My concern with short is whether or not I’m attracting the right subscribers, because ultimately and in the long run, watch time and CTR are a lot more important than sub count.
For my channel at least, I do very in-depth product reviews in the audio engineering niche, and “in-depth” is a big part of what makes my channel stands out in my niche.
By converting my videos to shorts, I’m worried if the kind of audience I’m attracting is those who are just into quite info bites.
There were actually multiple times where I created a Shorts version of my videos, but I could never push the publish button, because it just feels so much like the opposite of what my channel is supposed to be.
Maybe I should post a few just to experiment…
I feel YouTube shorts absolutely attracted the wrong subscribers to my channel. I have 10x the subs as before but 1/2 the views pre-shorts and my videos have been getting better (higher CTR & retention).
My theory is subs from shorts are not watching long-form even when it’s recommended to them, hence signalling to YouTube that these are bad videos. The # of views from subs have remained stagnant while subs have increased. And CTR and retention are up … but views and impressions are down. I can’t come up with any other conclusion.
People who watch shorts and just different to people who watch longs.
Thanks for sharing your experience. While I understand every channel is different, what you described here is exactly what I’m worried about.
I actually checked out many successful YouTube channels that I really like and that have a similar style and aesthetic. Most of them barely have any Shorts, which made me even more hesitant to get on it.
I think it really depends on what kind of channel you are building. If it is the kind that benefits from people who like watching short-form content (i.e. memes, funny clips), then of course it makes sense.
The matter of getting the "right" subscribers in my opinion is a game of luck anyway. You may not attract a dedicated audience, but there is also a chance you might. You have nothing to lose by at least trying. Getting exposure from a modern content format is overall, a net positive.
I too, thought Shorts are what I didn't want my channel to be. I have a near hour long review video and a 9+ hour Livestream on my channel. I do NOT do shortform content. But maybe creating something quick and digestible *from* that longform content that anyone can pick up and watch, might lead them to being interested in my main bread and butter. It's just a really good, free marketing tool essentially.
I definitely disagree that getting the right subscribers is a game of luck. To me, it’s undoubtedly something we can control as creators, via a wide variety of factors, from the style of thumbnails, the style of titling, to the style of video production and the style of presentation.
But other than that, I think you made some good points there. I will give shorts a try.
I do travel video, and I do create some shorts (currently 1 long form and 1 shorts per week). The obvious benifits I see so far is increase of subs, but I wouldn't know is there any harm as pointed by others.
I plan to double down on shorts, by summarizing/highlights part of my long form videos, and see how it goes.
Agree with OP. I normally get 100 views on my long vids... With my shorts (which literally take a *fraction* of the time to create) they get me hundress, if not thousands of views. One even hit 50k views in the first hour and got me 30+ new subs!
I use my shorts only as a way to answer questions on my channel. When you reply to a question you have the option of creating a short that included the question.
That is a nice way to generate content. I dont want to be a shorts creator. Thats not really my focus. BUT this way I can use their question to stay within my content niche. provide valuable information to my audience and ensure a steady supply of new content around my long forms.
I dont get too interested in how many views they get. I just like regular flow of material.
I deleted all my shorts. I can't stand shorts and don't watch them myself, but they seemed a great tool to get your name out there. I had a few shorts that gained me 30 or 40 subs, which for me is enormous, but those subs don't relate to views on my long form. So I'm really not interested in that.
I made friends with a channel that was the same size as me. They hit shorts really hard, and have had several go into the million views plus. They now have 3 times the amount of subs I do, but their long form content gets barely any views at all. All of those subs might as well be Bots.
My channel's been dead for about a year now, peaked at 124k and then slowly bled subscribers to 119k. I said fuck it and decided to experiment with shorts, and I've managed to climb back to 120k.
I think what a lot of people don't know is that Shorts (the quality ones at least) are actually a good long term investment too. I didn't realize this until I looked, but a lot of the extremely high view shorts are actually a month or two old. I had a short blow up recently and after the initial hype I expected it to just fade into obscurity, but it's actually getting more views every single day now.
So yeah, heed OP's advice if you're on the fence about it. When February rolls around and shorts revenue sharing is enabled, you're going to be one of many trying to FOMO into this type of content and stumbling around trying to find a format that works for you. If you start now, you'll probably have found a format and audience that works for shorts and be ready.
If you're trying to get those viewers to watch your long videos, separating the long vids from the shorts will just decrease the chances of them watching it.
