In the process of amassing viewership on YouTube, gaining subscribers is key. Subscribers are your most devoted fans. These are the people that engage in conversations in the comments sections, and the people that are expanding your fan base by sharing your videos across their social media accounts. By clicking that red “subscribe” button, a viewer has declared, “I like what you are offering, and I want to see more.” Understanding where your subscribers are coming from and what content is drawing them in is critical to shaping a successful YouTube channel. YouTube has been listening to content creators and on September 21st, a YouTube representative announced that they are rolling out new analytics metrics to assist in tracking new subscribers.
Some of the new additions include YouTube Watch Page, Subscription Feed and Interactive Features. All of these new categories can be found under the Source tab in the Subscribers section of the Analytics report page.
The YouTube Watch Page data is just as it sounds: it displays how many of your subscribers clicked on the subscribe button while watching a video from your channel. This can provide great insight into the kind of videos that your subscribers are most interested in seeing. Utilize this info when curating playlists or when choosing what videos to direct viewers to via end screens.
The Subscription Feed section shows how many subscribers were gained or lost from the subscription feed. This information can help you see what kind of content is causing your subscribers to unsubscribe. It can also illustrate what the appropriate frequency of your posts should be. Spamming user’s subscription feeds is a great way to lose fans who otherwise enjoy your content. Cater your content not just to what gains the most subscribers, but also to what retains them and you will ensure that your channel continues to grow.
The new Interactive Features section contains subscriber information from end screens, cards, and branding watermarks. Not all users are aware of how to subscribe to a channel so these features serve as great call-to-actions to inform or remind viewers to subscribe to your channel. Toying around with the placement of these elements with insights from your Audience Retention data can maximize the number of subscribers gained.
These new analytic metrics provide content creators with the tools to better understand their subscribers and cater content towards viewers that are more likely to stick around. Knowing your audience is key to operating a successful YouTube channel and these new tools can help channel managers be as effective as possible.
