What if I told you that YouTube has already quietly revealed exactly what makes your ideal clients click, watch, and eventually hire you? This isn't my opinion or some marketer's best guess. This is hard data straight from the source.
YouTube's Why We Watch 2. 0 report gives us a rare look at what real viewers want from your videos. And they got this information by interviewing thousands of YouTube viewers to understand exactly what they value most in content.
And I've been digging through this whole report and service businesses that follow these principles are seeing huge jumps in both their views and people reaching out about their services. And honestly, what I found might completely change how you think about making videos that actually turn viewers into clients. So right now, let's break down exactly what YouTube's own research says that your clients actually want to see.
Okay, so their first finding says that brain scans show 73% higher engagement during personal storytelling. So what does this really mean, right? Well, when you share those real experiences instead of just the facts, viewers brains literally light up.
Like parts of their brains, they've seen this in MRI machines, like parts of their brains literally light up when they're hearing a story. That helps them remember you more and make more of a connection with your content. So in other words, it creates a bond that those facts alone couldn't do.
And it's fine to kind of know the reason behind these things. But for each of these findings, I'm going to tell you like how you can actually try this today in your own content. So for this one, rather than just teaching tips, right, which is what most of us do.
We come on, we want to teach what we know. What you want to do instead is introduce it by telling the story of how you helped one of your clients apply it. and the results that they got.
So, this is going to help your advice really come to life in a way that it wouldn't if you were just reciting the facts and just kind of telling them what to do, right? If you tell them, "Okay, I helped this one client through this, and here's where they were before, here's where they are now, that's going to make them connect the dots so much better and bond more with you as a result. " And a third benefit is actually see that you help clients, right?
super important to do because that that's what's gonna like help them cross the bridge from just thinking of you as a YouTube talking head to someone who actually they could hire to to get the same kind of results for them. Okay. Finding two 74% of viewers trust creators who show how they gained their knowledge.
So rather than just saying right do this do that you want to talk about that learning process right how did you figure this out for yourself that's more important than your actual expertises and you also want to show those messy parts you know people really want to shy away from that because they think no wait I have to look professional at all times I have to look like I'm the expert who not only knows what I'm doing now but always knew what I was doing but problem is people can't really connect with that they can't relate to that but they can relate to is you being more like them and you obviously we didn't all come out of the womb knowing what we know about our business. So if you can talk about how you learned it like maybe a little story that's going to go a long way to building your credibility. So the way you can actually put this into practice is you want to include videos in your lineup or at least segments in your videos that show your you know research process or early attempts at something.
You know, like if you're a language teacher, do a video about how you learn fluent Japanese. That's kind of that behind-the-scenes content that people really want to see, and it makes them feel like they know you all the more. And it's not just about conveying information, as we know.
It's about letting them get to know you. That's where the real magic happens on YouTube. Okay.
So, the next finding says that series viewers show 14% higher engagement than random video watchers. What does that mean? You know, think of it like a TV show that you keep coming back to versus just random one-off movies.
People feel invested in ongoing stories. Think of it like back in the day shows like, you know, Full House or whatever. Every episode is very self-contained, right?
There'd be a problem in the beginning. It'd be solved by the end. But TV shows don't really work that way anymore.
If you'll notice, most shows have an ongoing arc that goes out through the whole season. You know, like White Lotus or Breaking Bad. like these get people tuning in every week.
So, if you were to plan, you know, a three to five part series around a single theme, that's going to be good for getting those binge viewers coming back for more. So, here's a creator who, you know, rather than just doing like, you know, what to eat when you have diabetes, instead she planned the complete diabetes meal plan series where each episode builds on the last. So, we have, you know, breakfast ideas for diabetes lunch ideas and dinner ideas because not only does do you get that 14% higher engagement when you do this, what you also get is a binge session.
And that is super important as a signal for YouTube. Like, let's put it this way. If someone watches one of your videos, that's pretty good.
YouTube may show them another one later on their homepage from you. But if you can get them from one video to two videos, that likelihood shoots way up. If you can get them to three videos, they're almost definitely going to be seeing videos of yours on their homepage the next time they log in.
So rather than putting all that content into one video, spread it out into three and get the binging going. Okay. Our next finding says, "Brain scans show 63% stronger viewer connection during moments of vulnerability.
