Vlogmas is the ultimate YouTube Christmas tradition.
Since it was launched back in 2011, it’s been an opportunity for creators to harness the holiday spirit, grow their audience, and benefit from peak season AdSense rates.
But Vlogmas is also a challenge.
Traditionally, it means creators post a holiday-themed video every single day during the run-up to Christmas, starting December 1st. That’s 25 clips in as many days. Yikes!
So how do you keep up? How to do Vlogmas successfully with maximum benefit for your YouTube channel?
Here’s your full guide.
Contents
Get Planning Early and Set Realistic Goals
First and foremost, you need to start brainstorming vlogmas ideas.
Some creators decide to just document their daily holiday-themed activities. They give their audience the chance to drink cocoa with them, go ice-skating, decorate a tree, go carol-singing, and give presents. This is the most traditional vlogmas strategy.
Others decide to create content more in line with their niche, but with a holiday twist.
If you have a cooking channel, for instance, you can go all-out on traditional and creative holiday recipes, from re-creating Starbucks drinks to preparing the perfect roast turkey.
Do you run a personal finance channel? Then your viewers will appreciate a run-down on money mistakes to avoid during the holidays, or a guide to planning their New Years’ investment strategy.
If you’re absolutely strapped for vlogmas content ideas, you can always draw inspiration from other creators and past seasons. Or you can deep-dive into SEO research to give yourself a creative jump-start.
No matter what niche you’re in, by sitting down early enough and thinking about what matters most to your subscribers during the holiday season, you’ll be able to assemble a selection of 25 fantastic vlogmas content ideas.
Round-up vlogmas posts are treasure troves of ideas!
Start Collecting Vlogmas Ideas
To begin with, the single most important part of doing vlogmas is to start planning early enough.
When Ingrid Niessen first launched vlogmas back in 2011, videos were off-the-cuff, spontaneous, unedited. These days, successful clips have got to have a much higher production quality – from carefully planned content to custom-designed thumbnails.
That means vlogmas is much more work. And you need to schedule carefully.
October is the perfect time to start planning vlogmas content. By launching into the adventure now, you have over a month of run-up time to come up with ideas, organize everything, and get creating.
Order supplies and products now to have them ready for your videos later.
Draw Up Your Schedule
Next, it’s time to draw up your schedule for actual content production. You know best how long it takes you to produce a video on average, and which steps you go through.
Writing a script. Filming the raw footage. Editing the video. Thumbnail creation. Uploading and SEO adjustments. Signal-boosting on other social media.
It’s a process, and during vlogmas it can easily become overwhelming. Planning is key.
Start by arranging your ideas into a coherent timeline, using planners or whichever tool works for you. Which video should go online on which day? Which sequence works best to keep your audience engaged throughout the month?
Then, consider which content you can schedule and prep in advance. If you’re planning a holiday travel vlog and are only leaving at the end of November, then you’ll have to shoot your footage and edit it directly.
But if you’re planning a vlog about decluttering your house in the run-up to Christmas, or about your perfect holiday workout, then you can prepare and schedule these videos in advance.
Ultimately, the goal is to do as much work in advance as possible to avoid getting overwhelmed. It’s better to increase your content production throughout October and November, rather than go nuclear in December.
Consider Outsourcing
Another crucial consideration is to outsource some of the video creation. One of the most efficient ways to avoid becoming overwhelmed and burnt out is to delegate routine tasks.
For instance, you can hire a channel manager who will take care of things like creating thumbnails, writing video descriptions, scheduling content, and replying to comments. This will shave several hours off your YouTube work week.
Another aspect of video creation that you can outsource to gain more time is video editing. On average, it takes 30 to 60 minutes to professionally edit one minute of finished video. If you aim for a 5-minute vlogmas video per day, that means hiring a video editor can help you save 60 to 120 hours during vlogmas.
When it comes to hiring a video editor for vlogmas, though, there are a couple of things you need to consider.
Find Video Editors for Vlogmas
First, you need to make sure that your video editors will be able to deal with the volume of content you aim to produce. Here, the fine print can be tricky.
Going into vlogmas, opting for “unlimited” video editing offers can be tempting. You’d expect these to let you submit an unlimited amount of projects every month. However, many of them come with the caveat that they will only work on one video at a time. Factor in turnover time and revisions, and you’re left with a realistic maximum of one to two videos per week. Not enough for vlogmas. Unless you start production way in advance.
Instead, go for project-based pricing for your vlogmas needs, and check with your video editor to make sure that they have the capacity to deal with your orders throughout November and December. You might even get a bulk discount!
If it’s your first time hiring a video editor, submit a trial order as soon as possible. This will help you verify the quality of their work, and make sure that it fits your channel’s voice. (Still unsure? Check out our guide to hiring a video editor and our up-to-date list of the best video editing services.)
The Bottom Line: How to Do Vlogmas Right 👍
Vlogmas is a huge opportunity for creators to grow their audience and watch time, harness YouTube’s algorithm, and benefit from higher AdSense rates. But it can also be a big challenge.
By planning way in advance – from finding ideas to ordering props – pre-producing some of your vlogmas content, and outsourcing routine tasks, you’ll be able to master this challenge. Most of all, these strategies will keep you from becoming overwhelmed, so that you can actually enjoy vlogmas, right alongside your subscribers. Merry creating!
The most important thing to do vlogmas right is to start planning early enough. You should start brainstorming ideas in October, so you have November as a run-up to get supplies and produce some content in advance. Consider outsourcing certain parts of the video creation process, like the video editing, to avoid becoming overwhelmed, and plan in plenty of self-care time in December.
In a nutshell, yes. Doing vlogmas is still worth it in 2022. Not only does posting daily content help your channel get on the YouTube algorithm’s good side. Many people are also looking for vlogmas content and might discover your channel that way. Plus, AdSense revenue is much higher during the holiday season.
Yes. YouTubers who consistently post vlogmas content are likely to see an increase in their audience and their Partnership Program earnings. That’s because YouTube’s algorithm favors channels with high content volumes for recommendations and search results. And because ad rates are much higher during the holiday period.
