Markiplier has been one of the most famous gaming Youtubers of all time. Odds are, if you're reading this post, he's entertained you for years!
He reels in more than a million views per video on average by bringing his fans non-stop comedy and action while playing exciting games.
Let's break down what fuels the success of Markiplier's YouTube channel and what we can learn from him.
We will look at his thumbnails, his different content styles, and some amusing techniques that keep you engaged with his content.
Thumbnails:
There's nothing else that stands out more on a YouTube homepage than Markiplier's thumbnails.
With his excessive use of emotion and sometimes rather graphic cartoon content, it will never fail to catch your eye.
We always say to our clients that you want to express emotion on your face to a degree to capture people's attention.
And no, we don't tell them to overdo it. Still, as you can see, Markiplier owns it and goes entirely overboard, which is clearly working well for him.
With his channel primarily being a gaming channel, it's even more important to him to ensure he uses intense and captivating visuals for his thumbnails.
Gamers are usually highly visual people due to their interest in video games. The last thing Markiplier should be doing is putting up thumbnails of some boring stock images.
Styles Of Content:
Markiplier's main style of content revolves around gaming and, in particular, horror games. This is an incredibly effective genre of gaming to make content from as it draws people in, and they always want to know what happens next.
When you think about it, it's a great hack against the YouTube algorithm because aside from click-through rate, the Algorithm is primarily watching to see how many viewers stick around to watch the whole video.
Remember the old Slenderman games? It used to be a craze where every YouTuber and his dog would react to the game and rack up millions of views.
Markiplier was no different, he brought his witty and fun personality to the table, which earned those Slenderman videos he made anywhere between 500K - 4.5M views!
This strategy of playing horror games is the main factor regarding Markiplier's insane growth over the years.
The try not to laugh challenges have also been a massive hit, it keeps you always wondering which meme or funny video will make him crack up with laughter.
Also, you end up having a great time yourself which stops you from clicking away from the video.
Notice how all of these things are geared towards keeping you engaged with the content?
At the end of the day, it really is all psychology…
About a year ago, Markiplier added a new trailer to his channel 'A Heist With Markiplier.' What's unique about this trailer is that it's designed as a choose your own adventure series.
Usually, these stories are found in books, where you read a particular chapter, and then you're asked to make a decision.
Once you've made said decisions, you then go on to the specific page in the book to continue the story you've chosen.
Markiplier created this element by using the end screen cards at the end of the video to show you the choices you have to continue the story.
This breaks the fourth wall and allows the viewer to be an active participant in the story. The point of view is the first person as you follow Markiplier through the heist.
The opening video has scored over 32M views since, and it's no wonder why. When you tell a compelling story that drags the viewer into the situation, you access their empathy, which we all have unless you're a sociopath.
In general, people are natural at putting themselves in other people's shoes. Taking advantage of this when telling a story makes all the difference.
Video Editing Techniques:
Markiplier deploys a few video editing techniques that continue to hook your attention every time…
The first one is where his face is liquified, and he looks extremely weird. He usually pairs this with saying something about how he's feeling right now or if he's up to a scary part of the game.
Next is where he scales his webcam to take up more of the screen and emphasize something he's saying for comedic effect.
He also has animations show up on his screen from time to time that have visual appeal. Of course, this is geared directly to his gaming audience, which appreciates quality graphics.
So What Have We Learned From Markiplier?
By doubling down on playing scary horror games and his quirky personality, Markiplier excels at holding viewers' attention for very long periods.
His average video time is around 30 minutes per video, yet he earns millions of views regularly. Only god knows how good his watch time and audience retention graphs must look on the back end of his YouTube studio.
By incorporating a lot of humour into all of his content you are helplessly engaged as a viewer and almost forced to watch till the end because of how good a lot of his content can be.
Don't forget to consider the cheeky video edits that constantly pop up during his videos which can add a serious level of engagement and entertainment.
With a formula like Markiplier's, it was only natural for his channel to succeed the way it has.
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