Why Hiding Your Subscriber Count is Hurting Your Business
At the end of the day, subscribers don’t really matter.
So why isn’t YouTube no longer allowing you to hide yours?
As of right now, you can see your current subscriber count but the public won’t if you have that feature enabled. But here pretty soon, YouTube will stop allowing you to hide your subscriber count in a series of new updates.
Some love it, and some hate it. But I actually think this will be a good thing all around!
In this post, I’m going to break down why keeping your subscriber count visible is a great thing for growing your channel and building trust with your audience — and how hiding it can hinder your relationship with them.
If you’re worried this update will wreak havoc on your channel, keep reading to find out why it’s going to do far more good than harm.
It lets your audience connect and grow with you
One of the biggest positives of showing your subscriber number is that it gives your audience the opportunity to connect with you and grow with you as time goes on.
Let's say you start out your channel with a smaller audience. People who have been there since day one can watch your channel flourish — I still have people messaging me saying “I remember when you only had 100 subscribers! It’s so great to see you hit 50K!”
What that does is open the door for connection. That’s what social media is all about right?
And when people invest in your business — even if they aren’t buying from you and just following your content — they want to see it succeed. If you want to build a community on YouTube, showing your subscribers is the way to go.
It helps others cheer you on
If you have a low subscriber number, but really great content, people are going to take note of that and want to give you a shoutout. You’d be surprised at how many people think you deserve recognition.
I only have 50,000 YouTube subscribers and I get messages and comments often that say something to the effect of “You deserve way more subscribers than that. This content was so helpful. I’m going to share it.”
Is that because I’m the greatest content creator in the world? No. For reference, 50,000 isn’t a lot of subscribers for a YouTube educator/coach. So, it comes down to the connection I’ve made with my niche audience in a way that makes my channel feel more like a community than a one-and-done service.
It keeps you genuine
This is actually one of the reasons YouTube cited for disabling the feature.
When you see that someone has something hidden, your immediate response is to assume something fishy is happening, even if that’s not your intent. It’s just, unfortunately, the perception you give your audience.
So even if it’s a little scary to show that you only have a handful of subscribers, it keeps you transparent — something you need if you want to build your business on solid ground.
But it can lower your authority
The hard truth is that some people may see your low subscriber number and assume your content doesn’t have quality because you’re new or simply because your content isn’t good.
Don’t panic — this is going to happen no matter what social media channel you use or what industry you’re in.
Like I said before, I only have 50,000 subscribers, and that’s not a lot for someone in my position. I honestly feel like my authority is being tested all the time. But the difference is that I have a very niche audience that typically equates to people that help me build my business — aka drive revenue because they’re interested in what I’m selling. .
Last year alone I made over half a million dollars in my business directly from my “tiny channel.”
Follower count doesn’t matter and shouldn’t stop you from creating. Forget the haters! If you’re making money and building a community from your channel, who cares what anyone else thinks?
The right people will find you.
So…make your content quality to keep people around
I know it’s hard to get those first 100 subscribers, the next 1,000, and the next 5,000….I’ve been in your shoes and getting up to 50K has taken me years!
But honestly? Growing your channel comes down to the quality of your content.
Show people you have something they want to hear. There are tons of videos out there with the same, regurgitated tips and scripts. You may not be coming up with groundbreaking ideas, but you can break them down in a way that will resonate with your niche. Or in a way that feels refreshing and gives people a new perspective on an old concept.
People don’t subscribe to a channel because the creator has something new to say. They subscribe because of the connection they’ve made with the creator through their content.
If you want to learn more on how to do that, check out this video!
