How to enable monetization in 9 days and reach millions of views in six months

What is the project about?

Cities of Power is an informational and educational project about the situation in various regions, including frontline, occupied, and liberated areas.

It is a project about internally displaced persons, military personnel, volunteers, veterans, relocated businesses, inclusivity, and domestic manufacturers. In short, it is about every one of us—Ukrainians living through the war.

It was created with the support of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities under the President of Ukraine. Tyshchuk Digital Hub was tasked with developing the content strategy, promotion, and digital management for this project.

What were the objectives?

Our goal for the first six months was to reach at least 2 million Ukrainians across digital platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram.

We were tasked not only with reporting on events but also with creating an information space that motivates, inspires, and helps Ukrainians in the regions adapt to today's challenges.

Therefore, it was essential to build a community and expand the audience through new subscriptions.

We also set a target of at least 500,000 views on long-form exclusive program videos on YouTube.

So, we got to work. Here is what we did:

Phase one

Developing a project growth strategy for digital platforms including YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, complete with audience and competitor analysis and custom graphic design for each platform.

Phase two

Setting up the YouTube channel and social media accounts – we launched and optimized pages on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok to drive engagement and enabled YouTube monetization in just 9 days.

Phase three

Content strategy development – we identified key themes, created a content plan, and developed video formats featuring top hosts: Andrii Biedniakov (the "VPO" program), Yevhen Synelnikov (the "482. Made in Ukraine" program), and Alina Shamanska ("Dialogues of Strength").

Phase four

Optimization, audience growth, and engagement – we implemented SEO strategies to improve video visibility, responded to comments, conducted polls and giveaways, launched ad campaigns, and began collaborating with regional media and influencers.

Phase five

Continuous performance analysis of new tools. We began actively testing and implementing additional promotion methods: horizontal and vertical YouTube live streams, cross-posting on social media with program hosts and Ukrainian businesses, and working with vertical video. This included adapting highlights from long-form programs for social media, as well as writing and editing new video stories created exclusively for the "Cities of Strength" social channels. We also adjusted our promotion strategy based on the performance analysis of these new tools.

Results and achievements

Within six months, we exceeded our initial targets by five times (over 430%).

We enabled monetization on the YouTube channel in just 9 days.

In 6 months, we grew the project's audience from scratch to over 22,000 subscribers who actively watch our videos, read our posts, and share information about "Cities of Strength" on their own social media.

Our years of experience, application of new methodologies, and constant content analysis have already brought the project 16 million total views across all platforms. Our long-form YouTube videos have garnered nearly 600,000 views.

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