Things that are timely or controversial (or funny) in some way do tend to attract more attention than work that is primarily about the maker's creativity, except when that creativity really sparks some widespread interest.  It's best not to get too hung up on view counts, unless they really, really matter to you.  If they do, there's always a number of options for paid promotion that may possibly raise the profile of your work.  You alone have to decide whether such promotion is worth your time, effort and resources. 

There are also plenty of ways you can more blatantly self-promote, but you need to take care that such efforts are not seen as spamming or otherwise interpreted too negatively.

I agree with VideoDave that one possible way to raise profiles would be to form a group... probably not a YouTube "group" as that feature seems to be an orphan on the site, the functionality is barely maintained, and groups are all but invisible the way YouTube is currently organized. 

But I'm sure there are a number of existing sites and blogs out there trying to promote the creative side of low-to-no-budget video, and probably room for more, and especially I'd imagine there's room for a breakthrough site that manages to find a format and way of presenting creative work in some way that might attract larger numbers and a more active interest.  Or maybe I'm just trying too hard to remain optimistic? 

Chances are, though, a certain amount of money would also be needed to promote that group or blog.  Though perhaps not so much, if the content were truly awesome, and accessible to huge numbers in good enough quality to break through the clutter, without excluding too great an audience.  We're still in a place where large numbers of people who might be an audience of intimate, creative video do not have the necessary hardware or bandwidth to view that content in its full glory, which is, I think, one of the reasons why so many of the more successful partner channels are vlogs that fit the description of being "user generated" and "original" content, but are not visually that interesting.  The largest share of the audience, I suspect, is still watching these videos at lower quality settings, where any attempt at creative cinematography tends to devolve into blurry, multicolored mush.

Having said all that, if your work is remarkably creative, but more akin to indie or experimental filmmaking than it is to the nightly news or some other widely accepted genre, chances are the potential audience is going to be limited in the same way that Anthony Hopkins' Slipstream, while fantastically creative, drew almost no audience, while other, more predictable work draws millions of paying ticket buyers.

You need to draw your satisfaction from the process rather than the numbers or even critical acclaim.  A million views, while it might make you some money, is not necessarily going to be nearly as satisfying as one imagined it was going to be.  In the end it's just a number.