Below is a list of cliches every creator should know when developing a web show or web series. Development is the first chance a show has to “get it right” or “get it wrong” before entering into production and ultimately published online. These tips on programming, format, audience and overall strategy will help you save time, money and increase your chance for web show success:

6 Cliches You Need to Develop Killer Web Show Content

1) “Two’s a failure, three’s a success”

Your content should satisfy your brand, your audience and you personally. These 3 areas are the sweet spot of successful web content. Your brand is the channel, business or identity that you’ve created that exists when you’re not in the room. Your audience is someone specific (#3 below). And YOU are the one who needs to be inspired to create the content consistently. A perfect example of this is ReelSEO’s very own Creator Tip series.

2) “For every $1 spent in pre-production, you save $5 in production & $10 in post”

This rule extends to content development. Spend time crafting a strong show format and script first, and you’ll reap benefits from production to audience development. FreddieW spent over a year writing Video Game High School and EpicMealTime’s Epic Chef was hinted at many months before we saw it publised.

3) “If your audience is everyone, your audience is no one”

When developing content I always create 3 audience personas: target, broad and opportunity. These fictional people have names and behaviors and allow me to understand who we’re creating the show for. Use YouTube Analytics and Facebook Insights to extract demographics and content trends. There’s a reason AOL On serves entertainment news and Revision3 is exclusively unscripted content.

4) “Bad creators steal, good creators iterate”

See what I did there? On the internet it’s fine to be blatantly “inspired” by others work. Just make sure you give it your own voice, personality and a fresh twist. Make a new version, also known as “iterating”. Audiences are drawn to content they already know. SourceFed wasn’t the first web show to cover a news topic, but they developed a unique show with personality.

5) “Shoot for the low hanging fruit”

when developing a new channel use popular, social trends to draw in audiences. Then retain them with your original, but less social, creations. I recently worked with DustFilmsOriginals on is content strategy. His wonderful shorts couldn’t find an audience so he made a Man of Steel parody to draw in audiences. Now they’re watching his originals too!

6) “This program is part of a balanced diet”

Have you considered adding a show to your programming slate? If you can afford the investment, more content can help you grow your audience, brand and ultimately revenue. But make the new show compliments the existing program. A solid channel supports their flagship content with talk show, behind the scenes and Q&A content. Just look at MyMusic Show and IGN Start for a balanced programming diet.