Trying to understand stats!
I'm the new kid on the block, looking for ideas, leads and tips!
As you probably know, I have a video-audio podcast called Imaginize.World. I started about 6 months ago, and am having a wonderful time with my guests. It’s gratifying to see how you can make a strong connection in an online conversation. Maybe because the person is talking about a subject close to their heart. They pull me in with the force of their convictions.
I wanted to share a few of my video statistics and ask your opinions. In general, is it a title or a subject that attracts people? Is it the viewer’s online behavior - preference for long or short content? Or does the YouTube algorithm work in random ways?
My first question relates to what YouTube calls “shorts”, clips under one minute. As of today, I have 29 shorts online, all created within an 8-10 day time span. Four of them stand out because they have over 400 views each, with the majority of the others under 100 views.
Question 1: Do you think it’s the title that caught people’s attention or is it the topic itself? Or did YouTube simply throw the top shorts at more people!?
All the shorts I currently have on line can be seen easily here if you’d like to compare their titles.
Here are the top ones with 400 to 425 views
Each one of these shorts has a “related link” to the original video it came from but people do not necessarily use it. The list is in order of top down: starting at 425.
Innovative transport by donkeys to help patients reach healthcare, Robin Smith-Vincent of MSF.
Trapped in nationalistic ways of thinking blocks globalization. Chen Qiufan
Does the 15-minute city limit you? Blend in the “ near in thought” perspective. Thomas Vander Wal
Is this a century of paradigm shift and singularity? Yes! Chen Qiufan
Question 2: Regular videos (not shorts): The highest duration of views does not correlate with the most views. I find that intriguing. Is the topic of interest to fewer people but of STRONG interest to those few?
(This list does not include shorts.) I’ve listed the titles below from longest to shorter duration. The range is from 11 to 9 minutes. All the videos below were from 45 to 60 minutes. Long-form content is clearly not thriving on my site! I wonder why. Is that unusual?
In the meantime, here are my tops for duration:
The End of Knowing, Preparing Children for Their Future, not our Past, Sugata Mitra
Will AI reunite us Humans as a species? Chen Qiufan
Immersive Technology as a Business Practice, Mark Gröb,
Wikimedia & Wikipedia, Surprises from the Inside and the Outside, Florence Devouard
I would be grateful if anyone would like to share their own experience with videos and viewer stats. You can contact me individually or share in the comments below. Thank you very much!
Hi Jane
Like my favorite mad musician below, I'm at a loss on creating titles or making things viral so I have followed his lead in focusing on the message that will resonate with the people I want to share a coffee with, people to dive deep and have insightful, reflective conversations with.
I started vloggin 5 years ago (less grey as you see https://www.youtube.com/@RyanConsulting/videos) and I have tried to keep my videos under 3 minutes in length but (and I stress but...) I'm not interviewing people nor am I exploring ideas with others to gain deeper thoughts that could drive actions so I think the length is what contains relevant and interesting content - let it be that and it will be enough.
Someday I hope my videos will get 400 views, if you are looking to bump up that number ask those in your network to like and share with their networks - I will commit to trying to help expand your message from my limited space!
Hello Jane
I keep in mind Seth Godin's insights when I try to understand marketing and especially when I try to get a larger audience. Succinctly , I stopped trying to get a large audience.
I shoot for a tribe! A group of people who love what I do and share.
They might be few in number but they "get" it and slowly, oh so slowly, they spread the word.
Trying to cook up a sexy title that will go viral is beyond me.
Why would a stupid video about a double rainbow (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQSNhk5ICTI) get over 300K views or anything by Mr Beast generates millions in revenues is unfathomable to me.
Every joke or stupid post I put on Facebook get more likes Than any serious thought or insight I try to share!
Simon Sinek short video on "start with why" generated 11 millions views because it was simple.
Most people were impressed but did nothing with it. Or bought the book and were disappointed ( as I was!)
Your videos are insightful. Your guests are brilliant. Your interviews are long and interesting...for a niched audience!
Getting 400 views for this kind of content is pretty amazing if you ask me! Changing the titles or trying to edit the good bits or pushing your content frequently on LinkedIn, X or whatever media to reach a larger audience might not be necessary. Most Youtube influencers or marketers will tell you their first dozens of videos did not succeed to reach large audience or basically sucked!
My views on this is to keep doing great interviews, being authentic, staying yourself and making sure YOU are having a ball doing them.
As long as you keep your flame going it will work out...eventually.
And maybe asking or reminding your viewers to share your content on their network to help you out.
Just to let you know, I have tried publishing videos (over 200 over a few years), writing blog posts ( 700+ since 2006), pushing my contents on LinkedIn Twitter and Facebook etc. to get that larger audience...and I stopped trying.
I create content for MY own enjoyment and the few clients who follow me.
I am happy with this and a lot less worried about statistics than before!
We can discuss this at the next Wireachy, Asynco or PBCC gathering....
Just my two cents...Hope this helps.