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UK Crime
Why this
niche?
In this niche, I found a channel that achieved more than 7M+ views in 5 months. Besides that, I also found other channels that confirm that the change of succes is very high in this niche. You might think that crime is a saturated niche but if you start looking into the sub-niches within the crime genre, this niche is a perfect example that shows it’s still possible to stand out. However, it’s important to keep a few key things in mind and I’ll walk you through exactly what those are in this analysis. So. do you love crime stories set in the UK? Then this one’s for you.
Success chance
Saturation level
Experience level
Audience
analyses
- 1. United Kingdom
- 2. United States
- 3. Canada
Competition
analysis
Competition ANALYSIS
These channels are showing potential for this niche.
UK Crime Documentaries
Topic analysis
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Video rating
Video analysis
Do's
00:00
British voice-over
I’m starting with this point because it’s one of the most important things in this niche. The audience is British, so having a British voice-over is an absolute must. I also think the voice and tone are a great fit for this crime niche. Definitely something to take as an example.
00:00
Starting directly with the story
What also stands out to me is that there’s no dragged-out intro. The story starts right away, and that’s exactly the approach I always support. Always give the viewer what they clicked for immediately, that’s the key message I stick to and this channel clearly gets that too. So definitely a good triggering start, but there is something that’s a complete no-go from the very first second, and I’ll break that down for you in the “don’ts” section.
00:01
Nice background music
I think the choice of background music is really strong. It’s triggering and builds tension, which immediately gives the viewer a certain feeling and pulls them into the story.
00:19
Real footage
This is what people want to see. Real, raw footage. Even if the quality isn’t perfect, it doesn’t matter because this is what makes the story and the video feel real. Especially in the true crime niche, this is an absolute must.
00:45
This is perfect!
But the killer made one mistake..... And that mistake, would unravel the entire plot...
This hook they’re using here is brilliant. It makes it almost impossible for the viewer to click away. This is exactly what I mean when I say you need to give the viewer a reason to keep watching. And the background music makes the hook hit even harder. I’d definitely send this to your editor and scriptwriter to show them this is the exact type of energy you want to create in your own videos. It’s without a doubt one of the reasons this video is going viral. It all starts with a strong script and powerful hooks just like they’ve done here.
2:09
Articles
It’s not just raw footage that’s a must in a true crime video because using real news articles also adds a lot of value. It makes the video feel more real and can even create FOMO, just like in this case. Those kinds of thoughts instantly make the viewer more triggered. I can’t say it enough but the more real footage and news sources you include, the better your video will be.
2:53
Another great example
Here we see a great example of using a real clip where you might think, “Isn’t this way too low quality to use in my video?” But no, it’s actually the opposite. What they’ve done well here is use a red circle to direct the viewer’s focus to what really matters. And because it’s blurry, it actually builds tension. What exactly is he doing? What’s happening? So, to sum it up: don’t be afraid to use low-quality footage. This is exactly the kind of thing this audience wants to see, as long as it’s real.
5:12
This is good, but...
But Hemsy wasn't alone....
This is another great reason for the viewer to keep watching a bit longer, but I do think it should come up more often in the script. We're already at 5:22, and while there's been a lot of info about the criminals, it’s starting to get a bit complex here if you ask me. If the viewer loses interest of the story, and you’re not dropping enough hooks, they’ll click off. So what they’re doing here works well but it needs to happen more because ideally, you should be adding something triggering every 20 to 40 seconds.
Don'ts
00:00
Bad video editing
The viewer clicks on a title like London Gangland Hit: The Day a Hitman Took Out a Crime Boss and the first thing they see is a beach at sunset, followed by what I’d honestly call terrible stock footage. That’s a huge miss, especially since the first few seconds of a video are so important. When someone clicks on a title like that, they’re probably expecting raw footage from a crime scene or at the very least something real, definitely not this. And to be fair, the script itself isn’t that bad, but the choice of visuals really lets it down. The editor should only use stock footage if there’s absolutely no other option. In a niche like true crime, real footage is key. So, major area for improvement here.
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.)
UK Crime Documentaries
Used trigger words
- London Gangland Hit
- British Influencers
- 100 miljoen
- Dubai
- Britains
- Biggest Teenager Drug
- Robbed
- Vanished
- Drug Empire
- Key International Drug Trafficker
- Drug Queen
- The Salford's PUB
- True Crime
- Most Wanted
- Britain's
- Drug Kingpin
- Most Dangerous Gang
- 165 Million
- UK True Crime
- Weapons
- Biggest Drug Empire
- Cocaine EMpire
- Mistake
- Took Down
- 1.5 Billion
- Sophisticated Drug
THUMBNAIL RATING
Thumbnail analysis
UK Crime Documentaries
Used thumbnail 1
❌ Way too chaotic
This is what your thumbnail looks like when you use too many focus points. The text is way too long, and the number of photos and elements is really over the top. That’s a missed opportunity, because when your thumbnail look like this, there’s a high chance viewers will scroll past it and stop at a thumbnail with a maximum of 3 focus points and clear colors. So make sure your thumbnail isn’t too chaotic, stick to a maximum of 3–4 focal points, and keep the text short. You want viewers to instantly understand what it’s about and that’s not the case here.