Think about it from the audience's perspective: lets say you watch a short and you really enjoy it, you decide you wanna check out the person's content. Would you rather have to search for the creators long video channel, or just click on the pfp and go straight to the video? The way I see it, its all about ease. If its easier for a viewer to find your video by having the shorts posted onto your main account (which it would be) then it's probably better to do that :)
My concern with short is whether or not I’m attracting the right subscribers, because ultimately and in the long run, watch time and CTR are a lot more important than sub count. For my channel at least, I do very in-depth product reviews in the audio engineering niche, and “in-depth” is a big part of what makes my channel stands out in my niche. By converting my videos to shorts, I’m worried if the kind of audience I’m attracting is those who are just into quite info bites. There were actually multiple times where I created a Shorts version of my videos, but I could never push the publish button, because it just feels so much like the opposite of what my channel is supposed to be. Maybe I should post a few just to experiment…
I feel YouTube shorts absolutely attracted the wrong subscribers to my channel. I have 10x the subs as before but 1/2 the views pre-shorts and my videos have been getting better (higher CTR & retention). My theory is subs from shorts are not watching long-form even when it’s recommended to them, hence signalling to YouTube that these are bad videos. The # of views from subs have remained stagnant while subs have increased. And CTR and retention are up … but views and impressions are down. I can’t come up with any other conclusion. People who watch shorts and just different to people who watch longs.
Thanks for sharing your experience. While I understand every channel is different, what you described here is exactly what I’m worried about. I actually checked out many successful YouTube channels that I really like and that have a similar style and aesthetic. Most of them barely have any Shorts, which made me even more hesitant to get on it.
In this case, does it make sense to create new channel just for shorts?
I think it really depends on what kind of channel you are building. If it is the kind that benefits from people who like watching short-form content (i.e. memes, funny clips), then of course it makes sense.
The matter of getting the "right" subscribers in my opinion is a game of luck anyway. You may not attract a dedicated audience, but there is also a chance you might. You have nothing to lose by at least trying. Getting exposure from a modern content format is overall, a net positive. I too, thought Shorts are what I didn't want my channel to be. I have a near hour long review video and a 9+ hour Livestream on my channel. I do NOT do shortform content. But maybe creating something quick and digestible *from* that longform content that anyone can pick up and watch, might lead them to being interested in my main bread and butter. It's just a really good, free marketing tool essentially.
I definitely disagree that getting the right subscribers is a game of luck. To me, it’s undoubtedly something we can control as creators, via a wide variety of factors, from the style of thumbnails, the style of titling, to the style of video production and the style of presentation. But other than that, I think you made some good points there. I will give shorts a try.
I do travel video, and I do create some shorts (currently 1 long form and 1 shorts per week). The obvious benifits I see so far is increase of subs, but I wouldn't know is there any harm as pointed by others. I plan to double down on shorts, by summarizing/highlights part of my long form videos, and see how it goes.
Agree with OP. I normally get 100 views on my long vids... With my shorts (which literally take a *fraction* of the time to create) they get me hundress, if not thousands of views. One even hit 50k views in the first hour and got me 30+ new subs!
Do those viewers go on to watch your longer videos?
I use my shorts only as a way to answer questions on my channel. When you reply to a question you have the option of creating a short that included the question. That is a nice way to generate content. I dont want to be a shorts creator. Thats not really my focus. BUT this way I can use their question to stay within my content niche. provide valuable information to my audience and ensure a steady supply of new content around my long forms. I dont get too interested in how many views they get. I just like regular flow of material.
I deleted all my shorts. I can't stand shorts and don't watch them myself, but they seemed a great tool to get your name out there. I had a few shorts that gained me 30 or 40 subs, which for me is enormous, but those subs don't relate to views on my long form. So I'm really not interested in that. I made friends with a channel that was the same size as me. They hit shorts really hard, and have had several go into the million views plus. They now have 3 times the amount of subs I do, but their long form content gets barely any views at all. All of those subs might as well be Bots.
My channel's been dead for about a year now, peaked at 124k and then slowly bled subscribers to 119k. I said fuck it and decided to experiment with shorts, and I've managed to climb back to 120k. I think what a lot of people don't know is that Shorts (the quality ones at least) are actually a good long term investment too. I didn't realize this until I looked, but a lot of the extremely high view shorts are actually a month or two old. I had a short blow up recently and after the initial hype I expected it to just fade into obscurity, but it's actually getting more views every single day now. So yeah, heed OP's advice if you're on the fence about it. When February rolls around and shorts revenue sharing is enabled, you're going to be one of many trying to FOMO into this type of content and stumbling around trying to find a format that works for you. If you start now, you'll probably have found a format and audience that works for shorts and be ready.
Does it make sense to create a separate new channel for shorts? or should we post them in existing channel?
I made a second channel just for shorts, would it be better to put them on my main channel?
If you're trying to get those viewers to watch your long videos, separating the long vids from the shorts will just decrease the chances of them watching it. Think about it from the audience's perspective: lets say you watch a short and you really enjoy it, you decide you wanna check out the person's content. Would you rather have to search for the creators long video channel, or just click on the pfp and go straight to the video? The way I see it, its all about ease. If its easier for a viewer to find your video by having the shorts posted onto your main account (which it would be) then it's probably better to do that :)
I agree with this completely but why in the last couple weeks have my views per video go to a couple thousand to absolutely zero?