Damn it!
– We all wish… – Where's the magic "viral" button?
I can't see it.
I know, I'm hiding it!
Hi, my name is Meg and I'm one of the partner managers
here at YouTube.
I work with different creators on the platform
to help them with what's going on with their analytics
their content decisions, and sometimes helping with technical issues.
I'm going to be doing a channel checkup today.
I am here today with an amazing creator, Riyadh.
So, can you tell us more about yourself, what your channel's about, and who you are?
My channel started way back in the day.
It never really had a very succinct direction
so there was a bit of celebrity interview, a bit of comedy, a bit of serious stuff
LGBT issues, documentary...
It's been an amazing journey
but what I really want from the channel now is to just slam it together, make it concise
and make it a really strong brand.
I want to focus on this notion that you've had some successes in the past
see what's going to carry over once we look at it for this rebirth
and coming with a new plan to really energize the channel.
– I'm excited! – Sound good?
Yes!
So, what do you know about analytics?
If I'm perfectly honest
the analytics part of my channel scares me a bit
and I don't want to be scared by it.
I want to learn by it.
All right, we're in here because we want to look at
what videos have been working well for your channel in the past.
In cases like yours where you were active in a certain time period prior
it's important to go and learn what was working then.
We're going to look at a two-year period of your channel.
I picked this because you did have some peaks in there
but the consistency of uploads seemed to me like you were keeping a pace.
So, one of the things you're going to want to think about
when you bring life back to your channel is
what your upload schedule is going to be
and you're far better to start with one video a week
one video every other week, and be consistent and build
– OK – …versus going full hog and like…
– …like one month and then nothing. – Yes.
And you're like one video, Monday through Friday
"What's up? Like, subscribe!"
– And then it's like crickets. – Right, OK.
Because it's like, "Is he on, or is he off again?"
Let's now dig into your Top videos.
Is this surprising, what videos are still standing out?
– No. – OK.
It's not surprising to me.
Honestly, this is good because it's going to give you a foundation
if you want to curve and change the channel.
How much of a shift are you thinking about doing?
The vision I have in my head for what I want this channel to look like this year
is something I haven't seen before, and that's really exciting
but also really terrifying because there's no guide book.
– Yes. – But…
But we're going to use analytics a little bit more today as a guide book.
– To find out how to do it right. – Oh, for sure.
But I think, and this is a good homework lesson for you
is to dig down into the lower part of these top 50 videos
and see what's still standing out and be able to pick out format types
that you think can translate into this new format you're going to create.
OK, so you want me to check out the videos that are performing less…
– This is all top 50, right? – OK.
Maybe you just want to look at videos 10 through 20, or 10 through 30
and think where the scatter falls, what viewers are checking out
and what you can take out of all of this.
Again, be ready to be consistent when you launch again
and be true to what the channel was
and then brush it up and bring it up to this next level.
This is it— it's all about taking it to the next level
while still keeping the heart of what it is.
If I start throwing stuff on the channel that is great but completely different...
– They'll unsubscribe. – They'll be like, "Who are you?
"Who's this dude?" Yes.
Some of the bigger viral videos from back in the day
are 2, 3, 4 minutes long, max
because I think that was the trendy thing back then.
– Bitesize. – Yes, quick hit.
"Ha ha ha," or cry, and then gone.
It's longer now, right?
– It really depends on format. – OK.
You'll be able to see with Audience retention.
You can see if short ones are doing really well
or if longer ones are doing really well.
You can go in and explore that through analytics.
I think it's about, probably, making the video as long as it needs to be.
If it's 5 minutes, and it's a great 5 minutes
there's no need for it to be 7 minutes.
Talking about this channel resurgence and rebirth
you're really going to want to think about being consistent
and how you're going to bring your audience on that journey with you.
So, asking them what they want to see.
Yes, absolutely, that's a perfect way.
Tell them early and often that things are going to be changing
but then also reach out.
