Interview with an Influencer: Eystreem (@eystreem)
Read how Eystreem continues to grow with more than 1.3 million youtube subscribers while maintaining a loyal and engaged audience. Find out how he engages brands to leverage the most value out of his audience. Click to learn more!
Who knew chasing adventure could be so lucrative? Jordan Barclay, the man behind Eystreem, is reaping the rewards of the digital age. With over 1.3 million Youtube followers and success across the social platforms, he's well and truly a force within the gaming industry.
We have a chat with Jordan on how he developed his influence, working with brands to leverage his reach and creating loyal customers. Keep reading!
Introduce yourself, tell us about Eystreem and why you decided to start a YouTube channel?
The Eystreem channel makes family-friendly entertainment for all ages through stories, sketches, and tutorials inside video games.
The Eystreem channel makes family-friendly entertainment for all ages through stories, sketches, and tutorials inside video games.
The channel was started with the aim of bringing smiles to children’s faces and inspiring them to create and share with others. Eystreem is different from the rest of the Internet, as it is a place where parents can trust that the content is clean and appropriate.
What social media channels are you active across? What is your favourite and why?
I’m active across almost every major social media in existence. Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, and of course YouTube. If you don’t count YouTube, my favourite is definitely Instagram because of how easily you can connect, share and reach fans. I also love being able to see what my friends are up to.
I’m active across almost every major social media in existence. Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, and of course YouTube. If you don’t count YouTube, my favourite is definitely Instagram because of how easily you can connect, share and reach fans. I also love being able to see what my friends are up to.
You’re only 16! How do you structure your days? How many hours a week do you spend working as a YouTuber and all that goes with it?
At the start of each week, I schedule each day as much as I can, waking up at 7 am and sleeping at 11 pm, while still leaving room for surprises. I aim to complete all my school commitments during the weekdays, with any free time dedicated to brainstorming ideas and administration tasks. On the weekends, I spend the entire time scripting and recording videos, before they are sent off to my editor and thumbnail designers. Each batch of videos is recorded a week in advance.
At the start of each week, I schedule each day as much as I can, waking up at 7 am and sleeping at 11 pm, while still leaving room for surprises. I aim to complete all my school commitments during the weekdays, with any free time dedicated to brainstorming ideas and administration tasks. On the weekends, I spend the entire time scripting and recording videos, before they are sent off to my editor and thumbnail designers. Each batch of videos is recorded a week in advance.
What do you think was your breakout moment?
My channel really took off in August where I uploaded my first viral video, from there I hit the road running, producing content to meet my growing audience. Each one becoming an instant hit. The video that started it all has 3.8 million views at the time of writing.
My channel really took off in August where I uploaded my first viral video, from there I hit the road running, producing content to meet my growing audience. Each one becoming an instant hit. The video that started it all has 3.8 million views at the time of writing.
How has your YouTube channel changed since you got started?
At first, I was only a young kid with the dream of making content for thousands, however, I didn’t have the experience. Videos had low production quality and I was still camera shy. With each video, I gained experience and learned how to grow. Now the content is polished, has face-cam and full of hilarious moments – at least I’d like to think so!
What are two learnings since starting out?
The biggest learning curve is always the start, entering the scene. It took years for me to be able to afford professional software, edit videos and use Photoshop to a standard I was happy with. It taught me that if you put in the work that you can get the results you want. The second thing I learnt was how important my fans are. The content isn’t about me, it’s about bringing joy to others’ lives by putting in 100% – once you grasp that your audience will give you their 100% support in return.
The biggest learning curve is always the start, entering the scene. It took years for me to be able to afford professional software, edit videos and use Photoshop to a standard I was happy with. It taught me that if you put in the work that you can get the results you want. The second thing I learnt was how important my fans are. The content isn’t about me, it’s about bringing joy to others’ lives by putting in 100% – once you grasp that your audience will give you their 100% support in return.
What is your favourite video that you have posted and why?
I could never choose one video as my favourite, but I do have a favourite series. The Scary Survival series has been going a year strong on my channel. Hours upon hours go into producing the final product for each video and seeing it all come together and being received so well is awesome.
You are the #1 most subscribed mobile gaming channel in Australia, how do you keep your fans engaged?
Keeping fans engaged is about knowing what they want. When brainstorming ideas, I remember what I wanted to see and my interests as a child, while also talking to children about what they enjoy. By making content that is relevant and different from other channels through expansive and crafted stories I am able to keep my fans engaged and waiting for the next video.
Keeping fans engaged is about knowing what they want. When brainstorming ideas, I remember what I wanted to see and my interests as a child, while also talking to children about what they enjoy. By making content that is relevant and different from other channels through expansive and crafted stories I am able to keep my fans engaged and waiting for the next video.
What equipment do you use (Camera/software/editing apps)?
I use a ton of different equipment to produce my content. My face-cam is captured through DLSR and is fed into my computer. The audio is captured through a high-end microphone and audio interface that provides studio-like quality. Premiere Pro and Adobe Photoshop are my two go to applications to produce any video or image content.
How do you go about choosing the brands that you work with?
Choosing brands is about finding products and services that match the values and goals of my channel. Like my channel; I want brands to be of high quality and family-friendly. I look for long-term relationships between a brand and the channel in order to build trust with the audience as well as brands that give my channel the creative freedom to produce original sponsored content. I want sponsored content to still feel like my content, not an impersonal advertisement.
Choosing brands is about finding products and services that match the values and goals of my channel. Like my channel; I want brands to be of high quality and family-friendly. I look for long-term relationships between a brand and the channel in order to build trust with the audience as well as brands that give my channel the creative freedom to produce original sponsored content. I want sponsored content to still feel like my content, not an impersonal advertisement.
What has been your favourite brand collaboration to date and why?
My favourite brand collaboration has been my long-term relationship with HyperX. They have organised for the channel to give away their products, which builds audience excitement, as well as send products for me to use, test and showcase in videos. They also have given me a large amount of creative freedom for sponsored content in regard to the platform and the video itself. The security of the long-term aspect also allows me to invest more time and effort into their content, ultimately increasing audience satisfaction.
CREDIT: @eystreem
