Is Batching Youtube Content Actually Worth it?

In this video, Nathan talks about the pros and cons of batching KZbin content. He shares tips for batching content effectively as well as pitfalls to avoid during the batching process.
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[@ChannelMakers]

Have you ever batched content before? Why or why not?

[@bm1113]

Hi Nice Stories that I, who films outdoors, recognize several parts of 😀 But I try to have videos for a few weeks always as a Batch ready on KZbin. So that I can focus on the videos I'm making without feeling the stress that they have to be finished. Or that I have a week where I'm sick. But then I have many videos where Filming is done and just waiting for editing. But it was good, for example, during the pandemic when I didn't have particularly many days where I filmed but since I posted the videos in the same seasons they were shot, many still worked. Regards from North Sweden

[@selbermachenguru]

Once on my main channel. It helped a lot to create unique content that works for years with ups and downs because it was seasonal. But each Christmas the advent calendar videos coming back like Santa, so it was a good practice. I should do it again

[@bm1113]

@@selbermachenguru smart. If you don't have time for new videos, it might also work to make a commonality post about an old video every day in a calendar with something fun about the video ?

[@Calvin.The.Unfindable]

batch recording is one thing, but still have to find time to edit all that content unless you are in the minority that are lucky enough to just press record and someone else does the rest. no one discusses this. i tried batch recording, as i have chronic ill health. i mananged to find a few hours to record a fair few vids, but i still have to figure out energy levels for editing and windows of opportunity to edit. so i saved no significant time really. life can be frustrating, so much. quality of life - zero.

[@cheryl184]

Nathan, your videos are always super helpful and interesting. Thank you!

[@ChannelMakers]

That means a lot. Thank you! :)

[@CrypticJasmine]

I batch record because sometimes I just don't want to put on make up and get ready and get in front of the camera so when I do I try to make the most of it.

[@Deathdealer]

Earlier this year I finally decided to move towards batch producing my content. I've tried doing it a few times over the past 5 years but could never get it to work out for me until now! I make gaming videos in the minecraft niche, specifically in hardcore mode. Each video typically takes up to 2 weeks to make due to the scale I'm working at. So, how do you batch produce content like that? It's actually really simple. In June I knew I wanted to try this batching thing again so I wrote out a list of 30 ideas for upcoming videos. I then went through the list and organised it with the easiest/quickest ideas being first and the hardest/longest ones being last. Then I sat down and started filming. When I batch produce my videos I go through all 3 phases; pre-production, production, and post production. From start to finish that would take 2 weeks but as I was doing it I managed to find ways to cut corners and make my workflow more efficient so now I'm down to 1 week to make a video. Since I only upload once per month doing this was quite easy. After I started batching my content I have released a video every single month without missing them. This started in August and I have content to do me until the end of December. I last recorded in September so I've had almost 2 months of downtime with content still releasing on the channel. I'm about to start batching my content for January through to April. By batching my content I've given myself a lot more room for improving my content and video packaging. I'm now starting to see view numbers increase as my content is being viewed by a new audience and my sub count is growing as well. Let the experiment continue!

[@soggybawsmoto]

I was inspired to batch a series of 4 films about installing different motorcycle accessories upon the same bike, which led to interesting findings. I chose to use a common title and thumbnail strategy as it was intended to be a series, and my scripting, filming was all the same. IT DEMONSTRATED THE IMPORTANCE OF TOPIC. One of the accessories had more market interest than the rest, and it took off (>1500 views) where the lowest interest was only around 250. I dont regret it at all, it was an excellent lesson to learn under my own steam

[@selbermachenguru]

Thank you for sharing. I could listen to you all day. Plus it reminds me that I wanted to batch again for ages. Got the vibe now!

[@KnowledgeInNature]

I batch 3 videos each morning and scheduled them for time slots the next day. They are just short nature slideshows so i post 3 per day. :) I find ot a bit easier to do a few in a row than doing them separately throughout the day. It also feels good knowing my videos for the next day are scheduled and ready!

[@macvince]

Very relatable and therefore useful video! Thank you for the great information! Oh and batching 52 videos really does sound brutal haha

[@joe_zupko]

I love batching, but doing too much in one day can definitely leave my brain feeling fried. Typically I'll prep video ideas on one day and then record on another day. Then I'll gather all the resources to give to my video editor and thumbnail designer. The only issues I can think of are if you mess up your camera settings or you just sucked at talking that day. It might make it harder to learn from mistakes if you do too much also.

[@lys_is_me]

I just got back from a 2 week holiday away from home so I had to prep for my time away. Instead of planning and filming multiple variations videos I batched them by having 1 bigger video that I could split into 2. One was marbling cupcakes the other was making the buttercream then I even had extra B roll footage for shorts. It was tough to make sure I had plenty of footage to work with but I got through it really easy enough. With cooking and baking it can be either really easy or really hard to batch depending on how you plan to present the content. •and I have just started planning a short series that's going to be 182 shorts, I can then drip feed them every day or second day, and put them all together in a single video once I'm done....

