5 Lessons We’ve Learned About Growing A YouTube Channel
Some context: In addition to contributing to Shooting Industry, I serve as the digital content editor for our parent company, FMG Publications. The bulk of my day-to-day includes editing online content, SEO, email marketing and social media management for our consumer publications, GUNS Magazine and American Handgunner.
Over the past two years, I’ve also spent significant time working to grow our YouTube channel (@fmgpubs). You likely already know — this is no easy feat for anyone in the firearms community.
Despite the guidelines stacked against us, we’ve managed to achieve some success, and I wanted to share some of the valuable lessons we’ve learned along the way.
1. Prioritize value over volume
I was hired in early 2022 along with a full-time video producer. Initially, our video strategy centered on volume and consistency.
We learned fairly early on that although consistency is key, the volume of content we set out to achieve wasn’t sustainable with a team of our size.
The biggest problem, however, was pumping out multiple long-form videos per week (because it was “best practice” in terms of posting frequency) meant we weren’t focused on providing value to our audience.
The FMG YouTube channel started in 2007. In that time, we’ve published more than 1,400 videos. The majority of the most-viewed videos or those with the most engagement are the ones that teach something. Two videos in particular — “Gun Cleaning 101” from 2011 and “How To Field Strip A 1911” from 2013 — continue to generate thousands of new views (and revenue) each month.
If you don’t think your company has the resources to start, much less grow, a YouTube channel, try to focus on producing content that adds value rather than worrying about the volume of content you’re producing.
2. Old is new
The FMG team has produced several videos inspired by the “what’s old is new” industry-wide trend we’re all seeing. The resurgence of lever guns and revolvers can partially be attributed to the influx of new shooters.
Many of these entry-level shooters initially purchased value-priced handguns for the purposes of self-defense and have since realized how fun recreational and/or competitive shooting can be. The result has been a renewed interest in learning about the classics and a willingness to spend a little more money for higher quality.
All of this explains why a 53-second YouTube Short about the Henry .22 LR Garden Gun has amassed more than half a million views and resulted in 1,044 new subscribers to date. The video was posted on April 23, and views continue to grow each day. In May, it helped us achieve the milestone of 1 million views in a single month for the first time in our channel’s history.
YouTube Shorts featuring limited editions of a T/C .45 ACP, vintage .38 S&W top break revolver and an original Smith & Wesson 1917 .45 ACP also rank among the most viewed on the channel.
3. Longer isn’t always better
YouTube Shorts is now averaging over 70 billion daily views. Last fall, we experimented by adding Shorts to our content strategy. We started by posting one or two YouTube shorts a day, Monday through Friday, for a period of six weeks. The majority of the clips were taken from full-length GUNS Magazine Podcast episodes. The Shorts garnered approximately 90,800 views, the majority of which were not from current subscribers, and helped increase the GUNS Magazine Podcast playlist views by 28%.
Shorts remain an important piece of FMG’s video content strategy, but instead of relying on recycled clips from full-length videos, Special Assignments Editor Roy Huntington creates original short-form content.
Each week, Roy shares a mix of classic and/or unique firearms, updates on projects he’s working on and helpful DIY tips in 60 seconds or less. He also shares quick looks at new guns, gear and accessories, often as a teaser for more in-depth reviews to follow either on the channel or in the magazines. This content mix, combined with Roy’s signature style, has helped us carve a niche and stand out from the thousands of other firearms content creators on the platform.
Incorporating more short-form videos has also made it easier for our small team to consistently share video content. And although the Shorts make us literal pennies on the dollar in ad revenue compared to long-form videos, there’s no denying the impact they’ve had on the overall growth of our channel and the increased reach to viewers who have likely never been exposed to FMG’s brands before.
4. SEO isn’t just for your website
YouTube is the world’s second-largest search engine, so while search engine optimization (SEO) is normally something thought about for your website, it’s also an important factor for wanting to grow a YouTube channel.
For websites, users visit for a variety of reasons, including information gathering, making purchases or seeking solutions to problems. SEO is aimed at providing relevant content to meet user needs and encourage further engagement or conversion. But for YouTube, users often visit for entertainment, tutorials, product reviews and how-to guides, so SEO efforts should be focused on matching video content to user search queries and satisfying user intent through engaging and informative videos.
YouTube’s search algorithm prioritizes factors like video engagement (watch time, likes, comments), relevancy (keywords in titles, descriptions, tags) and user retention (how long viewers stay on your videos). Dig into your channel’s analytics to learn more about what other channels and videos your viewers are watching and what words or phrases they’re searching for. Tools like Google Keyword Planner can also be helpful for conducting keyword research, especially if you have a relatively new channel or not a lot of content to help identify trends through an analytics dashboard. Focus on terms relevant to your niche, such as specific firearm models, accessories or shooting techniques. Use these keywords naturally in video titles, descriptions, tags and even in the video content itself to improve searchability.
5. Playing by the rules matters
Over the past two years, the lessons and strategies I’m sharing have, thus far, helped us grow our audience on YouTube — increasing subscribers by 55%. (Just last month, we surpassed 100,000 subscribers!) None of these strategies would work, however, if we didn’t play by the rules.
Google, YouTube’s parent company, continues to update its guidelines regarding firearms-related content, making it more and more restrictive and leaving those of us in the shooting industry questioning whether it’s worth using the platform at all. But the reality is, there’s not really a viable alternative.
YouTube has 2.49 billion monthly active users. Patreon, an alternative many 2A supporters have turned to, only has around 8 million monthly active users. Another “popular” video platform, Rumble, reported 50 million monthly active users in the first quarter of 2024, but that number was down from 67 million in the previous period. For added perspective, 50 million only equates to 2% of YouTube’s monthly active users.
If video is going to be part of your digital marketing plan, which some could argue is non-negotiable in 2024, the single most important growth strategy is to play by the rules.
If you continue to violate YouTube’s firearms policy, no matter how ludicrous most of its guidelines are, forget about trying to grow your channel because you’ll no longer have a channel at all
