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Cave disasters
Why this
niche?
The views in this niche are insane. There are videos with 8 figures of views, showing that the target audience is huge. Also discovered two competition channels that started not long ago and have millions of views. However, because of the storytelling documentary format, the videos in this niche are not easy to create. However, if you want to challenge yourself with an emotional and scary niche, this is the one for you.
Success chance
Saturation level
Experience level
Audience
analyses
- 1. United States
- 2. United Kingdom
- 3. Canada
- 4. Europe
Competition
analysis
Competition ANALYSIS
These channels are showing potential for this niche.
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CHANNEL RATING
CHANNEL RATING
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FatalBreakdown
Topic analysis
Video rating
Video analysis
Do's
00:00
Intense background music
Music is such an underappreciated asset in video production, and they did an excellent job on this one. One of the key elements that draws the target audience into the story is the music. So make sure to use intense, terrifying music that is commonly used in crime/horror films.
00:00
A triggering intro
No boring long intro but straight to the point and immediately give the target audience what they are looking for. What is so good about this script is that they really go into details and the scriptwriter knows how to tell a story. This intro raises a lot of questions by the viewer because of the last sentence: ''They had no idea of the deadly danger waiting inside. In the end, only one of them would return..'' This will raise a lot of quetions like: What happened? How did it happen? Why is there only one who survived? And the audience will be triggered to watch to get their answers resolved. So make sure you hire a scriptwriter who is great in story telling.
00:00
Great voice over
This voice over was probably created using AI at Elevenlabs.io, but that doesn't make it bad because it's AI. In my opinion, it matches perfectly, and I would recommend finding or creating a voice over that sounds similar to this one.
00:14
Sound effects
What this channel does very well is to use some intense sound effects at the perfect moment. Listen carefully to the transition from the intro to the story, and what kind of sound effects are used here. And how this sound effect perfectly matches the words of the script so that the viewer will experience the video even more intensely.
00:20
Great script
This is a very good script because of the little details they add. ''A group of five friends went out for dinner and they ended up discussing a secret cave on Y mountain.'' By adding these little details to the video, you get the viewer fully involved in the story because it allows them to create an image in their heads of how the story started and how they were talking about the cave. This is something what the television program ID (investigation Discovery) does a lot and which you can compare it to.
00:38
Real footage
People like to see real footage because it makes the video much more credible. Use as many real photos and clips as possible in your video so that the viewer has a good idea of what the place, and the people who entered the cave looked like in real life.
2:48
Simulations/Animations
These simulations/animations are not of the highest quality, but they add a lot of value by explaining how something happened. So I recommend you to find a video editor who can do the same.
Don'ts
00:02
Bad stock footage
Only use stock footage when you have no other option. If you need to use stock footage, it is important to choose the right stock footage for the video, otherwise the video can become fake and not triggering to watch. I would recommend to always avoid faces because they are obviously fake that often do not look like real people of the story. Use stock footage where you see only shadows of people, not clear faces. Some good stock footage where the viewer gets a certain feeling like the weather, a landscape, a dark cave or something like that can always be used well in these kinds of videos.
Do's
Don'ts
TITLE RATING
Title analysis
Good titles contain emotional trigger words that ensure that a viewer will click your video. Emotional trigger words can be divided into 3 categories:
Curiosity (Words like: Banned, Exposed, Hidden, Illegal etc.)
Urgency/Unique: (Things like: Numbers, Limited Timed, Days etc.)
Titles: (Things like: Job titles, Family relations, Famous names etc.)
FatalBreakdown
Used trigger words
- Cave
- Cave Diving
- Disaster
- Tragedy
- Drowned
- Death
- The cave of death
- Diving Disaster
- Trapped Forever
- Leaked
- Last Words
- Heartbreaking
- Secret Cave
- Accident
- Fatal Mistake
THUMBNAIL RATING
Thumbnail analysis
FatalBreakdown
Used thumbnail 1
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✅ Triggering thumbnail, but some notes
First off, let me say that this is not my style of thumbnail, but if something shows that it works, you have to put your personal preference to the side. What I also see on other channels is that they use those simulation/animations from their videos, in their thumbnails as well. And that seems to work great because this video has 4,3M views. But I also have some notes to make:
- This thumbnail has a lot of text and because of that you have too many trigger points.
- I also doubt that the photo of they guy on the bottom left adds much value. I believe the audience clicked on this thumbnail primarily because of the text "DEAD END" with the arrow and the animation. So I would have deleted the guy on the bottom left and the text "BEYOND RESCUE" because it adds no value to me, and you will lower your trigger points as a result.
