Okay, so, YouTube, right? I’ve been messing around with it for a while, trying to grow my channel, and I noticed something kinda sucky – I was losing subscribers. Not a ton, but enough to make me go, “Hmm, what’s going on?”
Figuring Out the “Why”
First thing I did was just stare at my YouTube analytics. I mean, really stare at them. I looked at the subscriber count over the past few months, and yeah, there was a definite downward trend. It wasn’t a cliff, more like a gentle slope, but still…downward.
Then, I started digging into individual videos. I wanted to see if there was a specific video that triggered the exodus. I sorted my videos by “subscribers lost” and bam! There were a few that stood out.
- One was a bit off-topic. I usually do, like, DIY home repair stuff, and this one was about…I dunno, my favorite coffee mugs. Yeah, weird.
- Another was super long and rambling. I kinda lost my focus halfway through, and it showed.
- And then there was this one where the audio was messed up. I didn’t realize it until after I uploaded it, and by then, the damage was done.
Experiment Time!
After I had my list of the videos, I decided to take some action.
So, I figured I needed to do some damage control. I couldn’t just delete the videos, because that might tick off the people who did like them. Instead, I did a few things:
- For the off-topic video: I added an annotation (you know, those little pop-up boxes) saying something like, “Hey, this one’s a bit different! Back to regular DIY next week!” Just to acknowledge it, you know?
- For the long, rambling video: I went back and edited it. I cut out the fluff, added some music, and made it tighter. It was still long, but at least it was watchable now. I also posted a comment apologizing for the original version.
- For the bad audio video: I re-recorded the audio! it was a bit of pain to do that, but I finally did it!
The Results (So Far…)
Honestly, it’s still too early to tell if I’ve completely stopped the bleeding. But I have seen a slowdown in the subscriber loss. And my engagement (likes, comments, etc.) has gone up a bit on the newer videos. So, that’s something!
The big takeaway for me? Pay attention to your audience! They’ll tell you what they like (and don’t like) if you just listen. And don’t be afraid to experiment and fix your mistakes. It’s all a learning process, right?
I’m keeping a close eye on things, and I’ll probably do another update in a few weeks. Wish me luck!
