In one of our previous articles, we advised you to try getting more people to subscribe to your YouTube channel. We shortly explained how proper use of annotations as well as verbal cues can encourage viewers to do so. But we think it is equally important to explain why getting more YouTube subscribers is so crucial for your success. To get a better understanding of this idea, we will take a closer look at how YouTube subscriptions translate to your channel’s growth.
The benefits of having more subscribers on YouTube
When you have a large number of subscribers, it will be easier to gain recognition on the platform. In fact, if your channel has over 10,000 subscribers, you may have the opportunity to be featured on the ‘Upcoming Channels’ tab in search results. Furthermore, it will be much easier for you to gain advertising revenue from YouTube (if you’re using an ad-supported account). Most importantly, when you have a large number of subscribers, you may also be eligible for the YouTube Partner Program. The latter allows you to upload content, and earn money from it.
The driving force behind your new videos
Subscribers are likely the first group of viewers to reach your new content. They will be the driving force behind getting those initial views and likes on new videos. Since they have subscribed voluntarily to your channel, and possibly chosen a way to be reminded of your new uploads, it is quite likely that the ratio of likes to dislikes will be highly in your favour. We have recently explained in detail why likes are so important here [link do “why more likes on yt”], but let us remind here that to recover a video from a large number of dislikes is extremely hard. That is why those initial likes are vital.
More watch time
Subscribers tend to spend more time watching your channel than non-subscribed viewers. And with the way YouTube works, channels and videos with higher watch time are more likely to be listed in search results and recommendations. That is how having a large subscription base contributes to increased discovery by non-subscribers.
More engagement
Due to optional notifications or RSS feeds, subscribers are a clear majority of your channel’s community. Interacting with them through comments and shout-outs will keep them engaged and more likely to share your content. You can further encourage it by setting goals and organizing contests for them at certain number of subscriptions or views. Creating a rewarding and engaging experience for subscribers will encourage people to join in and increase your fanbase.
More data
Having a decent subscription base also helps with a few aspects of data analysis on YouTube. Firstly, you can track traffic sources on your channel, see if viewers are getting to your content by using a search function, recommendations or following links from other social networking websites. It is possible to filter this data by many factors, including filtering viewers by whether they are subscribed to your channel or not. This helps to judge how effective your strategy is both on YouTube (search, suggestions, playlists, notifications annotations etc.) and other websites (Google search, Twitter, Facebook etc.).
Secondly, you can find specific trends in your subscriber history. If there was a sudden increase of subscriptions after a certain video, maybe there was something in it that could be replicated for a similar effect. The same goes for subscribers “liking” one video more than others – whether its content or the interaction surrounding it. Analysing that kind of data gives you a silent feedback that you would never get just from reading comments.
As you can see having a good subscription base helps your channel in multiple ways. There is a bit of effort required to make the most of it, but it surely is worth it. If you struggle with increasing your subscription numbers we recommend you take another look at our previous article, as well as check out YouTube’s Creator Academy section relating to subscribers.