You've validated that an audience has the problem you want to solve or the desire you want to fulfill. But is the opportunity big enough to build a sustainable channel around?
Sizing your niche helps you understand whether enough viewers exist to make your efforts worthwhile.
Engagement Message
Have you ever looked up the audience size for a content niche?
Two approaches work for estimating niche size: top-down (starting with broad data) and bottom-up (analyzing existing communities).
Top-down is useful for gauging general interest in a topic (e.g., "how many people search for 'learn piano'?"). Bottom-up is better for understanding the size of an actual, engaged community and gives more realistic numbers for a new creator.
Engagement Message
Which approach sounds more reliable for a local food review channel: top-down or bottom-up?
Start with simple top-down research. Search your topic on YouTube, TikTok, or Google. Use tools like Google Trends to see if interest is growing or shrinking.
This step helps you understand the total potential interest in your topic, whether it's 'skincare tips' or 'Lord of the Rings lore'.
Don't overthink this—rough estimates matter more than precision.
Engagement Message
What's one free online tool you could use to research interest in your potential niche?
For direct, bottom-up research, analyze your "competitors" (creators in a similar area). Look at their subscriber counts, average view counts, and engagement rates.
Are the comments passionate? Do they indicate a tight-knit community? This tells you not just how large the audience is, but how dedicated they are.
Engagement Message
Name one creator who is already making content for your potential audience.
Calculate conservatively: identify the average views of creators in your niche and estimate what percentage you could realistically capture.
