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Series My Opinion/Advice on FMM Videos


Dec
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Today I will be exploring Football Manager Mobile and YouTube. Over the past few years I have worked with, helped and watched carefully many FMM YouTubers. Today I will voice my opinions on what to do and what not to do, as well as give advice on making videos. For this piece I consulted with @JustM1kePlays whom has over 1000 subscribers and currently makes videos around the game. While there isn't a specific way to make YouTube videos or right/wrong types of videos I will be explaining what to avoid using statistical analysis from my research that has spanned many years.

 

Benefits of Videos against Written Articles

Written Articles are great for in-depth explanation or skim reads but sometimes a user likes to be entertained. Users engage more with visual content such as videos, these can be made more digestible and interesting than a simple written piece.

 

FMM Video Types

Careers - Watching someone play a game of FMM

Simulations - Testing a concept, often transfer rumours such as Harry Kane to Real Madrid. Holidaying through and then coming back at points to discover and make conclusions.

Informational - Guides, Shortlists or Reviews. Things that a viewer will get something out of apart from enjoyment.

 

Problems of FMM Videos

FMM is a casual game, due to this viewers can get bored very quickly as it is very similar a lot of the time. For example let's look at JustM1kePlays' YouTube channel. As you can see in the image below his introduction video got a huge 3000 views. Then as each video got released there were less and less views - #1 got less than a 1/3rd of the last one, with it going down that much again for #2 and again for #3! With most views coming in the first day it is shocking to see that #6 (7 episodes in) is down to less than 100 views.  That is 1/3000th of the initial video and indicates the audience getting bored of the series.

justmikeviews.png.dce7c89a0f880c2acf873e

 

It isn't just the longevity though but also some issues with the nature of the game. As FMM isn't very visual the videos can be boring to watch as opposed to Football Manager (3D Pitch) and FIFA (Gameplay). There are a few styles of playing FMM, the most common is an unbroken recording where you record and talk with no cuts. This can cause the following two issues.

Silence - With lots of loading times it can lead with nothing to say and long pauses. This will put a viewer off as it creates a long video and something that isn't engaging.

Repetitive tasks - Viewers don't want to see what they can do on a game, they come for the ride. Seeing you filter through news can be off-putting unless you have something interesting to say over the top. Highlighting key parts makes the video more concise and exciting to watch.

 

Solutions to Issues

To keep viewers interested is pretty difficult. Single videos, especially informational have been known to do well; simulations are not yet tried in FMM Videos but TheFMHub is a Football Manager YouTuber with 10,000+ subscribers whom thrives off simulations.

 

Informational videos attract an audience as they help users and don't rely on other videos to be watched beforehand. As you can see from the image below even though Kareem Yusuf has just 4 subscribers his views are well above JustM1kePlays' career after his 5th episode. One would assume with more variety rather than focusing on tactics; the same issue with careers, then he would excel despite so few subscribers.

Variety is very important to keep users interested, even more so when it is a casual game with lots of repetitiveness.  As you can see from JustM1kePlays' videos the Wonderkid video did a lot better than most of the career videos. It was something different and one would assume that if JustM1kePlays keeps up with the variety then it can attract much more interest. The logo installation guide was another example with views dipping below 150 for several episodes on the career. It was a refreshing view boost for a niche issue that he explained constantly before in comments; less would need the video to help, and indicates that need for variety very strongly.

informational.png.9ef8515504796b32610f6c

 

For careers you should focus on the length. Set a specific aim and remind your audience about this regularly.  Aims can be simple but effective as long as they aren't just "Win everything". Adding rules or specificity can give your videos a twist that keeps users interesting as they want to see completion with end goals in sight. A very popular series in the past has been FMHandheld's Heskey to 100 - He tried to get Heskey to 100 goals at Liverpool.  This took just over a season and kept users entertained as it wasn't too long and had a clear aim. These types of careers can be successful for FMM as they aren't just normal careers but instead creative, as well as short enough to keep the variety. At the start of episodes consider catching users up with last episode's progress quickly in order to make sure everyone is on a level playing field and they don't have to watch each episode as this can lead users to miss a few and go off the series due to the time sink involved to catch up.

 

In order to make the video engaging to the viewer cutting the footage to the important parts allows the pacing to be exciting, rather than mundane due to the aforementioned issues. This can simply be taking out the pauses and loading screens or cutting out major parts like just including the key moments of the narrative; each career is a story and should be treated as such, and eradicating commentary that isn't very appealing.

 

How to Create

There are two ways to create videos. You can either use Screenshots or Record. Recording software can be found by a quick Google of similar to "How to record gameplay on iOS" or "How to record games on Android". There are plenty of applications out there. Editing software can be found with a quick Google too. Many use different types and depends on if you want to edit on PC/Mac or on your device.

 

Recording sound can be done in several ways by doing it at the same time - whether this is by a Microphone connected to a PC or using the application to record gameplay AND audio at the same time. The other option is to record gameplay then edit it with commentary afterwards.

Same time allows a more natural reaction, however if you aren't confident that the audio will not be exciting whilst playing the game then a more exaggerated audio performance after recording and using notes.

 

General Advice

There are a few little bits of advice that aren't to do with recording on FMM  but in general. These can be applied to all types of games but are necessary to produce good content.

 

Speech - The first thing to keep in mind is your presentation. Your voice keeps people interested or turns them off. If you are very monotone and mundane then people will be less excited to watch you. People want to be entertained so enthusiasm (without being too over the top) gets users on board and keeps the video exciting. Clear speech with good pacing is important so people can understand what you are saying. Don't try and worry about talking too much, be natural with talking. Long pauses can be cut out if necessary.

 

Background noise - Background noise can be off-putting. It can distract the viewer from your video as well as make your audio hard to hear. However a very quiet electronic music piece can be ok as long as it is quiet with no vocals. Chillstep is good for this as it is melodic and if you anticipate pauses it can help limit the quietness.

 

Have fun -  Enthusiasm shows. As long as you are enjoying it then it will be obvious in your videos and make the viewers enjoy it more. It also means you will want to keep going more.

 

Take your time -  Don't rush what you are doing. If you think something isn't good quality then do it again. With editing be relaxed, make sure to watch your video several times during the process thinking about pacing and replay the sections you are editing on during each modification.

 

Don't be scared -   Try something different, as there is not one successful idea. Think what will interest you and do that. Make sure you are pushing your boundaries by making sure each idea is better than your last. However don't be too complex as if you don't understand your rules or if it takes too long to explain then the viewers won't likely understand.

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Amazing and very helpful guide. Hopefully this will help the FMM youtube community grow. It has really helped me just from talking to you about the direction to go in with my channel as well as re evaluate my episode structure.

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Top work Dec, i don't think this will ever appeal to me as a viewer but this should be helpful. 

Personally I think career based content is better written, the game is boring to watch. Let's be honest how many people only focus on FMM while playing? FMM is 9/10 the second thing I'm doing (TV etc) and rarely my main attention. I'd rather spend a few mins reading a career which I can do anywhere than spending 5-10mins watching a video. 

However where I think videos shine is things like shortlist and in depth guides. Most people would rather watch a guide and see it done compared to reading about it. Tutorials are massive on YT and I feel this is where the main FMM market is. Compare my career views to those of Mike's videos, granted we have the advantage of being a fan site and the soul attention but written updates also take a lot less effort and are less demanding. 

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