When I first heard how HubSpot’s YouTube team increased their channel views by over 400%, I asked for permission to share the story. (I’m not demeaning myself more for you.)
This is a lesson that applies to almost all content marketing – and I promise you won’t hear it anywhere else.
Are you ready? Not all distributions are good distributions. And that includes yourself.
Below, I talk to the head of YouTube about how and why it was cut entire true outer distribution increase our YT performance. And advice for when you should consider getting an ax, too.
The Road to the Broken Block
When Carl Mueller joined us as HubSpot’s head of YouTube earlier this year, he noticed that one of our YT channels had a problem that wasn’t there. If a video is six minutes long, most viewers stop after just one or two minutes.
Although, to be fair, that is still longer than my son made through Fantastic Mr. Fox.
Carl has been producing videos for over 10 years for names like Business Insider and Morning Brew. That said, where media and marketing mash up, Carl knows s***.
So when he says the content isn’t the problem, I know he’s not just trying to avoid pain.
“I got here at the end of February, and the first thing I did was watch the content from a quality perspective,” he said. “But then I looked at the metrics, and the numbers were shocking. I don’t think the metrics reflect the quality of the video.
But if content doesn’t matter, what does?
Call from inside the house.
When Carl investigated the issue, he noticed that about 90% of the channel’s views came from external sources. That includes Facebook, Instagram, blogs, newsletters – everything except YouTube.
“What I’m trying to say is that if you get people to jump from other platforms to YouTube, you’re asking them to change their consumption behavior,” he said. “Did the person sit down with time to watch a 10-minute video?”
The answer depends a lot on what platform you’re running on.
And about 90% of those external views come from The Hustle newsletter.
“That, at first, makes a lot of sense. It seems like, well-targeted distribution. But it means that most of our audience comes from the newsletter.
It seems like the opposite of the problem, right? As I’ve mentioned before, The Hustle has over 2.5M viewers and an above industry average engagement rate. This is the type of audience that most marketers would trade body parts to see. (And I mean useful body parts. Not just your pinky toe.)
And in many cases, that’s probably true. Hustle is an absolute catapult for content, often driving thousands and thousands of views to blogs, short videos, and content offers. So what is possible here?
Carl explains:
“The bulletin comes out at, what, 5:30 in the morning? People open it in bed.” He clicked on a video, “watch a few minutes, then leave.”
Or they save it for later and then forget about it in the sea of ​​tabs. (Guiltyyy!)
“If you were in their shoes, would you watch the video? For me, the answer is probably no,” Carl laughed. “Maybe sometimes if I’m sitting in my chair. But if the average newsletter reader can’t watch a long video, that’s a lot of bad retention metrics.
For this already highly active audience, we estimate a 20-30% retention rate.
Let’s do some quick math. Is it the same if 90% of the audience has a 20% retention rate? Algorithms that don’t like it.
As Carl puts it: “YouTube won’t promote your content if your audience isn’t watching it.”
We need surgery, stat.
Make a Cut
“We decided as an experiment to pause all external distribution immediately,” said Carl.
But why? entire distribution, and not just mismatched audience?
“We want to see if we have a core audience on YouTube. We want to serve these videos only to our customer base and see if they like it.
And it worked. Better than Carl had predicted.
“I warned everyone that we will do worse before we do better. A few thousand views are guaranteed to be lost,” Carl recalled. “But it was quite direct. The first video after the shift got 27,000 views. A couple of videos later we had one hit of 300,000. Then after that 450,000.
About 90 days after the distribution pause, the average channel views and average watch time increased by 420%, and the number of subscribers increased by 257%.
This goes against everything I believe in content marketing, where more distribution equals more views. What gives, Carl?
“This increases success. If something is good, YouTube is more likely to promote the video below.
YouTube’s built-in audience is ready to watch YouTube videos. And if the majority of your audience watches the majority of your content, it sends a positive signal to the YT algorithm. YouTube then exposes your video to a wider audience, and a virtuous cycle begins.
“Not all distributions are good distributions,” Carl said. “This is a universal takeaway for all channels and all content. Make sure you’re targeting the right audience at the right time.
Ask your doctor if a distribution break is right for you.
Here I hit the pause button, because I can feel that some of you are tired of going to DIY.
I asked Carl what he would say to readers who are currently thinking about axing their own distribution.
“Make sure your channel is in the same situation as our channel. It depends a lot on external distribution and low viewing time. If you have that combination, it’s possible that unrelated external views will affect your performance.
So, let’s be clear: If you don’t have low engagement, your distribution will do its job, and will not help you grow anymore.
Also, if the majority of your views aren’t coming from external distribution, then you may not have very good metrics.
But Carl won’t let you go empty-handed. Here are some takeaways for everyone:
1. Consider behavioral patterns when sharing with potential audiences.
This is great advice for any marketing, not just video marketing.
Before you distribute your content through any channel, consider the consumption habits of your audience.
Are they in the right place to share social media posts? Download PDF? Listening to podcasts?
“There’s value in external distribution, but you have to make sure it’s to the right people at the right time, and at the right stage in the content lifecycle.”
2. Looking for distribution on the platform.
“On YouTube, I always prioritize partnerships on platforms, video swaps, or phone. Targeting people on YouTube is the best place to get people to watch your videos on YouTube.
And that’s generally true for most types of content. Consider, for example, that you will find a TikTok audience on TikTok. Or newsletter readers are often willing to become blog readers. (And, like magic, here you are.)
3. Optimize for the platform, not the distribution channel.
“Let YouTube do it for a while,” Carl said. “If that doesn’t work, change the thumbnail, change the title. Do everything you can to optimize YouTube.
Not a broken record but, again, that applies to any content or platform. Optimize first for search, social, or wherever else your audience finds your content.
“And if it doesn’t work, then it might be a risk to put it somewhere else.”
4. Set clear expectations.
If viewers click on a link without knowing it will lead to a video, more people will abandon ship. Same for long-form written content.
To avoid this, you need to set your expectations for what you will encounter.
“If we share – because there is value in sharing the video with the newsletter audience – we make it clear that the video is,” he then switched to a mock-stern voice. “Everything is closed. WATCH THE VIDEO. You’re leaving. ARE YOU READY?”
Now you.
How to View YouTube Reports in HubSpot
Marketing Hub Enterprise users can pull YouTube performance data directly into HubSpot so you can see all of your glorious successes in one place.
You can review custom reports on watch time, views, shares, number of subscribers, engagement, etc. – allowing you to be the Carl Mueller of your company.
First, you need to connect your YT account to HubSpot.
- In HubSpot, click on settings icon in the top navigation bar.
- choose Marketing then social.
- Click on it Connect your account in the upper right.
- Choose YouTube report in the box that pops up.
- Select the YouTube account you want to connect.
- Check permission and click grant.
Now that you’re connected, here’s how to access your report:
- Navigate back to Marketing then social. (Unless you’ve already been there from the first part. Then skip this part.)
- Click the tab that says Analyzing.
- Click the drop down menu that says All accounts and make sure YouTube is selected.
- Apply filters for multiple dates, campaigns, etc.
