I have been a lifelong fan of Still Game so it was a great opportunity to create a digital product for a show that I knew very well. The plan was to create an online platform where people could watch video content of Still Game and I wanted to create a space where people could have a laugh and engage with other fans of the show.

Video Creation

The videos were the main attraction of the channel so planning was undertaken to create content that would be engaging but also distinguish the channel from the competition. There were three main types of videos that the channel used. On a weekly roster, a full episode would be released and form the basis of the wider schedule by fitting other videos around the episodes.

Video Creation on ClipChamp | Still Game Clips

In addition to the episodes, short one-liner videos were created to drive up engagement from the audience as interactions are generally higher from short-form content. Finally, one video per week was a compilation of a character’s best moments or a story than runs across multiple episodes. The compilations are different from the competition and allow the channel to standout by giving fans content in a format they are unlikely to have seen before.

The videos were released over five days of the week, including the weekend. The weekday videos were released at midday so the audience could watch the video during a lunch break. The main videos were released at 8PM so the audience could watch the longer videos at home in the evening. The videos were edited using ClipChamp as it provided the basic editing functions such as cutting and transitioning video clips. The software was also used to add branded assets such as episode information tags and end screens which featured unique music.

YouTube

The decision was made early-on to make YouTube the centre of the channel and make all other social platforms secondary. The reason YouTube was selected was because it is a dedicated video platform that is geared towards providing diverse types of video content. It is also a popular platform where a large community could be developed. The social media was used as a feeder to YouTube by uploading the full video to YouTube and then uploading a short 30 second clip on other social media. The post with the short clip also had a link to take the viewer to the YouTube video.

YouTube Channel | Still Game Clips

I carried out a few steps to make the YouTube videos as appealing as possible by picking an eye-catching title, description and thumbnail, which made each video unique and easy to identify. Extra steps were taken to make it as easy as possible to find the videos such as adding relevant hashtags and tags as well as making playlists of the most popular videos. Making the technical changes made is easier for YouTube to understand the type of content on the channel and therefore more likely to serve the videos to a suitable audience.

Short clips were used to create mobile-targeted videos that leveraged YouTube Shorts as a method of driving traffic to the channel. YouTube Shorts is primarily used on mobile devices and can be served to viewers who are not yet subscribed to the channel. This way, we can create video content tailored to the emerging mobile audience and drive new users to the channel as well.

Social Media

Each social media platform had content uploaded that was specifically altered with each platform in mind. For instance, all the content on TikTok was short video reels as that platform is best at providing short-form entertainment to the audience. Alternatively, high-quality still images were uploaded to Instagram for the full episodes because it is an effective way of grabbing the attention of the audience and guide them towards watching the full episodes on YouTube.

Social Media Content | Still Game Clips

Some content that was specific to social media was the end of series rundown where I combined the clips of all episodes from a series and posted them in a fun recap format. Some other uses of social media included using polls to get audience feedback and suggestions. This was useful when creating compilations and empowering the audience by giving them an element of control over the video content created.

I engaged with the audience by liking some humorous comments and providing followers with an incentive to provide engaging comments on each post. I sometimes replied to a comment with a reference to the TV show. This way, the comments section of each video could be part of the fun and engaging environment the channel aimed to create.

Guide and Report

As the process for video editing and managing social media continued to evolve, it was important to document the whole process and note where improvements could be made. It was interesting to see the incremental changes come into play and have a positive effect. For example, after six months, Facebook allowed the use of tags and preview images on video posts. Once the videos had the suitable tags added, they were served to more viewers and ultimately resulted in more views. Creating documentation of the process allowed multiple people to work on the project to a high standard by describing all the steps required for success.

Google Looker Studio Monthly Report | Still Game Clips

The second area where gradual improvement was carried out was in the monthly reports. Data was collected from the analytics of various social media platforms so the performance of the videos could be assessed. The videos were annotated with additional information which allowed insights to be gained about the most popular type of video, series number and release day. For example, it became apparent that the short one-liner videos generated the most views, so I changed the schedule to release more one-liners throughout the week.

Conclusion

My overall thoughts on the experience was that the project was a big success. Purely in terms of numbers, the platform gained a bigger response than I expected. For example, the number of followers and views per video far outperformed expectations.

In terms of skills gained, I picked up some experience in video editing, which will be transferable to other projects. I have a really good understanding of some of the intricacies of how to make a YouTube video more discoverable. I also learned some of the quirks of different social media platforms, particularly using short video clips on TikTok.

In terms of potential future concepts, the channel could expand the number of content days from five to seven. The longer episode and compilation videos could have longer previews on social media to provide more advertisement opportunities. Finally, the channel could become an affiliate of a relevant charity such as Age UK.

Overall, my favourite part was creating a social media presence that people enjoyed. I am proud of creating a space online where people can have a laugh and engage with other people about a shared interest. Also, the technical skills can be taken into future commercial projects.