Fortnite videos have been named one of the major Youtube trends of 2018 along with K-pop, Mukbang and ASMR. Content creators produce Fortnite-related videos of all kinds: from recording their gameplay to sharing tips, gossips, and hacks about the game. The Fortnite dance parodies have even become a genre of its own. According to Ahrefs, the term “fortnite” is Top-10 search query in the US as of July 2019. Videos about this game get billions of views, so what’s the secret of their huge popularity? How can a YouTube Creator stand out from the crowd of channels trying to capitalize on the Fortnite phenomenon?

Cloutboost met with the creator of Top5Gaming to ask him what are the key reasons for the success of his YouTube channel. After dedicating Top5Gaming to the Fortnite Battle Royale content, Tom and his team have hit over 2.6 million followers and almost 500 million views. In this interview, Tom tells us about his experience in the world of YouTube and gives some insight into the success formula of his two channels: Top5Gaming and Top5Central.

Cloutboost: Please tell us about yourself and your channel. When and why did you start making YouTube videos?

Top5Gaming: I started creating YouTube videos about 7-8 years ago now. My older brother started making videos about tutorials in video games and I really liked the idea of teaching/helping others.

Cloutboost: There are millions of Fortnite videos on YouTube. What do you think are the key reasons for the success of your YouTube channel? How did you reach the number of 2.6 M followers?

Top5Gaming: There’s a lot of Fortnite channels on YouTube, but there’s only one Top5Gaming. We built our team around creating the best possible content and always capitalizing on the next big thing in the Fortnite universe. We post extremely consistently, our quality has only improved after 300+ uploads. Also, with our previous success with Top5Central (our other channel with 4.2 million subscribers) – we knew people liked our formula and it could be replicated where we all started, in Gaming.

Cloutboost: If someone wanted to start watching your channel, is there a favorite video you’d recommend?

Top5Gaming: We spent months working on “The Story of Fortnite” and how this random game catapulted to become the world’s most viewed & played game in such a short time. To follow the history of such a meteoric rise absolutely fascinated me so we focused on making it our highest quality production we’ve ever created. Today that video sits with millions of views and watch minutes.

Cloutboost: You started your channel focusing on Overwatch videos, what made you switch to Fortnite?

Top5Gaming: We did start our channel with Overwatch videos, but one thing we were good at with Top5Central was identifying trends and capitalizing off them. When Fortnite was released, we immediately knew of the potential of this Battle Royale game because we were already avid fans of PUBG, Fortnite’s competitor. We enjoyed the game & played it for weeks before we really started noticing traction on mediums like Twitch and YouTube where viewers were constantly trying to find new content about it. With Epic Games content policy where they update the game extremely often, it allows video creators to thrive with new topics, speculation, challenges, ideas & more.

Cloutboost: You publish 4 videos per week. How do you keep coming up with new ideas for videos?

Top5Gaming: We publish 4 videos per week: Wednesday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday. Coming up with fresh ideas is extremely difficult, I firmly believe that it’s what makes us stand out to all other YouTube channels. With the assistance of Fortnite constantly releasing new updates, it allows us to constantly release new video ideas that fans are trying to watch to keep up to date with the game.

Cloutboost: How do you manage content production? Do you have a team or do you handle it on your own?

Top5Gaming: We have a fully staffed team that allows us to streamline content at a fast pace. Burnout is a real thing and once you hit triple-digit upload counts, you can really feel that toll. We get inspired by our team every single day with new ideas or creative ways to structure videos.

Cloutboost: What is your process of choosing and landing the “right” Brand Sponsorships for your channel?

Top5Gaming: We are incredibly picky with brand sponsorships as you want to have your fans look at you in an authentic way. Your fans understand that this is your job and most are willing to support you if it makes sense – that’s why if you’re posting videos about gaming you never want to do a sponsor with let’s say – a beauty product. It doesn’t make sense and it won’t convert at all. We study our analytics vigorously and can also identify a product’s or service’s ideal demographic for promotion. Combining our data with the brand is something we thrive at and therefore, we make sure we always place our ad at the right time, in front of the right people with the ease of access to maximize all conversions.

Cloutboost: What was your favorite Brand Sponsorship so far and why?

Top5Gaming: We ran a campaign with a company called “Moot.us” that was an absolute success. I touched on making sure that your brand integration is extremely relevant to your demographic and after much research, we felt that Moot was a great fit for our audience. Instead of just talking about a product that can sometimes work very well, we decided to take a unique route with our integration. Moot is a platform for Gamers to develop a community – so we created a profile on there and had our fans sign up with us to develop our own community. From there we’d promote the service and incentivize fans to join by promoting the fact that we would play with fans if they signed up to this free site. It was a lot of fun playing with fans and the brand converted so well we ended up running 3 more advertisements with them!

Cloutboost: Are there any particular brands you would be interested to promote on your channel?

Top5Gaming: We’d love to partner with a lot of different companies if there were cool opportunities involved. You see a lot of “I’ll pay you xyz to create a 90-second ad at the beginning of your video” but what you don’t see a lot is a collaboration between a brand and a creator that really benefits both parties in a great way. Mr. Beast is a great example of the power of influencer marketing.

Cloutboost: What’s your advice to brands looking to build a campaign or partner with YouTubers like yourself?

Top5Gaming: Never forget that viewers are actual humans with interests, thoughts & opinions. Great creators know their audience better than anyone else. Work with them directly to develop a campaign viewers will remember – don’t throw money at something and hope it sticks.

Cloutboost: Who are your favorite Streamers or gaming YouTubers?

Top5Gaming: My favorite streamers are probably Shroud or DrDisrespect. Great players, super entertaining & overall always enjoyable to watch.

Cloutboost: What plans do you have for your channel future development?

Top5Gaming: We’re super excited to start developing content about other games that are releasing in November. So many new exciting releases this November so we can’t wait to explore what opportunities unfold.

Cloutboost: What advice would you give to somebody wanting to start their own channel?

Top5Gaming: I read an article recently about kids wanting to be a ‘YouTuber’ more than astronauts as a job popularity factor. Everybody wants to be famous and YouTube is a platform that works for everybody, even if you only have an iPhone to start with. If you want social media to be your job, you have to create content that you love and have a passion for. That’s probably the most cookie-cutter response but it’s true – you won’t compete with people who live & breathe this stuff. Viewers want authenticity, creativity, and consistency at all times, that’s what makes or breaks someone’s career on social media.

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