UK Crime Documentaries
Used thumbnail 2
UK Crime Documentaries
Used thumbnail 3
UK Crime Documentaries
Used thumbnail 4
UK Crime Documentaries
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
Topic analyses
Video rating
Video analyses
Do's
Don'ts
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.)
Used trigger words
THUMBNAIL RATING
Thumbnail analyses
Used thumbnail 1
Used thumbnail 2
Used thumbnail 3
Used thumbnail 4
UK Crime Documentaries
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 to find topics?
To find topics in this niche, it’s important to stay up to date with UK news. That doesn’t mean this is a news-based niche where you can only talk about recent crime news but just like the competitor channel, you can easily cover older cases too. The most important thing to do once you’ve found a topic is ask yourself this: is there enough real footage available? Can you make the video feel as real as possible? If the answer is yes, then that’s your first green light.
Let’s take a look at the competitor channel UK Crime Documentaries Is there something that jumps out at you right away? If not, let me help you out. One of the first things you’ll notice is that most of the topics they cover involve younger people. You’ll also see large amounts of money shown on at least two of their thumbnails so clearly, money is a trigger. Another big one: drugs. And that pattern isn’t just here because I’ve seen it across multiple channels in this niche. Below are the most popular videos from the UK Crime channel that clearly show this.
Keep this in mind:
I want to make it clear that in this niche, the most important thing is having a strong topic and that might take some time. Since you’re working with real stories, you’ll need to dig a little deeper. You have to find a topic that has enough real footage, hasn’t already been done to death on YouTube, and fits the same patterns we see in the competition: young people, drugs, big money, murders, and so on. I’ll go into that more below. But just keep in mind: finding the right topic might take longer than usual. This is more of an “old-school” way of finding ideas, but luckily I’ve got tips to help speed that process up.
Competition channel 1: UK Crime Documentaries
Competition channel 2: M2K Documentaries
The most popular videos in this niche usually focus on money, violence, and betrayal. A lot of them tell stories about criminal plans that fall apart like a massive drug deal that gets shut down last minute or deadly betrayal. Big money and drugs topic always grabs attention, especially when you see huge numbers in the title or thumbnail (like channel 1)
Competition channel 3: Crime Scene Chronicles
I wouldn’t necessarily call this a competitor channel, because the content itself is way lower in quality. But if you purely look at the topics they’re covering, something stands out again: young people, large amounts of money, and drugs.
ChatGPT: If you know how to use ChatGPT properly, then AI can absolutely help you both for writing your scripts and coming up with topic ideas. You can simply ask for articles or sources about crime cases in the UK, and Chat will definitely guide you in the right direction. Try using prompts like: “Give me 10 UK crime topics that involve money or murder, haven’t been covered too much on YouTube, and have real articles or footage available.”
Google News: You can also find plenty of strong topics using Google. Try search terms like UK Crime, UK Murder, UK CCTV Footage, or UK Crime Bodycam Murder and you’ll see a lot of stories start to show up.
YouTube: You can also find a lot of topic inspiration directly on YouTube. Check out channels like:
https://www.youtube.com/@M2KDocumentaries
https://www.youtube.com/@CrimeSceneChronicles360
Topics:
To create my own topic in this niche, I first went to ChatGPT and asked for 10 UK crime topics with real footage and article links. I also asked for topics that haven’t been covered too much on YouTube. As you can see below, I got a full list of suggestions. After going through all the options, I found that the case of Aya Hachem stood out the most. It was recently covered by a competitor channel about a month ago and reached 150K views but I also noticed plenty of ways it could be improved.
Articles/video references
YOUR VIDEO
Title example
YOUR VIDEO
Thumbnail example
How to create your thumbnail?
First, I started by searching for this case on Google, and this background photo immediately came up. I made sure to blur the rest of the image so that the focus is really drawn to what happened with the car.
Photoshop
Then I continued working in Photoshop, where I added more light to her face and made it sharper. I also added red elements to make the thumbnail stand out even more.
Finally, I added the text using the font: Another TypeWriter Regular (note: this is just a example text). The goal was to create a sense of FOMO and make it seem like the police may have overlooked something. I saw this style used by the successful YouTube channel Unseen and decided to apply it within the UK crime niche. This way, we differentiate ourselves from the competing channels, and in my opinion, the thumbnail looks much cleaner and more focused. If you’ve followed all the steps, this is the final result:
YOUR VIDEO
End result
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?
UK Justice System
This audience often holds a negative opinion about the UK’s justice system. They feel that sentences are too soft, or that the punishment for certain crimes doesn’t match the severity compared to other types of crimes.
Straight to the point
One thing that often comes up in the comments is that people appreciate how this competing channel gets straight to the point. No long-winded intro just immediate value that delivers on what they clicked for.
AUDIENCE ANALYSIS
What does the audience not like?
Couldn't find anything they don't like