From Vanity Metrics to Actionable Insights: Using YouTube Analytics for Effective Marketing
By: George Karalexis & Donna Budica for Ten2 Media
YouTube Analytics is one of the most valuable tools musicians can access for always-on, real-time, & accurately in-depth insights about how their content is being received by their viewers. Those exact insights can, in turn, be used to build an omni-channel marketing strategy. In short, by leveraging the data that YouTube is already providing, musicians can create more effective, 360 (comprehensive) marketing strategies that span across multiple platforms/channels.
Step 1: Identify your TARGET audience.
YouTube's Insights feature provides information about (among other things) age, gender, and location of current viewers for any given video and overall channel content, essentially telling us the performance status of each, across the globe (and real-life audiences).
What that information tells us is how to tailor future marketing efforts around demographics. For example, if a musician recognizes that their content is mostly being viewed by a younger audience, s/he may angle towards making content that’s more relatable to that demographic, targeting promotions to platforms consumed by that age group (e.g. short-form focused….#YTShorts, TikTok, Reels and so on).
Step 2: Implications of audience ENGAGEMENT.
YouTube analytics can also provide deeper insight into audience engagement style and consumption behavior.
The "Engagement" feature tells us
HOW LONG viewers are watching each video
WHEN drop off
TIMESTAMP(s) that are consistently most interesting.
This data helps creators optimize content across topic, theme, format, frequency, duration (etc). in order to best keep viewers engaged AND to identify which elements of the video resonate most.
Keep in mind - this data-driven approach is meant to be replicable across all platforms. Data is truly platform agnostic... keep reading...
Step 3: Understand your EARNINGS METRICS.
YouTube is designed to transparently inform creators/musicians what & how (much) they are earning via being dedicated content creators.
[Let’s not forget – YouTube is truly the original content/creator platform].
The most clutch insight is that it actively tells us what our own most financially viable type/theme of content is...at all times. For example, a cover artist/YouTuber realizes that a particular type of longform video is consistently earning more than others. Doubling down on the format of THAT video (i.e. understanding its quantitative and qualitative characteristics) is likely to do well organically and under promotion, which will ultimately increase earnings multi-fold.
Step 4: Takeaways that Amplify.
This information can be used, incredibly effectively, to build & actively implement your omni-channel marketing strategy. Lean into social media (Instagram, Twitter etc.) to promote content and engage your core, target audiences (by data & design). Leverage TikTok, Reels etc. when data is suggestive of reaching a younger audience. Finally, compound impact & widen reach with email marketing, triggering #widgets, contesting, etc. to reach out to your fan-base & promote upcoming events, concerts, new releases etc.
The key takeaway from YouTube’s availability of intensely granular & accurate consumption data is that no “one-thing” works in a silo. It’s about building an ecosystem of impact – and YouTube is at its core. By understanding the implications of audience data, artists can readily optimize omni-channel marketing efforts, better aligning with audience preferences & consumption implications.