[@lys_is_me]

I also find it works best for (for me) to batch planning, batch filming, then do the rest individually so I can give them the time they each need

[@HoboGirl09]

I have had a similar experience with trying to batch a bunch of videos in one day doing the filming where i end up running out of steam but i am a one person team.

[@user-uu6oh8qm6v]

Really cool experiment, lots of wise advice I really needed in this moment.... thankyou for sharing!

[@StateoftheFranchiseSports]

I think one of the biggest issues with batching is exhaustion from continuously speaking (similar to streaming and keeping the audience engaged by talking) and the overwhelming amount of editing it would take. You can tell when a person is losing energy while speaking and it may cause the audience to tune out. Personally on my gaming channel when I batch it usually ends in me deleting videos just because I feel like I can lose the story I'm aiming for.

[@jmilkslinger]

Wait. Is the thumbnail supposed to have a typo in it?!

[@ChannelMakers]

Yes, it is

[@shanaesmith112]

It was a misteak.

[@jmilkslinger]

@@shanaesmith112 🤣

[@nicolesimoneu]

I have been doing automation of content / analytics and reports etc for over two decades now ... and listening to you I would say you are still not really batching content but seem to be doing only parts of them. Or are at the very beginning of streamlining content production. I usually boil it down to this: you should be able to shut of your brain and be able to work through your workflow (or come back to it after a vacation). The keywords are swimlane separation (what am I working on now), black box (what do I need to know right now to make the next step?) and time (what worked, what did not work, what can i do better). It is similar to an author writing a book - there are different tasks (writing, editing, revise, glossary etc) and you should be able to do them in batches without having to think too much about it. But being an author also is about launch, launch sequence, newsletter, etc. They all tie together and have different goals and working steps. And you need to have the right scope of work mindset. So for this context you dont batch content- you figure out the working formular for your content pipeline, and the types of content and workflows to it. Then you produce them. Other concepts to study: lean production, kaizen, kanban.

[@your_spirit_guide]

I tried batching videos before, usually 2-3 videos per batch, & each video I would wear different apparel so as not to appear obvious that my recent videos are all of the same batch I also feel that if we only batch 2-3 videos each time, we can improve something in the videos after each batch. If we batch too many videos, the improvement will take much longer I have seen content creators on TikTok uploading positive affirmations on a daily basis, everything is the same except for the messages slightly different, and since there are no thumbnails, each image will look almost the same

[@SaltyVetAdventures]

I hope the "misteak" on the thumbnail was a mistake. Because that is pretty bad.

[@ChannelMakers]

Don't worry, it wasn't a misteak 🙃🥩

[@selbermachenguru]

Well, it made you comment 😂

[@SaltyVetAdventures]

It also made me not watch the video. @@selbermachenguru 🤣

[@back2thenature2]

So true, even if they didn't watch the whole video, it's still a positive impression, clicked on, and commented.... It's bad when people are so sad that they get happy when they THINK they see someone make a miSTEAK!!! haha@@selbermachenguru

[@MattCommand1]

Is "misteaks" on the thumbnail intentional misspelling?

[@ChannelMakers]

It is. The channel Nathan discussed in his Example if batching was outdoor cooking. Hence “steaks” and the “mistake” in the word “mistake” was intentional irony.

[@MattCommand1]

@@ChannelMakers IMHO, it's a miss. It screams typo. Even watching the video, it didn't connect. I think you guys are hurting yourself with that.

[@ChannelMakers]

@@MattCommand1 Thanks for the feedback!

[@millionairemoxie]

I have been wondering what happened to those batch challenge videos Thanks, Nathan!

[@ExpressITTechTips]

I’ve been trying to do this for months hasnt happened yet but maybe before Xmas 😂

[@Carina_Rose]

It would be nice if I could batch videos, but with a cleaning channel I’m not sure how I could do that, unless I just spend alllllll day cleaning, and I don’t have time for that, lol. I could batch shorts, but I really don’t care for making shorts.

[@Bernhard_Schmidt]

Check the spelling in your thumbnail

[@fmios]

What is batching videos? English is not my mother tongue

[@CHANNEL.518]

Making more than one video at a time, or many in a day or two, before you start editing all them .

[@fmios]

​@@CHANNEL.518thank you!

[@millionairemoxie]

Hahaha! Steaks...

[@LifesMagicalJourney]

I bet you guys miss Nate!

[@selbermachenguru]

Why should they. Kindness is something the world needs and I can find it here.

[@ODBC_Catalina_Mod]

I guess you didn’t read their blog post from August…

[@BenReAdded]

This channel is really going downhill... It seems like you guys don't know what you're doing and I really can't take the advice on this channel seriously anymore.

[@ChannelMakers]

Funny, the videos are being planned by the same people who planned the videos before. Like completely. So I don’t think it’s the advice that’s the problem.