TheSoul Publishing is a digital media studio specializing in creating highly shareable short-form videos across the world. This year it sought to build momentum around its popular DIY brand: 5-Minute Crafts. The goal was to increase channel/viewer awareness; build the 5-Minute Crafts subscriber base across its network of YouTube channels produced in 19 different languages; and bolster the channel’s reputation as a go-to online source for people to access fun, engaging, and inspirational at-home craft content, especially during the pandemic. Looking closely at platform viewership trends and leveraging remote production teams during the pandemic, TheSoul Publishing tapped into the moment and increased its output of fun and entertaining “life hack” styled content (i.e. cooking, fitness, beauty, parenting tips, etc.) to help people incorporate engaging and positive short-form entertainment into their everyday lives.
As short-form video emerged as a leading trend in digital video content, 5-Minute Crafts capitalized by producing snackable content across the platforms where millennials and Gen Z audiences spend most of their time, and in particular YouTube. Its global production team used integrated technology that allows simultaneous content development from various locations around the globe. This enabled writers, producers, editors, and actors to make their contributions without being in the studio with one another.
Because of the pandemic, many parents had to quickly identify entertaining content to share with their children at home. 5-Minute Crafts developed an array of captivating options growing its audience footprint by millions globally. On YouTube in the midst of the pandemic, 5-Minute Crafts collaborated with Mattel to integrate Barbie into its craft content, inspiring play and do it yourself (DIY) among kids and parents through this historically popular line of toys, garnering millions views in a matter of days. TheSoul Publishing regularly produces more than 500 original videos a month on YouTube. It’s flagship brand, 5-Minute Crafts, bulked up its output of positive, viral content across its most popular channels. These channels are some of the most-watched in the space, with 5-Minute Crafts consistently ranking among YouTube’s Top-5 most watched channels. 5-Minute Crafts’ renewed focus on YouTube allowed for the channel to grow its presence across other platforms like TikTok, Pinterest, and Snapchat.
In 2020, 5-Minute Crafts’ YouTube channel played a vital role in the growth of TheSoul Publishing. The channel became available in 19 languages, which earned 10.7B views. 5-Minute Craft's massive popularity on YouTube signaled its growth across Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, and TikTok, as it has garnered more than 220M followers across all platforms. Compared to 2019, 5-Minute Crafts saw a 26% increase in subscribers across all of its channels. Its massive success is also represented through individual videos like 5-Minute Crafts' "26 Priceless Hacks for Parents," which was the channel's best-performing video on YouTube during 2020 with 41M views.
5-Minute Crafts success on YouTube undoubtedly helped the brand secure its 8.3M followers, and 129.8M likes on TikTok, which launched in 2020. The channel’s huge following on YouTube also enabled 5-Minute Crafts to achieve record growth on Pinterest for its channel with 14.4M average monthly viewers.
And on Snapchat, 5-Minute Crafts subscribers grew by 32% from Q1 to Q2 in 2020. To create content to make consumers' lives easier, one of TheSoul Publishing's 5-Minute Crafts channels has become the seventh most-subscribed channel on YouTube worldwide, gaining 7 million new subscribers in 2020 alone and amassing nearly 70.3M total subscribers from around the world.
By the end of 2020, TheSoul Publishing, led by its flagship channel 5-Minute Crafts, secured the number one spot on Tubular's Leaderboard for most media and entertainment property views, a title that was maintained for both November and December 2020
