Is a channel trailer really that useful?

Rachael

Rachael

I Love YTtalk
Usually when I go to someone's channel I go immediately to the videos tab...it kind of seems pointless to sit there and watch their channel trailer if I want to watch some of their videos. And if someone new comes to your channel, you don't really need to hook them because they were already interested enough to click. It seems like it would make more sense to feature one of your best videos there, and they can get a feel for who you are and what you do without you needing to tell them. thoughts?
 
If you put out very similar content with very little variation, e.g. it's always a beauty tutorial, then it would probably make sense to feature one of your higher performing videos instead of having a channel trailer. On the other hand, if no single video gets your full breadth across, then it's not going to be as useful.

Length plays a part too. General wisdom seems to be that a channel trailer should be short and to the point, with a clear call to action. If your videos are on the longer side, then that's something to think about. Is someone going to get hooked in that instance?

Finally, speaking anecdotally, I can say that my own YouTube habits tend towards preferring a channel trailer. I typically skip straight to the video pages if there's just a normal video there - there might be better content - but it's possibly a missed opportunity to hook me. My own stats tell me that my channel trailer has performed well and a significant portion of my subscribers seem to have come from there.

I don't know that there's a one size fits all answer here, but I think that there might be a once size fits most answer.
 
Time Jacker said:
If you put out very similar content with very little variation, e.g. it's always a beauty tutorial, then it would probably make sense to feature one of your higher performing videos instead of having a channel trailer. On the other hand, if no single video gets your full breadth across, then it's not going to be as useful.

Length plays a part too. General wisdom seems to be that a channel trailer should be short and to the point, with a clear call to action. If your videos are on the longer side, then that's something to think about. Is someone going to get hooked in that instance?

Finally, speaking anecdotally, I can say that my own YouTube habits tend towards preferring a channel trailer. I typically skip straight to the video pages if there's just a normal video there - there might be better content - but it's possibly a missed opportunity to hook me. My own stats tell me that my channel trailer has performed well and a significant portion of my subscribers seem to have come from there.

I don't know that there's a one size fits all answer here, but I think that there might be a once size fits most answer.
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that's a good answer. I guess for me it would make sense not to have one but a lot of channels are different.
 
I think the typical channel trailer isn't quite as effective. But for instance I would be quite interested in a channel if they parodied a channel trailer as their channel trailer :P
 
I don't think it's useful. You can also put the time you would have spent toward making a channel trailer toward working on a new video instead.
 
I get really tired of some channel trailers, if I haven't subscribed to someone but I pop by their channel once in a while. I don't know how many people view channels in that way...starting with the channel's front page and moving on from there. I think a lot of search leads you directly to videos, and a great deal of the audience doesn't bother to look at the main channel page at all.

I swap out my channel's main video all the time, which may not be all that great for getting a lot of views on that one video, but it works for getting the latest video in front of people who visit my channel.
 
I personally have had good experiences with channel trailers which is why I made one for my just starter channel. Some of the YouTubers I watch today had a trailer, maybe not an official YouTube trailer, but some sort of trailer to let me know what they were like and what's gonna be happening with the channel. In the past this worked for me as I wasnt going to go through and sit down to watch a 8-10 minute video when I dont know what this guy is like compared to a 1-2 minute video where he breaks it down.

I feel like Channel trailers do help in a way but its all down to personal choice.
 
I feel like when you're first starting out a channel trailer is key! It let's people know what's unique about you in a very saturated market. With that being said if you make it to long people aren't going to pay attention :)

There's an extreme fine line, War0wl has one of the best trailers I've seen and so does NuclearSharkHead. Both short sharp and to the point.

Hope this helps xD
 
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