FatalBreakdown
Used thumbnail 2
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❌ Wrong focus point
Lets start by saying that this is a thumbnail I personally like more because of the real picture. But they totally misplaced the focus point by adding a circle to the photo. That's not why people are clicking on this thumbnail, they click because of what is happening in the background. And now the focus goes to the pictures instead of the background.
FatalBreakdown
Used thumbnail 3
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❌ Wrong text
Again, this is not my preferred thumbnail style, but with 4 million views, it clearly works. What I can say is that the thumbnail has too much text and is difficult to read. I would have removed the text "GOPRO RECORDING" and used a different font for the word "TRAPPED 2 DAYS" so that the characters could be closer to each other and the text could be bigger. Also, add an arrow pointing to something on the thumbnail to trigger more.
FatalBreakdown
Used thumbnail 4
FatalBreakdown
Revenue analysis
These numbers are estimates and estimated by YouTube experts.
It is therefore not possible to derive any rights from these estimates and it is always recommended to do your own research
MrDeified
Topic analyses
Video rating
Video analyses
Do's
00:00
Great intro
Choosing to use real footage is something they do very well in this video. People love real footage because it drags them straight into the story
1:44
Showing the map of the cave
If you show the map of the cave, the viewer can better imagine what the cave looks like inside. This is something that is very important so that the viewer can empathize with the story.
12:24
Naming facts
Naming facts is something that can trigger a lot with the audience in this niche. What happened to the body when they were trapped in the cave? What happened when they were low on oxygen? This allows the viewer to empathize even more and I found that when the voice over stated these facts that was exactly the point where I experienced a lot of anxiety because then you are really in the middle of the story.
Don'ts
00:12
Wrong background music
This is a good example of what feeling you get as a viewer when you add wrong background music in the video. This is more a hip-hop beat, and does not fit the topic of this video at all. Take a look of competition channel 1, because that's the best background music for this niche.
3:13
Clips that are too long
This clip is almost 20 seconds long, which is way too long. Especially since the clip itself is not interesting enough to watch for 20 seconds. So this is a perfect moment for the viewer to click away, which is exactly what we don't want of course.
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Do's
Don'ts
TITLE RATING
Title analyses
Good titles contain emotional trigger words that ensure that a viewer will click your video. Emotional trigger words can be divided into 3 categories:
Curiosity (Words like: Banned, Exposed, Hidden, Illegal etc.)
Urgency/Unique: (Things like: Numbers, Limited Timed, Days etc.)
Titles: (Things like: Job titles, Family relations, Famous names etc.)
MrDeified
Used trigger words
- Cave Divers
- Tragedy
- Drowned
- Cave
- Death
- Trapped Forever
- GoPro Footage
- Gone Wrong
- He Died There
- Diving Disaster
- Dead Bodies
- Insane
- Horrifying
- Most Dangerous
- Illegal
- Disturbing
- Kills
- Illegal Cave
- Mysterious Accident
- Horrible Disaster
- Horror
- Death Trap
THUMBNAIL RATING
Thumbnail analyses
MrDeified
Used thumbnail 1
✅ Simulation image
An interesting thumbnail because we get to see another simulation image with many views. But in my opinion there are a lot of things to improve here:
- I would delete the person on the bottom left because it has no added value to me and in that case it's an unnecessary focus point.
- The text with red outlines makes the text less readable. If you use outlines on a white text, always use black.
- Remove the arrow's and "feet" text because it adds no value in my opinion. Simply make the cave show up larger if you want to suggest to people that the cave is massive.
- Because it is yellow, the arrow blends into the background. Make it red and point it from the text to the diver to point out that the diver is trapped in the cave wall.
MrDeified
Used thumbnail 2
✅ 3 Focus points
This thumbnail could have been done way better but it has 900K+ views so it worked. What's good about this thubmbnail that it has not that many focus points and to me that's the number one reason why it performed good but there is a lot to improve here:
- Red outlines text again, change it black
- I don't like the picture on the bottom left. I would rather use the real picture and add a white stroke around it like it's a polaroid picture. Like this thumbnail is doing:
- The background image does not look terrifying at all. Even if this is the real picture, just use a picture of a dark looking cave or something similar because to me this isn't triggering.
- Don't make your text unnecessary long. "I DIED THERE" is already triggering enough.
MrDeified
Used thumbnail 3
MrDeified
Used thumbnail 4
FatalBreakdown
Revenue analyses
These numbers are estimates and estimated by YouTube experts.
