I figured out YouTube

It’s time to throw everything that you know about YouTube growth out of the window.

If you think you have some good information on YouTube and you got from “YouTube Guru’s” on YouTube, then you don’t know anything.

That is exactly how I felt after learning (and testing out) an entirely new way of thinking about YouTube growth.

And here it is…

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From previous editions of this newsletter, I have been singing the praises of Wono_strategy on Twitter/X.

The guy is a straight up problem on Twitter because he is diming out all the false narratives regarding YouTube.

I got this little nugget from him and it’s a doozie.

There are four types of “viewers” on YouTube.

Worthless (blue), Low Quality (yellow), High quality (orange), and Very High (red)

Let’s break down each one…

Blue viewers - people who have never seen your content

Yellow viewers - Seen your content at least once

Orange viewers - Watch your stuff occasionally

Red viewers - Watch everything you post

These viewers evolve from Blue eventually to Red (hopefully).

The ENTIRE goal of YouTube is to gather (or farm) as many RED viewers as possible.

I call it a game because it’s very similar to “farming” experience or money in a game to unlock a new weapon, tool, or Pokemon.

The number of “red” viewers you have will determine your “view floor” that is the minimum amount of views you get with a new video.

But there is a very specific way to get a blue viewer to a red viewer; you nurture them over time by giving them what they want to watch.

What they want to watch is usually the same (or strikingly similar) videos that get them to enjoy your content in the first place.

So, if you create 15-minute videos exploring the fall of the Holy Roman Empire AND that video goes viral, it would be wise to continue making 15-minute videos exploring more and more angles of the Holy Roman Empire.

That is how you effectively “farm” a blue viewer to a red viewer.

I saw this exact same phenomenon when I stumbled across Graham Stephen back in 2017 (he had just under 200k subscribers).

I was pulled in by a topic about personal finance… he then continued to make videos following the same format and I was slowly “farmed” to a red viewer.

To the point that I would watch anything he posted. Overtime, I slowly stopped watching his videos, but for a long time, I was a red viewer for sure.

People will grow out of your content, but thanks to YouTube, there is a seemingly endless supply of new viewers to bridge the gaps.

Chat soon,
Chris Myles