I subscribe to over fifty YouTube channels, but the real estate on my phone is just 5.8’ in, so what should YouTube show on my smart phone home screen when I log in ?

This is the challenge for any platform algorithm. The logic says show what the audience watches so they keep coming back .

That would be the objective of any platform- to ‘GROW AND KEEP THE AUDIENCE HOOKED’.

In this post let me take the case study of CA Rachana Ranade an financial YouTube influencer who has been a huge hit , in a short period of just one and half years she garnered over one million subscribers. She is the top female financial YouTuber in the world.

She got there by not chasing subscribers.

So what did she do to get there ?

To begin with she is an expert on her subject , she is a CA and she had been teaching for over 9 years when she began her YT channel . Also her style of teaching simplified the complex world of finance so it would appeal to the masses.

What else do we learn from Rachana

1. She has defined her audience well – her audience is anyone in India who wants to invest in stock markets , her audience is masses .

2. She understood what her audience wants – she simplified investing in stock markets . She identifies the topics that her audience is interested in watching , she adds value to her audience . Her team does extensive research before she selects the topics on which to make videos.

3. Quality videos- each of her videos is well researched , simple yet highly informative and well shot . Most people who watch her videos watch the full length of the video so she gets good watch time which is essential for algorithms .

4. Click Baity Thumbnails and titles – each one of her thumbnails is well researched and gets her audience hooked to watch further . She would have good CTR .

5. Consistent – she has been consistent with her content over the year . Always innovating .

6. Authentic- she is completely passionate about what she does ‘financial education of the masses on stock investing’ , and she has her own style of simplifying the complex world of finance.

7. No Sales – she does not sell anything, she does not give tips , she does not ever show biases , she is completely in the giving mode . She genuinely wants to educate as she says “I am a CA and I am a teacher and I am proud about that” . Yes her audience buys her course but that is not her aim of the video blog . She is building the most important asset ‘Trust’ with her audience.

She understood that The objective of any platform is – “to get more audiences spend more time on the platform.” Full Stop.

She did not chase subscribers. But she chased making good quality content , that is valuable to her target audience , she is chased watch time and she is constantly optimising her Thumbnails and Titles as she knows that the real estate on YouTube is cluttered and her videos need to stand out .

She knows her success on YouTube is as good as her videos , views , likes and comments she knows that YouTube does not automatically show her videos to every subscriber and she knows her subscribers have a choice to watch hundreds and thousands of other videos.

As she says “It is 99% hard work and 1% luck.” and she has completely 100% dedicated time to her YouTube channel.

CTR and watch time are two important metrics to measure for YouTube content creators.

She knows she has a small window of opportunity to show up on the home page of her audience and to get audience to click her videos out of the dozens they see and that the videos on home page are a tip of the tip of an iceberg.

Is there any another way ?

Yes create your own platform and get your audience to subscribe. It could be to your blog or email which will keep them on the latest videos released.

There is another option . Get your audience to click the notification button.

What we learn from Rachna is don’t chase subscribers, chase quality content that is watched in a field where you are an expert and passionate about and keep at it day in and day out . Also don’t forget click baity thumbnails and titles as you need to stand out from the crowd .

Sanjay Mudnaney

#passionproject