Last week, I told you about my M3 iMac video, which had racked up 54,000 views, 489 comments, and 259 new subscribers for the Mark Ellis Reviews channel in just a few days of going live.
It hasn’t stopped. It shows no signs of stopping.
As I type, that video has clocked up over 157,000 views, 891 comments, and 721 new subscribers. It is, I think, the fastest-growing video I’ve ever published. I cannot think of another that has hit that many views in such a short amount of time.
This happens sometimes. I’ve witnessed other creators achieve similar feats and be similarly bowled over by the rampaging train they’ve unwittingly set off down the tracks. It’s exhilarating, weirdly nerve-racking, and - unless you’ve said something terrible in the video - nothing but a good thing for your brand.
But what causes this kind of performance?
I think I’ve worked it out, and it’s a bit of a lightbulb moment, to be honest.
There are lots of big numbers attributed to that iMac video. Beyond those I’ve quoted above, it has generated 16,000 watch hours, £589 in AdSense revenue, 2.3 million impressions, 118,000 unique viewers, and a six-minute average view duration (yes, that’s high these days - depressing, eh?).
Interestingly, it has a relatively unspectacular click-through rate of 5.2%. That does make me wonder what would have happened if I’d spent more time on the thumbnail and title, but it also highlights that something else is probably behind its success.
Although I can’t categorically confirm this (I, just like every YouTuber, have no idea how the algorithm works), I’m damn near sure it’s the engagement. That’s right - the most important number above is the 891 comments the video has picked up so far, and, likely, my interaction with a lot of them.
It’s common knowledge that engagement is a very good thing for YouTube video performance. It’s a key indicator for YouTube that the video in question is striking a chord with the audience - either in a good or bad way - and, for that reason, it probably deserves to be placed in front of more eyes. That makes sense, right? It’s also something I’ve peddled a lot on Solo Club - all engagement is good engagement.
I’ve published a few videos where the comments section has been set alight for one reason or another, but the M3 iMac video is in an entirely different league. If you’re interested (and you may have to take a long sip of strong coffee to stay awake if you’re not a techy person) the reason the comments are so abundant on that video is because a lot of people think I undertook an unfair test between two computers. I compared an 8GB iMac to a 32GB iMac. That was wrong, according to those people. I should know better. I should run the test again. I should be more transparent with my audience. I should stop “doing the clickbait and going for the clikz bro”. Etc.
Do I care about those comments? No. I’m not going to lose sleep over my choice of RAM during a comparison between two inanimate objects. I did learn some stuff though, which was mildly interesting. What was far more interesting, though, is what this has taught me about YouTube.
If you can create a video which encourages viewers to leave comments, it will perform very well indeed. I’m fairly sure that’s guaranteed. It might even go viral, like this one.
You can do this in one of two ways, both neatly demonstrated in my iMac video.
Ask viewers to leave a comment. I do this all the time. “Let me know what you think down below, guys,” I’ll say, after giving my opinion on something (usually an opinion which I know might be a bit contentious or annoying). Trust me, people will do just that. They want to have their say - particularly if they strongly agree or disagree with you. They enjoy a brief moment in the limelight and they love the idea that you might spot their comment and reply. Which you should.
Don’t worry about the same content running out of steam, either. If the iMac video has taught me one thing, it’s that these people do not read the comments section before telling you the exact same thing countless other people have already told you. This is mildly irritating (and, after a while, laugh-out-loud ludicrous) but, again, brilliant for your video’s performance.
Create content that is intentionally polarising. I knew exactly what I was doing with that iMac video. I know what I’m doing with my back-of-the-cigarette-packet ‘benchmarking’. It is intentionally half-arsed, slightly inaccurate, and designed to illustrate that I would rather lie in a bath of spaghetti hoops than conduct real benchmarks. This annoys some people - massively. I know it does. I love the fact it does. I also know - or suspect - that they enjoy being annoyed by it and they enjoy telling me how much of an idiot I am.
Go for it, guys. You’re helping that video, massively.
I also know that people agree with me and enjoy that kind of content. That’s my audience; it’s how I’ve built an audience big enough to make this thing a full-time gig. Those people often stop by without saying anything, but if I get the video right, a lot of them will chip in and thank me for the hard work that goes into making this stuff.
The challenge with this approach is that there is no guarantee that your efforts to elicit audience interaction will work. It relies on a massive external factor - the audience. You can’t force them to comment, and you may occasionally find that videos which you think are particularly spicy just aren’t (it’s happened to me plenty of times). However, like everything in life, the more you plug away, the more likely you are to hit on a golden nugget occasionally.
The good news is that when you do, those golden nuggets can light a huge fire under your channel. And you don’t need many of them, either, to experience real, consistent, positive growth.
This M3 iMac video has been a lot of fun and a big eye-opener. I hope it helps you, too.