It is therefore not possible to derive any rights from these estimates and it is always recommended to do your own research
Did you check the other competitor channel?
We just don’t want you to miss out on any valuable information.
Lets create
your video
Who is our target audience?
YOUR VIDEO
Topic example
How do I find topics?
Finding topics is a bit harder for this niche because you have to look for the right story. The right story has as much content available as possible. The more you have, the better your video will be because your video editor has to fill up everything else with animations and if there is no other option, stock footage. So look for as many articles, videos, images etc. as you can before choosing your topic.
YouTube: Look at the competition channels which have performed good and not have been done many times by others. Another option is to take a story that has been done many times and is well known by the audience and shine a different light on it. For example, add a text on your thumbnail with "JUST REVEALED!" "NEW FOOTAGE FOUND!"
Chat GPT: I asked Chat GPT if it could give me 10 topics on dive/cave stories and Chat GPT will send you a whole list where your research can start. Type in these titles on Youtube and see first how many times this topic has been used. If you see that it has only been posted a few times on Youtube and there's room for improvement then that's the perfect topic to use.
Google: When i searched on google i came to this website: https://cavedivingaccident.com what is great because here is an overview about a lot of cave/dive stories, so here you can find a lot of topics!
Other topics I found on Google:
1. Story About Benjamin Reuben GoldMark Strelnick - https://jacksoncountytimes.net/benjamin-reuben-goldmark-strelnick/
2. The Nutty Putty Tragedy - https://cavehaven.com/nutty-putty-cave-accident/
3. Donald: State Police sergeant - https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/03/31/Trooper-trapped-in-cave-declared-dead/8435386398800/#:~:text=The%20body%20of%20state%20trooper,hours%20of%20nonstop%20rescue%20efforts.
4. The Włodek Szymanowski TRAGEDY/Goul du Pont Tragedy - http://www.oucc.org.uk/history/wlodek/wlodek%20_szymanowski.htm
5. Deon Dreyer - https://www.ladbible.com/community/deon-dreyer-david-shaw-divers-bushmans-hole-775865-20230228
TikTok: On TikTok there are many videos about cave/dive disasters to find. Type in those keywords and see what you can find:
https://www.tiktok.com/search?q=cave%20disaster&t=1703944456239
https://www.tiktok.com/search?q=dive%20disaster&t=1703944550139
Topic
I went to the competition channels, and there is one story that does well on all of them: Nutty Putty Cave (2009). However, because this topic has been covered numerous times on YouTube already, we can choose between the following strategies:
- Don't show that the story is about the Nutty Putty Cave because like we have learned this can prevent people from clicking on your video.
- Show that the story is about the Nutty Putty Cave, but then shine a different light on the topic.
Articles/video references
YOUR VIDEO
Title example
YOUR VIDEO
Thumbnail example
Thumbnail picture
We discovered that the best thumbnails were those with animation. So I'd suggest hiring a video editor who can do some animation work and then taking a screenshot of that animation for your thumbnail. I don't have a video edited right now, so I took a screenshot of a video from the competition. I looked for a moment where the animation looked at it worst
YOUR VIDEO
End result
What did I do?
- I brightened the image and zoomed it in to make it more visible.
- I chose to add the text "GOT STUCK" because we learned that people are watching because these stories cause them anxiety. And getting stuck is one of the most triggering.
- I also included an arrow to get more attention and raise more questions.
Articles/video references
YOUR VIDEO
Creating the title
YOUR VIDEO
Thumbnail example
YOUR VIDEO
End result
Articles/video references
YOUR VIDEO
Creating the title
YOUR VIDEO
Thumbnail example
YOUR VIDEO
End result
Let’s talk
money
AUDIENCE ANALYSIS
What does the audience like?
Experiencing anxiety
The most common comments are about how intensely they experience the videos, they sometimes even get panic attacks from them and that they can't understand why people want to go into such small caves. You might be thinking, why does this audience watch it if they don't understand why people go into caves? It's kind of the same feeling you get when you want to watch a horror movie, everyone knows it's scary, but still you want to watch it.
Real footage and simulations
The comment below is super valuable because you get a good indication of what the target audience is looking for and what they like the most. They like real footage and simulations used in the videos.
AUDIENCE ANALYSIS
What does the audience not like?
Nothing
I couldn't find any comments that the target audience did not like. They mainly talk about the topic of the video, the fear they experienced when they watched the video and that they do not understand that people want to go into a dangerous cave for fun.