The 80/20 Rule

[ApexTV]

You may have heard of the 80/20 rule. It is a phrase used frequently in business in which 80% of the profits come from 20% of the effort. The 80/20 rule has been observed in many different areas, and I have observed it many times in YouTube. I have noticed that about 80% of all the views come from only 20% of the videos.

The point is, getting views on your videos isn't as random as you may think. While it is true that the amount of views you get is very dependent on the type of video you are uploading, you can look at this whole system of gaining views as a probability game. The more videos you upload, the better chance you have of a given video becoming successful. The definition of success also varies and is dependable on the type of video you make.

What this means is that the majority of your videos will most likely not be as successful as the minority of your videos that are. I'm sure a lot of people on this YTTalk forum have noticed similar results. I say this not to discourage you, but to help motivate you to make more videos.

Another benefit of making more videos is that with more videos, you can observe which videos are successful, and make more of them. You can notice trends and take advantage of them. This is a bit of work, but anything worthwhile takes work, YouTube is no exception.

A lot of people will probably say that they have made 10 videos, so two of them should be successful. This is not the case. First of all, it is obviously not exactly 20% of your videos that will be successful, but I personally have noticed that it is around 20%. Let me ask you this: Have a minority of your videos been more successful than a majority of your videos? This is in effect the 80/20 rule.

You also cannot judge a video's success within it's first day of being uploaded. I notice old videos all the time just start to get higher amounts of visibility.

So keep at it, and you will be rewarded!
P.S. The odds are in your favor!

 

[Rails2Revolution]

THIS. Everything I've been thinking all these years

 

[magnamious]

I try to make as many videos as possible and also I try to upload once a week but that has not worked out for me at all because I'm in high school and it is BUSY. It really sucks. Does it hurt me a lot that I don't upload regularly?

 

[ApexTV]

I try to make as many videos as possible and also I try to upload once a week but that has not worked out for me at all because I'm in high school and it is BUSY. It really sucks. Does it hurt me a lot that I don't upload regularly?

There are a number of reasons why not uploading regularly can be bad. Now before I go into those reasons, I'd just like to say that I understand that in some cases in is not possible to upload videos everyday. Heck, even I forgot to upload a video yesterday! Uploading consistently keeps your channel ranked higher in YouTube's algorithm than channels that don't. Also, it shows your subscribers that you upload consistently and that they can expect new content. Just do what works. I know of successful channels that only upload once a week. Good luck!

 

[Kirgle]

Yep this feels pretty accurate. My newest vid is doing really well compared to almost all my old ones.
However I have 1 old one that just keeps turning over views every day. Slowly building and is my number 1 video for views by a fair margin (although the new one is half way there)

 

[ApexTV]

Yep this feels pretty accurate. My newest vid is doing really well compared to almost all my old ones.
However I have 1 old one that just keeps turning over views every day. Slowly building and is my number 1 video for views by a fair margin (although the new one is half way there)

I know what you mean. We have a few of those videos that constantly give us views day after day. My only explanation for these videos is that they are being treated nicely by search engines (including YouTube search).

 

[Crown]

Yes, the old pareto rule

This is true. It only takes 1 or 2 videos to blow up to drive growth to a channel.

This is also another reason why outros with links to other videos on the channel are so important. It's the definition of a "gateway video" - A successful video that forms a gateway into the channel so that those viewers will also check out other videos. That way, the 80/20 can become more like 70/30 over time.

 

[ApexTV]

Yes, the old pareto rule

This is true. It only takes 1 or 2 videos to blow up to drive growth to a channel.

This is also another reason why outros with links to other videos on the channel are so important. It's the definition of a "gateway video" - A successful video that forms a gateway into the channel so that those viewers will also check out other videos. That way, the 80/20 can become more like 70/30 over time.

Good point on the 80/20 becoming more like 7/30 over time! You are absolutely right about linking other videos. Just be sure to do so with every video, so when one becomes popular, you will spread the wealth! Good luck to you!

 

[Painter]

Yes, the old pareto rule

This is true. It only takes 1 or 2 videos to blow up to drive growth to a channel.

This is also another reason why outros with links to other videos on the channel are so important. It's the definition of a "gateway video" - A successful video that forms a gateway into the channel so that those viewers will also check out other videos. That way, the 80/20 can become more like 70/30 over time.

What about adding relevant playlists via cards to every video? Effective or no?

@ApexTV Would like your opinion too.

 

[ApexTV]

What about adding relevant playlists via cards to every video? Effective or no?

@ApexTV Would like your opinion too.

I would definitely say that this is effective, however just adding cards to different videos may arguably be just as effective, if not more. Sadly, due to a copyright strike, we can't show cards on our videos. At least until August of this year!