We have the Community tab now; I don't know if you've used it much.
I haven't yet, no, but I want to.
Yes, it's great because with the poll section especially
you're tapping into the audience you know is on the platform.
And a lot of the time up until now
I know I have, and my friends have
been relying on other media platforms online
to do these polls and ask these questions to get this information in.
It's great to use the mother platform we know and love.
With using Community and reaching out and asking your audience there
you're bringing them on the journey and you're getting real-time feedback
which you should always probably take with a grain of salt
but then you can come back
and you can check what they're saying against your analytics
and it might also help suss out who was here for the hot viral hits
and who's here for you and your brand, and is really connected with you
and that's who you want to tap into.
– We're going to go into Reach viewers. – Right.
This is a category of how people are finding your content.
You've got the video titles
but this is going to tell you if you're coming up from suggested views
and your traffic sources. This is how people are searching for you.
– The top thing… – Yes.
is "vagina"!
That is incredible.
Vagina.
I don't even have one!
I think that's amazing.
Well, they're looking for it
because there's a sex education video there on the channel.
But that in and of itself, you having that discovery
is so important to learning another side of how your channel functions on the platform.
When you're planning to do your mild pivot
let's say a 30-degree turn
you don't want to lose oversight of how people search for you and find you now.
Once you get up and you're consistent
and by being consistent that eliminates an "X" factor
for really understanding what's happening with your new content you're going to make
you can do a little bit of testing
because you don't ever want to do a new content type just once
you want to give it a little breathing room and maybe try it two or three times
so you really know if a format is sticking or not sticking
and then you can come back to your analytics.
Under Reach viewers
how were the impressions, views, and watch time (minutes) for this?
What was the click-through rate?
The impressions, that's YouTube's algorithmic decision-making, right?
On Home, Subscriptions feed, Suggested videos, Search, Rate
and Discovery pages your thumbnails will appear
that's where we count your impressions.
– OK, so an impression is just it's seen… – Yes.
– It counts as one. Done. – Yes.
Just make this part of your routine
and if it's really scary, at minimum I'm going to prescribe you once a month.
Ideally, I'd like to see you in here once a week.
but there is a healthy mental balance of getting too caught up in the analytics.
– Because it would drive you mad if you… – It will, yes.
…if you look at it too much
and you're second-guessing yourself and your decisions.
It is a tool to reflect back what's happening on your channel.
OK.
So, as we're wrapping up
what are you going to be thinking in the back of your mind
– when you sit down to decide what the… – Strategy is?
Yes, the next coming.
– The renaissance of Riyadh K! – Yes, exactly!
I… consistency, you know?
I need to treat this channel like it's a radio station, a podcast, a TV show.
It's got to have a time; it's got to have its moment.
It's got to be religious, almost.
I also want to make sure that I'm energizing my audience
to tell me what they want.
They're there, they have an opinion, why don't I ask them?
I want to use that Community tab, I want to poll them
I really want to find out how I can feed them the good stuff.
What are you going to be doing with these analytics?
OK, I'll get in there, I'll get in there!
I promise you, I will be going into the analytics.
It's going to happen!
I'm going to go in once a week, once every two weeks, no less than that
and I'm going to look at it with a broad view
– and not be scared by them. – Yes.
I'm going to learn from them, and I'm going to ask
"That performed well, that didn't perform well, why?"
and take the good from that.
Good!
Yes!
– I'm excited for you! – I'm excited!
Thank you so much.
Oh, of course! Thank you!
I feel really motivated now.
I feel like I know why this is my home, why this is the platform I chose.
It's because when it's good, my God, it's good.
So, yes, thank you so much!
Yes, thank you!
And thanks everyone at home for watching and following along.
Make sure you subscribe to see more of these channel checkups
and comment below.
What was interesting today? What did you learn?
What are you going to check out in your analytics?
And with that, I'll see you guys next time.
– Bye! – Bye!