“If you consistently provide value over a long enough period of time, you will gain an amazing amount of subscribers.” Arnaud Melis knows what it takes to grow an audience. As co-founder of Filmbro and long-time partner to Ignace Aleya, he’s helped transform a small YouTube channel into a thriving creative community of over half a million subscribers.
When Arnaud and Ignace first started working together, there was no plan for fame or follower counts, just a shared love for making cool content. Their success hasn’t come from a viral shortcut or growth hack either. It’s the result of years spent refining what works, creating from passion, providing real value, and showing up consistently.
In this interview with Uppbeat, Arnaud shares what it takes to grow your audience. From understanding what your viewers enjoy to building genuine connections, here are six lessons any creator can apply, no matter where you’re starting from.
- Create something you love
- Always look to give value to your viewers
- Focus on long-term commitment over quick wins
- Embrace feedback and learn all the time
- Don’t put off what you can post today
- Own your audience outside your platform
1. Create content you’re passionate about
Before you can even think about growth, you have to choose what you actually want to create. And it helps when you genuinely care about it.
Arnaud believes that passion isn't a nice-to-have, it's the foundation that keeps you going when growth feels slow or success feels far away. As he explains: "An overnight success is never an overnight success. It’s the result of all the years before that nobody sees. So create something that you already know something about, something that you’re passionate about. ”
So if you’re just starting out, Arnaud recommends choosing a topic you’re already naturally drawn to, whether that’s filmmaking, gaming, or design. When your content comes from genuine curiosity, you’ll always find something new to share, and your audience will sense the authenticity behind it. Or as Arnaud says:
When you love what you’re making, showing up to create doesn’t feel like a grind - it becomes part of who you are. That energy comes through in your videos, and audiences can feel it.
Arnaud’s Key Takeaway:
Build from passion, not pressure. You’ll never be able to fake enthusiasm for long - but if you create around what excites you, that passion becomes contagious. It’s what keeps both you and your audience coming back for more.
Explore Uppbeat
Discover music, sound effects and motion graphics to safely add to your videos 🤘
2. Always look to give something valuable to your audience
At the core of Arnaud and Ignace’s success is one simple mission, providing value for their audience, over and over again.
AM: “The essence for us is always ‘how can we provide as much value as possible?’ Because when people love your content and the value you give them, they will naturally follow you.”
This mindset has powered the long-term growth of their YouTube channel and allowed the duo to create Filmbro, an online community that provides resources and tutorials to content creators. At its core, Filmbro is a business built on providing as much value to people as possible. It’s a mantra you can apply to any niche.
AM: “If you can entertain somebody, or if you can teach something to somebody, that’s providing value."
For creators, growth is more likely to come from helping your viewers – whether through tutorials, templates, or creative insights – than hoping for a viral moment. When you focus on giving more than you take, your audience naturally grows.
Arnaud’s Key Takeaway:
Treat value as your mantra. People return to certain creators when they trust them to deliver something worthwhile every time, whether that’s an entertaining YouTube Short or recipes on TikTok. Make sure each and every upload provides value to your audience.
3. Focus on long-term commitment, not quick wins
You might hear about creators going viral overnight, but behind almost every so-called overnight success is years of unseen effort.
“An overnight success will always require hard work. That person has amassed so many skills, up to the point that they go viral,” explains Arnaud, and he knows this better than most. His team has uploaded more than 700 videos to YouTube – many of which take days of work to produce. The lesson? If you're aiming for longevity, you have to commit to the long haul.
AM: “YouTube is a very heavy medium. You can’t create quick wins and expect them to last."
In his eyes, creators who show up consistently – not just for a week or a month, but for years – are the ones who ultimately succeed.
Arnaud’s Key Takeaway:
Consistency beats virality. Focus on building a habit of creating and improving over time. That’s the real shortcut, even if it doesn’t feel like one.
4. Embrace feedback and learn from it consistently
Arnaud sees every upload as an opportunity to learn what people enjoy and find ways to fine-tune your content. But instead of reacting to a single video’s performance, Arnaud recommends taking a longer-term view at how your content lands.
AM: “Try to improve consistently, but not just after one video. Maybe do a batch of five or ten and see if you can learn something from that. You’ll generally see what people interact with more and what they interact with less.”
Constant improvement should always be the aim, but don’t let metrics define every creative decision you make. For Arnaud, it’s still as important to love the thing you’re creating.
Arnaud’s Key Takeaway:
Let feedback guide you, not control you. Use it to make smarter decisions, but always stay true to what excites you creatively.
5. Don’t delay something you can post today
A lot of creators hold back because they don’t feel “expert” enough. Arnaud’s advice? You’ll only make progress if you go ahead and give it a go.
“You don’t have to think about being the very best in the world when you start out, because you’ll evolve your process of creating videos,” Arnaud explains.
AM: “Make more videos continuously and don’t give up, because 100 videos is probably not going to cut it."
Whether you’re teaching editing, sharing creative insights, or simply documenting your journey, your experience or point of view is valuable to someone. Take the leap and start sharing your content, because the only way you’ll improve is by learning what works and what doesn’t.
Arnaud’s Key Takeaway:
Start now. Don’t wait until you’ve mastered everything because you’ll never feel ready. Just start with what you know and grow from there.
6. Own your audience outside your chosen platform
Social media platforms are powerful, but they come with risk. Algorithms change and accounts can get suspended. Arnaud recommends building something more stable.
AM: “Owning your contact list is very valuable. You never know when you could get kicked off a platform, or if a platform will get blocked in a particular country – TikTok’s a prime example. Whereas if you can gather emails, you can control that.”
When you build a contact list for your audience, you have a direct line to your audience with no middleman and no changeable algorithm. All it takes is the offer of something valuable in exchange for an email address. That way, you keep growing your reach while reducing your reliance on any one platform.
Arnaud’s Key Takeaway:
Don’t build your whole house on rented land. Use email or other platforms to future-proof your connection with your audience. That way you can continue to grow even if you fall out of favour with the likes of YouTube and TikTok.
Keep creating to consistently grow your audience
When you make videos you believe in, you’re sure to find a like-minded audience that wants to watch them. Arnaud’s lessons don’t just apply to YouTube – they’re universal for any creator trying to build an audience. Whether you’re growing a TikTok following or uploading your next YouTube Short, the same ideas hold true: create content you care about, share genuine value, and stay consistent.
If you’re ready to put these lessons into action, explore more of Uppbeat’s guides on how to grow your YouTube subscribers on YouTube and TikTok. You’ll find step-by-step advice to help your videos reach more people, wherever you choose to share your content.
Refer and earn with Uppbeat!
Join Uppbeat partners like Arnaud and grow your channel with incredible music and sound effects 🤘
