In this article, I take a detour from SEO and written content to explore a different kind of content strategy: YouTube.
You’ll learn:
How a recruitment agency built a thriving YouTube channel.
How much business the channel drives.
How you can maximise your YouTube for business growth.
The exact framework for marketing your YouTube channel.
And much more.
How to Build a Relationship Engine For Leads and Sales
Before diving in, let me share some context.
While many know me for SEO and content strategy, my background in social media runs deep.
I’ve generated over 1 million YouTube views and 21 million views across multiple platforms, including YouTube, Facebook, and others.
I’ve been behind numerous viral hits and helped grow several large social accounts.
So, I’m not just an SEO.
And this is where this story begins with my friend Josh Peacock from SEO for Hire.
Josh and I go way back – we’ve spent countless hours at SEO events and shared many conversations over drinks.
During one of our brainstorming sessions, Josh was discussing his agency’s lead generation challenges.
That’s when I proposed a game-changing solution: a strategic YouTube channel.
And from our initial conversation, Josh went all in on the idea. You’ll hear from Josh himself about what happened and the results.
But let’s look at the strategy I suggested first.
The Strategy: Beyond Just Creating Content
Here’s something crucial that many miss: content doesn’t automatically equal growth.
I have a saying: “Traffic is vanity, profit is sanity.”
The goal isn’t just to create content—it’s to create profitable, exceptional content that reaches the right people.
My approach combines two powerful frameworks:
The Three F’s Formula (developed by System1):
The Ehrenberg-Bass Model of Marketing:This focuses on the availability theory—brands that are easy to mind and easy to find will grow.
But here’s the catch: unlike mass-market products (think Pepsi, where everyone’s a potential customer), most businesses need to be more strategic with their reach.
Without massive advertising budgets, you need to maximise every piece of content to support brand growth.
Otherwise, you could waste hours on the wrong thing, and for a small business, this will mean the cost of another activity.
To give you an example, I once spent 40 hours creating a piece of content that only landed three links and no leads.
That same 40 hours could have been used elsewhere.
So, content needs to work for you.
Applying This to Josh’s Case
Josh’s situation was unique. As the founder of SEO for Hire, a recruitment agency specialising in SEO talent, he had two distinct audiences:
SEO professionals (his candidate pool)
Digital agencies (his primary clients)
The key to his growth wasn’t just reaching more people—it was reaching the right people.
Specifically, we needed to position his agency as the go-to recruitment partner for digital agencies seeking SEO talent.
This understanding became the foundation of our YouTube strategy.
The YouTube Strategy: Agency Growth Club
When Josh approached me about growing his reach, he faced a common challenge: cold outreach for recruitment agencies is a slog.
We needed a different approach.
Here’s the insight that changed everything:
Agency owners love promoting their businesses and sharing their success stories— why not use that constructively?
The solution?
A YouTube channel where Josh interviews agency owners about their success stories.
It’s brilliant in its simplicity.
Why It Works
Value Exchange
Compound Benefits
Non-Sales Approach
The results?
Over 2,000 subscribers and one of Josh’s biggest lead generation pipelines.
But let’s be clear—this isn’t a shortcut. Josh put in significant work to make this succeed.
The difference is that every minute of effort is focused on reaching and providing value to exactly the right audience.
This is content marketing done right: minimal waste, maximum impact, and everybody wins.
To help you as much as possible, I asked Josh 3 questions on the approach and how it worked:
Direct Insights from Josh: The Results and Implementation
I sat down with Josh to get his perspective on how this strategy transformed his business.
Here’s what he shared:
Q1: How has setting up this YouTube channel helped your business?
For as long as I can remember, having a consistent pipeline was my business’s biggest bottleneck.
One month it could be 10 leads, other months 2 or 3.
It was extremely unpredictable and made planning very difficult. We even hired a BDR to help solely with this, but unfortunately it didn’t work out.
Launching the YouTube channel has been one of the best decisions I’ve made. Since January, we’ve achieved:
18 agency owners interviewed
8 new clients or referrals
7 leads from published content
The channel has become a relationship engine, giving us front-row seats to the best agency minds in the world. In fact, it’s worked so well that our bottleneck has shifted from pipeline to delivery, and we’re now hiring internally to keep up with the volume.
Q2: What drives the channel’s growth – social search, algorithms, or promotion?
“It’s a combination of all three. We’ve built a systematic approach:
Each interview generates 10+ short videos for LinkedIn, X, TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube Shorts
We create long-form blog content for our website
I write condensed versions for my LinkedIn newsletter
We provide guests with ready-to-share assets including quote graphics and video clips
For the YouTube algorithm, we use tools like Vidiq for optimization while avoiding clickbait. My three years of personal brand building on LinkedIn definitely helped in attracting high-profile guests.
Q3: What advice would you give to others starting a YouTube channel for business growth?
For service-based businesses, use YouTube as a relationship engine, not a broadcasting tool. Here’s my approach:
Get clear on your ideal client profile
Build your Dream 100 list
Invite them to discuss topics they’re passionate about
Make it easy by offering production assets and distribution
Key tips:
Don’t edit your own videos – it slows down production
Set monthly video goals
Schedule weekly time for scripting and filming
Evaluate after every 10 videos
Incorporate feedback and keep iterating
After just four months, I’ve built genuine relationships with people who previously ignored multiple business pitches. That’s the power of creating value first.
How to Apply This Strategy to Your Business
You might be thinking: “But this won’t work for my business”
Here’s the thing.
While the specific tactics may differ, the principles of effective content strategy remain the same.
Your goal should be to:
Minimise waste
Maximise revenue potential
Build fame
Create positive feelings
Become memorable
And that’s it.
So, let’s look at a few other examples.
The baked potato master Spud Man’ transformed the entire economy of his home town of Tamworth by amassing over 4 million followers on TikTok and thousands visited the town to try his spuds.
Beauty brand Plouise grew due to huge viral success on Platforms such as TikTok and YouTube:
Jack Butcher from Visualze Value built an entire business from sharing his images on Instagram:
I could go on.
The reality is that a content strategy can grow a brand or business if done correctly.
I’ve seen brands emerge from content, and content grow brands.
Josh nailed his approach.
Now, it’s likely that if you’re reading this, you’re into SEO or marketing, so make sure to check out and subscribe to Josh’s channel.
And if you need help with your content strategy, please feel free to get in touch.
Thanks for reading.
Andrew Holland.
Originally published on LinkedIn on 27 April 2025.