How Christian Got 1,032,028 YouTube Views in 14 Months (With $512 Ad Spend)
Today I’m going to show you how I increased an Ecommerce store’s YouTube channel from 24,249 views over 6 years to 1,032,028 in 14 months.
But it wasn’t a long hard slog over that time. In just over a month (40 days) we helped increase views by 80x – from 1,845 to 147,331 views.
YouTube channel subscribers increased by 7.5x in that same time (just over a month):
In fact, in the previous 40 days, the channel had got just 12 new subscribers. After Christian implemented what I coached him on, he got 1,523 subscribers – that’s a 127x increase in channel subscribers in just 40 days!
First, here’s a quick backstory of how this came about:
I run a software company called Adzoola, which helps digital marketers uncover ad targeting and competitor research for YouTube and Google Ads. A member of Adzoola, Christian, got in touch via the live chat and told me his situation.
Christian owns an online outdoor gear and training business called Redkettle. He started his YouTube channel back in 2016 but struggled to gain any traction. His videos just weren’t getting in front of his target audience.
He had been trying to use Facebook and Instagram to get leads and sales for his products and training but they weren’t working for him.
So he decided to try YouTube as it’s both a search engine and a content discovery platform, which he thought would be a better fit for his physical products and skills-based training.
He started posting videos to YouTube.
Video after video..
…but they were getting so few views – a couple of hundred views would be “good”, even after being published for months.
That was the situation he was in when he got in touch with me.
So I shared with Christian a 3-step process he could execute that would:
– Grow his YouTube channel much much faster.
– Reach his target audience in much larger numbers.
– Save time and avoid creating videos that wouldn’t get views.
I call it The Slingshot Strategy.
I didn’t expect Christian to implement it (I’ve given a lot of free advice, sadly most people don’t take action on it).
But gosh, did he implement!
And this is what he wrote to me shortly after deploying it (some parts blurred for confidentiality):
“I discovered the Slingshot Technique and worked with Adzoola to implement it. This one simple technique was a total game-changer for my YouTube growth.” – Christian, Founder of RedKettle
Here are the four key lessons Christian learned during our coaching (and steps you can follow) to grow your business’s YouTube channel:
1. Research Your Audience’s Interests, Not Just Your Products
2. Targeting Placements Is Critical For Exposure
3. YouTube Ads Can Be Very Affordable & Huge Momentum Driver If Done Right
4. Switch Off Ads Once Momentum Builds
Here’s what Christian learned…
1. Research Your Audience’s Interests, Not Just Your Products
When we first started posting videos, we focused too much on our products rather than what our audience was interested in learning. We realized we had to meet our viewers where they were and provide value around topics important to them.
Using Adzoola, I did keyword research to uncover search trends and broader topics that my niche would find valuable:
I chose a few keywords I thought my audience would find valuable and what I could easily create a video for based on my knowledge and experience.
I used those keywords to research existing YouTube videos…
This led me to create a video around “where to shoot a deer” rather than a product tutorial.
The takeaway: Research keyword and topic trends relevant to your niche. Then create videos that provide value around those interests.
2. Targeting Video Placements Is Critical For Exposure
The Slingshot Technique relies on targeting related videos to get your video in front of interested viewers.
After identifying a strong video topic from my research, I used Adzoola to analyze the top-ranking videos and channels for that topic.
Top YouTube videos for the keywords:
Top YouTube channels for that topic based on their visibility for the keywords:
Based on that competitive analysis, I tailored my video title and description to be topically relevant to those used by the top videos. I did this to give my video the potential to appear alongside those videos (and now it does!).
The takeaway: Use competitive analysis to identify exactly where your audience is watching relevant videos. Then ensure your metadata matches so you appear alongside those videos.
3. YouTube Ads Can Be Very Affordable & Huge Momentum Driver, If Done Right
I spent around £400 (~$512) testing different ad variations over a few months. But the winning campaign that resulted in 7.5x channel subscriber growth in 40 days cost only £61.99 (~$79) and ran for one month.
Because I laser-targeted interested viewers and positioned my video to rank well, the cost per view was extremely low. I was able to get the momentum going with minimal ad spend.
The takeaway: Precise audience targeting and placement optimization lets you gain maximum traction with minimal spend.
4. Switch Off Ads Once Momentum Builds
The key to the Slingshot Technique is using ads temporarily to ignite organic momentum. Once my video took off, I paused the ads.
Even though interest in my market is seasonal my channel continues to steadily grow 250 to 500 new subscribers per month organically.
The takeaway: Don’t rely on ads indefinitely. Use them surgically to spark organic momentum, then let that momentum continue fueling itself.
Your Turn: Research Valuable Topics and Optimize Video Targeting
So that’s what Christian learnt while learning the Slingshot Strategy I coached him on.
He also suggests:
If you want to quickly grow your YouTube channel like I did, first research the topics your niche cares about most right now using keyword tools. Then analyze the top-ranking videos around those topics and use them in your targeting.
This will ensure you get your video in front of the right people so you can cost-effectively ignite your organic momentum.
TL;DR I helped Christian grow his ecommerce business’s audience on YouTube beyond what he could have imagined.
His channel went from 6 years of stagnation to massive, fast growth:
– 80x increase in views in just 40 days – from 1,845 to 147,331 views.
– 7.5x increase in YouTube channel subscribers in 40 days (remember this is versus the number of subscribers built up over the previous 6 years!)
– 127x subscribers compared to the number gained in the previous 40 days, from just 12 to 1,737.
– From 24,249 total channel views over the previous 6 years to 1,032,028 in 14 months.
Christian achieved this by learning my Slingshot Strategy and his excellent execution of it.