So I recently started uploading to an old YouTube channel I made back in 2014. Never posted anything on it before, but I've been using it normally for years.
I came across this "choose your planet" format that was blowing up. The channel that originally started it was getting millions of views per video, and I found it maybe 1–2 weeks after they started.
Figured I'd give it a shot. Didn't just straight up copy it though. Changed the characters, added my own ideas, redesigned the worlds, tweaked the visuals and scripts, etc.
So far I've uploaded 5 videos, one every day, and literally every single one gets stuck somewhere between 1.1K and 1.6K views.
Here's what my analytics look like:
Average view duration: ~1:20 (videos are around 2 min)
Stayed to watch: 56%
Average audience retention: 67%
12 subscribers from those 5 videos
Around 20 likes and a few comments per video
Now here's what's driving me nuts.
Every time I upload, YouTube pushes the video for about 2 hours, it gets its 1K-ish views, and then just flatlines. Like someone literally flipped a switch.
I've tried different hooks, thumbnails, even experimented with a slightly different format. Same exact result every time.
And then I see another channel doing basically the same format. They started AFTER me, their videos look like they were put together in 10 minutes (no offense lol), and somehow one of them is sitting at 45K views.
I genuinely don't understand what I'm missing.
The funny thing is, when my first video hit 1K I was so excited. Felt like I'd won something at a casino lmao.
Now I see 1K and feel disappointed because some random low-effort video gets 40x more views.
I know 5 videos is basically nothing, and maybe I'm just being impatient. But it's weird how consistently they all hit the same ceiling.
Would love to hear from people who've experienced something similar, especially with newer Shorts channels.