How Cutting Distribution Boosted YouTube Views by 420% [Interview]

When I first heard how HubSpot’s YouTube team skyrocketed one of their channel’s views by 420%, I couldn’t wait to share the incredible story with you. This expert interview is a beacon of valuable insights, especially for those passionate about content marketing and audience engagement.

This story teaches a crucial lesson for everyone in content marketing: not all distribution channels are beneficial. Yes, even your own.

The Journey to Distribution Reduction

When Carl Mueller joined HubSpot as the head of YouTube earlier this year, he quickly realized something peculiar about one of our YouTube channels. Despite high-quality content, viewer drop-off rates were alarmingly steep. Videos lasting six minutes often saw viewers departing after only a minute or two.

You see, Carl isn’t new to the game. With a decade of experience in video production for names like Business Insider and Morning Brew, he’s a pro. “I got here in late February and immediately assessed our video content’s quality,” Carl recalls. “But the metrics were shockingly low, not reflecting the high quality of our videos.”

Internal Insights: The Culprit within Your Own Channels

During his investigation, Carl uncovered that approximately 90% of our channel’s views were coming from external sources such as Facebook, Instagram, blogs, and newsletters—everywhere except YouTube.

“Asking someone to jump from another platform to YouTube means asking them to alter their consumption behavior,” Carl explains. The data underscored that this disconnect, primarily from The Hustle newsletter, led to a poor retention rate of about 20-30%.

This mismatch meant that YouTube’s algorithm wasn’t favoring our content, stymying growth despite our high engagement on external platforms.

Implementing the Change

“As an experiment, we paused all direct external distribution,” Carl reveals. But why halt everything? “We wanted to determine if we had a core YouTube audience. Serving content solely to our subscribers to gauge their engagement was crucial.”

The results were astounding. “I warned everyone there might be a temporary dip in views. But the very first video post-shift received 27,000 views. Subsequently, videos garnered 300,000 to 450,000 views,” Carl notes. The channel’s average views and watch times surged by 420%, and subscriptions increased by 257% within 90 days.

Is Reducing Distribution Right for You?

While this strategy worked wonders for HubSpot, it might not be universally applicable. Carl advises evaluating if your channel heavily relies on external distribution with low watch times. If yes, unengaged views could be impacting your performance. Otherwise, your current distribution strategies might be suitable.

Key Takeaways for Every Marketer

1. Understand Audience Behavior Patterns

Consider the consumption habits of your potential audience before distributing content. Are they in a place to engage with your video or content fully?

2. Prioritize On-Platform Distribution

For YouTube, prioritize partnerships within the platform—video swaps, call-outs—anything that keeps viewers on YouTube.

3. Optimize Specifically for Each Platform

First, optimize for the primary platform, in this case, YouTube. Adjust thumbnails, titles, and other elements to fit the platform. If that fails, then consider alternative distributions.

4. Set Clear Expectations

Always inform your audience about the content type they are about to engage with. Misleading links lead to higher drop-off rates.

Leverage YouTube Analytics in HubSpot

Marketing Hub Enterprise users can pull YouTube performance data straight into HubSpot, enabling a comprehensive view of your metrics. Follow these steps:

1. In HubSpot, click on the settings icon in the top navigation bar.
2. Choose Marketing then Social.
3. Click on Connect account in the top right.
4. Select YouTube Reports in the box that pops up.
5. Choose the YouTube account you want to connect.
6. Review and click Allow.

Access your reports:

1. Navigate back to Marketing then Social
2. Click the Analyze tab.
3. Select All accounts from the dropdown menu and ensure YouTube is chosen.
4. Apply your desired filters.

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