Stop Asking People to Subscribe to Your YouTube Channel
While I would love to have a shiny silver play button showing I’ve hit 100K subscribers (and I would absolutely hang it up behind me), getting subscribers in 2022 is not my top priority at the moment. It’s not even something I’m including in my strategy for growing my channel this year.
Because guess what? Subscriber number doesn’t really have an impact on the growth of your channel or whether or not YouTube will recommend your content to more people.
Many of the people who subscribed to me aren’t even notified when I publish a new video. Most people don’t hit that bell icon to receive notifications. Only 17% of my subscribers have all notifications turned on (the typical number on YouTube is anywhere between 10-30%).
You hear experts telling you to add CTAs at the beginning of your video, and even more people telling you to “Hit that subscribe button! Hit that bell so you are notified of all my videos and you will never miss one again!”
But it may not be the best thing for your channel.
Yes, I do think growing your subscribers is a portion of your YouTube strategy. You should be thinking about it. BUT I don’t think you need to be focusing all of your energy on getting them because doing that will hurt your channel instead of growing it.
Subscribers should come naturally
Getting more subscribers happens when you’re doing it naturally — aka providing quality content that resonates with your audience, building a connection with them. The more people watch your content, the more they start to enjoy it, and then they will naturally want to subscribe on their own.
It’s kind of like dating. While I haven’t done this in 20+ years, I can’t imagine it’s much different than in 2002. If you’re going on a date, and the first time you meet up, they ask you to be their girlfriend….well, you’d probably ask for the check and bounce.
But the more dates you go on, the more natural things feel, and start to progress at a healthy level. Then one day when exclusivity gets brought up, you’re comfortable saying yes.
YouTube isn’t much different. If you create content they want to keep on watching, then YouTube shows more of your content to them, and then they watch, enjoy, and become an active subscriber. All because you built that trust and connection over time.
Asking for subscribers too early affects audience retention
Retention drops off within the first five seconds of your video. If you’re filling it with an aggressive “SMASH THAT SUBSCRIBE BUTTON!!” comment, people will flat out leave because you’re scaring them off.
Think about it…have you ever subscribed to a channel only watching a few seconds of that video? Nope. And if you did — you probably already had some sort of connection with that person/business already (like following them on Instagram).
It’s like I said in the dating analogy — wouldn't it sound a little needy if someone asked to be exclusive after just one date?
Instead of using those crucial first moments to tell people to subscribe, do it halfway through the video after you’ve dropped a huge value bomb that brings it home for them. You could also do it at the end of the video by directing them to subscribe if they’ve enjoyed your content and want to see more of it!
And it’s not bringing you the right audience
Even if someone happens to subscribe at the beginning of the video, they may not even be the right audience, but instead, a ghost subscriber — someone who subscribes but doesn’t engage. This can make your analytics confusing because it makes the subscriber to video views ratio disproportionate.
And just because anyone subscribes doesn’t mean they're going to watch every single video
So why even have the option to subscribe?
Subscriptions is just one of the many data points the YouTube algorithm looks at when deciding what videos to put in front of people, like on their homepage, suggested videos, and even in the searches.
The algorithm has one job, and that’s to get people to watch videos and stay on YouTube longer.
What to focus on instead of subscribers
Subscribers don’t matter that much, and while, yes, the more you have the happier you make the algorithm, you don’t need them to start a successful channel.
If you can believe it, my “tiny” channel only has around 50,000 subscribers, which is pretty low for someone in my shoes. Most YouTube educators easily have double or triple that amount. But this “tiny” channel also accounted for the largest revenue stream in my business, bringing in nearly half a million dollars.
So yeah, subscribers aren’t the be-all-end-all. But what should you be focusing on instead?
Have an engaging CTA
Your CTA is a huge factor in determining the success of your video. Why not make it easy for people, especially those who are new to your channel, to do?
Hitting the like button not only is an easier way for people to engage than commenting or following external links (which aren’t hard to do either…but ya know, attention spans), but it’s also a signal to YouTube that people are enjoying your content
Use end screens
YouTube is always on the hunt for content that gets people to step into a binge session. They want to keep people on their channel because that means more money for them.
Focus on creating your content in a way that easily leads people to the next video to create a binge-worthy channel. The YouTube algorithm will greatly reward you for it.
Think about the meaning behind each video
It’s easy to get caught up in the content creation hamster wheel. You get so busy trying to pump out content that you forget who you’re creating it for and ultimately lower the quality of your videos.
Take a second to think about the meaning behind each of your videos before you plan them out. Is it appealing to your niche? Is it something that aligns with your values? Can it help you connect with your audience?
Make your videos wow-worthy and get those subscribers
It’s time to swap out the focus on subscribers for something even better — strategy.
You can’t grow your channel without it.
However, knowing how to plan, record, edit, and engage your audience through your YouTube videos is no small task. At each phase of the content creation process, there’s a list of best practices to make your videos stand out, making it exhausting to know what comes next. .
I’ve seen firsthand that half of that struggle comes from trying to set your content creation process in motion, which is why I’ve created something to help you avoid all of that.
