How are premieres supposed to increase views?

Acerthorn

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From what I can gather about how premieres work, they don't really do anything that seems likely to boost views.

So the premiere basically livestreams the video initially, but after its runtime, it becomes a regular youtube video. That's honestly about it. Whoopdie-doo!

Why exactly would the fact that a video is a premiere rather than a regular upload actually boost views? Wouldn't it still ultimately boil down to whether or not the viewers are interested in this content in the first place, thus still making it a matter of SEO?

Also, the fact that it stays on the channel as a regular video after it premieres means there's no pressure for your subscribers to watch the livestream version of it ... because they know that livestream won't be their only opportunity to see the content.

Is it a subconscious thing? Is it basically kind of like using yellow in your thumbnails to boost visibility? Is there something about premieres that exploits a psychological weakness in the human brain or something? If so, can I please see a double-blind study that suggests that the use of a premiere is scientifically more likely to boost CTR?
 

zerocache

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You are correct.

It's... how shall I say this... cheeky... and heavily dipped in marketing work.

Basically it needs to be utilized in a set of conditions... that you make happen.

Let's say you upload regularly, like daily, what you can do is begin promoting the date of the live stream to your viewers over a period of time. Because you have it scheduled, Youtube will bring it up through the usual channels... As in to anyone relevant to your channel.

Obviously the in video promotion here is the key. Because you get a mix of different viewers on every video you release that mentions it, you are increasing the coverage of that date combined with the way YT will push it once scheduled, the chances of getting more viewers for that event are increased.

Once you do go live, the algorithm does what it does as it would when a video publishes, as in, watches for the usual signals and activity to keep pushing impressions of it. I guess in this case, chat activity is an extra signal. So increased potential of more viewers.

The reason I'm calling it cheeky is because there's nothing spectacular about it. It's more the promotion of it that is key not the functionality - that is just convenience. It's basically, having to use one method, video uploads, to push the other, streaming, but Youtubers already promote upcoming videos in already published videos. So yeah, it's cheeky.

The storing of the video for late viewers is just that, bringing forward additional viewership as the signals from the stream would be still in effect, that's the claim of more views.

It all adds up.
 

Acerthorn

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So couldn't I just self-promote a regular video in the same way and get the same results?
 

zerocache

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Well, yes, but you would miss out on YT doing it's part of notifying relevant users of the event and let them set reminder - technically it's like clicking on the bell icon of a channel, it's a notification, but in this case it's for the stream or video that will premiere.
 

Acerthorn

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I heard that premieres get more exposure, even on the home page, than regular videos, because youtube is trying to push this new feature of theirs. Any truth to that?
 

zerocache

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I have noticed it come up on the home page for live streams specifically for a channel I'm subscribed to and also to one that I'm not. That last one was definitely under "Recommended..." while the one I'm subscribed to was under "From Your Subscriptions..."

Edit: As for how much of an exposure? That I haven't found the answer for yet - as in, what are the signals here: past week performance? channel performance? show to only recent viewers and recent subscribers? etc..
 

Michael

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Personally I enjoy them because I can interact with the creator if they are online and watching it too but other than that they dont have that much appeal to me at all.
 
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Crown

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I think the feature is useful for bigger channels who usually don't have time to reply to comments after a video has been uploaded. By doing a premiere, the viewers know that the creator will be online at that time and available for answering questions. Viewers are essentially getting an opportunity to interact with the Youtuber. That doesn't sound like much but to some viewers, that is a big deal.

It also helps create a buzz for a channel that only uploads once a week, for example. Once that video has been scheduled as a premiere, it will display a countdown until publication date. It tells subs that the creator is alive and kicking and when the next video is coming out. It keeps teh brand name fresh in the minds of the viewers.

But yeah for a brand new channel doing daily gaming lets play videos with nothing original, then there really isn't much to create a buzz about and no real demand for an interactive Q and A either. For channels like that, the premiere feature doesn't really have any benefits.
 

Michael

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But yeah for a brand new channel doing daily gaming lets play videos with nothing original, then there really isn't much to create a buzz about and no real demand for an interactive Q and A either. For channels like that, the premiere feature doesn't really have any benefits.
1 subscriber and doing premieres like a boss :D
 
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Acerthorn

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As for how much of an exposure? That I haven't found the answer for yet - as in, what are the signals here: past week performance? channel performance? show to only recent viewers and recent subscribers? etc..
The place where I heard about the supposed extra promotion is at 10:50 - 11:44 of this video:
 
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