A lot of creators know that choosing a content niche is a great way to grow a YouTube channel. However, many creators aren’t sure how to grow within the content niches they’ve chosen. Uploading topical videos and keeping a strict upload schedule is only the beginning.

Here are a few top tips for growing within your content niche.

1. Collaborate with other creators within your community.

The content niche you’ve chosen is also a community. A number of other creators are likely making videos that are similar to yours. Your niche is a community, so you should think of these other creators as your neighbors rather than your competition. However, rather than inviting these neighbors over for a barbecue, you should be asking them to collaborate with you.

There are also smaller communities within your content niche. If you think of your broader community as a neighborhood, then these more specific niches are the cul-de-sacs. For example, while all of the gaming creators are part of the same community, they can further divide themselves by the games they play, where they live, or their subscriber counts. These subsets are important to acknowledge because the creators in your same “cul-de-sac” are more likely to take you up on your offer to collaborate.

Take, for instance, the fashion and beauty community on YouTube. This content niche is so big that it has its own section on the explore page. One of the many smaller niches within the fashion community involves historical costume recreation, which is called “Costube.” Members of the Costube community often collaborate on projects and travel together, like Bernadette Banner and Cathy Hay did in this vlog.

2. Adapt video trends to fit your content niche.

Whenever a new video trend takes off, all kinds of creators jump on the bandwagon. In order to capitalize on the popularity of a trend while also promoting your content within your community, you should adapt video trends to fit your content niche. Brainstorm creative ways to make a video trend fit with your typical content in a way that makes sense.

3. Release merch and products that promote your brand.

You can also grow your channel by treating it like a brand. All of the products a company puts out generally fall within the same category, so your merch should relate to your channel’s brand as well. Think outside the standard box of the shirts and hats a lot of creators release. What kinds of tools do you use in your videos? What video element could be turned into a physical product?

Releasing products that appeal to your viewer demographic can also turn customers who’ve never heard of your channel into subscribers. When someone picks up your product or finds it online, they should be able to find your channel name clearly displayed on the packaging.

DIY creator Karina Garcia popularized slime content on YouTube. Her brand Craft City sells DIY slime kits, which introduce a lot of young crafters to her channel.

4. Invite your viewers to contribute to your content.

A major part of growing a niche audience is simply engaging with the audience you already have. Community contributions play a big role as well, especially if you invite your viewers to share their contributions in a public space. Ask your fans to contribute questions, ideas, art, etc. for your videos on social media. Give them a specific hashtag to use, and remind them to tag you as well.

You can even have viewers share their contributions in spaces that are specific to your content niche. 

In order to grow within your content niche, you should prioritize engaging with both viewers and other creators who are part of your community. Invite your audience to contribute to your content, and release your own products that appeal to people who share interests with your current viewers.