unpredictable, and it also typically does not drive enough revenue in itself to build sustainable revenue. So, most business owners would use a YouTube video to drive viewers somewhere else. A sales page, a funnel, a community. But, now YouTube wants you to keep them watching on YouTube. So, how can you do both? How can you keep viewers watching and also drive them to your products and services without making your content awful?
Here's where I think most business owners miss the opportunity. You are thinking like marketers. In that scenario, each video is ultimately an ad structured for a conversion, a one-off conversion at that. Marketing will teach you how to get attention, that's the whole goal, but a show teaches you how to keep it. People are not just casually scrolling feeds anymore. They're still doing that, but they're also sitting on their couches watching YouTube the way you used to watch cable. And that is why you're seeing YouTube push episodic storytelling, push cinematic formats, live events. Live events are really big thing within YouTube, and also now creator-led shows.
But, honestly, audiences coming back is where businesses are built. Almost nobody buys from someone after watching one video, no matter how well you structure it for a conversion. That is a myth. They buy after they've watched five videos, or 10 videos, or even 20 videos, not because you convinced them, because they started to know you. They started to trust you. They started to understand how you think. And that is what a series does. Every episode is not just delivering information or an optimized sales pitch, it's building a relationship. You understand that creator's purpose. You understand their character and the quest they're on. And guess what? Those are all the components of a really good show.
Think about your favorite TV show. Odds are you don't watch because every episode title is click-worthy. You watch because you already know what kind of experience you're going to get. You know the format, you know the personality, and you know the promise. You're not choosing a video, you're returning to a world, and that is a completely different relationship.
Now, you may be thinking, "Darren, I'm not trying to be Netflix. I'm just trying to build a business." Well, a show does not necessarily mean a huge production budget. It doesn't necessarily mean special effects or pretending to be an entertainer when you're not. A show is simply a repeatable experience, and it centers on you as a brand having a quest that runs across your entire channel. And I recommend picking from one of these four: being in a life transition, battling an antagonist, solving a mystery, or being on a mission. That quest remains consistent across your videos. And then, you determine what role you serve as a character in your viewer's life. Are you the visionary? Are you a problem-solver? Are you an underdog? Are you a rebel? Are you a sage? That is brand positioning, but now you're doing it like a showrunner, not a marketer.
And then, you make a series. Maybe every Tuesday you break down a trend, or you show the evolution of a project. Maybe every Friday you answer audience questions, or you do a live demo. Maybe every episode follows one client from their initial problem to the big breakthrough. Maybe you're documenting the building of your company. Those are all shows. And then something cool begins to happen. Instead of waking up every week stressing about what should I post, you start asking, "What's the next episode?" And that one shift changes everything, and also ultimately makes it a lot more sustainable because you're not reinventing the wheel every single video. You now think in season arcs, and your viewers now have a reason to return. And if you want more help building that out, you can check out my description for ways that we can work together.
Because this isn't just happening on YouTube. We've seen Instagram now shifting to longer-form, serialized viewing experiences as well. For instance, the yapping trend. And if you're not familiar with yapping, it's basically just internet slang for long-form, casual talking-head videos. And that came directly out of Instagram moving towards longer Reels and optimizing for retention. TikTok is investing heavily in micro-dramas, or what they're now calling mini-dramas. Substack is not only pushing video, they launched a TV app, which seemed like a surprise, but not really. Instagram is also testing a TV app, and they are also rolling out series features. And if you want to look even further into the future of YouTube, at their recent Brandcast, they announced several revenue streams for creators that happen on platform, including memberships and in-stream shopping.
Individually, these are all product updates, but collectively, they're pointing in the same direction. Platforms want people to return again and again and again. But no, I don't think YouTube is expecting business owners to become a Hollywood, unless you want to become a Hollywood. I think they're reinforcing a much bigger shift, and that is the rise of the creator-led studio. The creators who are going to thrive over the next couple of years are not going to be the ones who can make a great individual video. They're going to be the ones who can build worlds that people want to come back to. Who can create anticipation, who create familiarity, who stop thinking like content marketers and start thinking like showrunners.
So, if you've been wondering how to turn your expertise into something people don't just watch once, but actually want to return to, you're in luck, because I talk about that a lot on this channel. In fact, I would click on the video that is popping up on the screen where I break down how to build your first episode. See you there.