" Now, this kind of goes back to telling about how you learned something, right? Sharing your challenges, right? How did you overcome something in your past that makes you the go-to expert today?
So, one really easy way to do this is just plan your next video about, you know, a lesson that you learned the hard way. Maybe you had a, you know, marketing campaign completely flopped, but it led to a really important realization in your business. But this next part is really important.
Okay? What you want to show are scars, not wounds. What does that mean?
That basically means you don't want to be talking about something when you're in the messy middle of it. Right? If you are still dealing with with a problem that you don't know how it ends, I would shy away from talking about that in a video because that is going to not put you on the right footing to properly show you as the expert.
What you want to talk about are challenges you had that you've since bounced back from, right? Scars versus open wounds. It's really important.
And as an example, we have this one. How I revived my YouTube channel from a flop era. That insinuates that she's come back from it, right?
She learned as opposed to this one of just I ruined my life. We don't know if she's still feels that way or if she's bounced back, but the title itself certainly sounds pretty dire. Okay.
Next, we have that 97% of viewers prioritize emotional connection over technical quality. And this is a beautiful thing. It means you don't need any fancy equipment, even though you probably think you do.
All you really need is heart. You just need to come across as a genuine person that they can relate to. That accounts for so much more growth than having the best camera or the best microphone.
So, in order to do this, you just want to ask yourself, what feeling do I want my viewers to walk away with? Then, you just want to kind of speak to that emotion as you're planning and making your video. So, if you're a personal trainer, you don't just want to talk about the weight loss or the muscle gained, right?
You want to hit on that, but more importantly, you want to hit on the emotional reasons that people would want to get in shape in the first place. Things like, I'm proud of what my body can do. Depressed to gym rat, she found herself again.
Right? These are the really important things that are going to make people much more drawn to you on in that primal sense. Okay?
So, kind of along the same lines, we were just talking about technical stuff. 84% of viewers demand clear sound, but they will accept basic video quality. So basically, think about it this way.
People will accept just a basic looking video just with a a boring white wall behind you. People will watch it if the information is good. What they won't put up with though is bad audio quality.
So what you want to do then is just invest in a decent microphone, right? Um the one I have here is called the DJI Mic Mini. I just got it.
I really like it. But just about any external mic you can buy is going to be pretty decent. What you don't want to do is if you have either a smartphone or a camera, you don't just want to use whatever microphone is built into it.
It's always going to sound like crap. So, I would always rather see you invest in a good mic than a good camera. The other part of this is you want good acoustics.
So, if you're recording in, you know, your living room and you got the hardwood floors, you got windows everywhere, it's nothing but hard surfaces, you're going to sound very echoey. So, you probably want to invest in some ways of soundproofing it. Like, I literally have, you can't see off camera here, but I have, see if I can pull it in here.
It's moving blanket. Like, I just got moving blankets from Amazon. And you you can kind of put those on the floor around you just to kind of help dampen the sound.
So, I've even seen YouTubers in a closet full of clothes, right? Does it look the most professional? Not really.
Another good thing is in your car. You can just record in your car. Especially for shorts, it works out pretty well.
Okay. Next. 90% of viewers value specific solutions over general topics.
So, what this really means is you want to focus on content that solves a specific problem over, you know, broad overviews. No one no one really cares too much about that. it doesn't really promise to solve anyone's issue.
So instead of making a general, you know, how to use chat GPT, it'd be much better to get more specific and do something like, you know, how to use ChatGpt for SEO the right way in 2024. That makes it specific and makes it actionable and it opens you up to be able to make more videos around the topic as opposed to this one, right? That's just how to use Chad GBT.
Where does he go from there? Okay, next. 74% of viewers engage more when their own input helps shape the content.
So, people like to feel like their opinions matter. So, you know, you can either ask them um a specific question at the end of a video and just say like, "Hey, let me know in the comments what you'd like me to make my next video about, or you could give them a couple options, or you know, if you're a gardening channel, you could ask them, you know, what's your biggest gardening challenge? I'll talk about the most common issues in next week's video.
" Or what you can also do is use the community tab and just ask people in a poll and say, "Hey, would you rather hear about this, this, or this next week and then they'll just feel more invested and included. " Okay, up next we have educational takeaways is a top reason for people subscribing to your channel. Now, caveat here, I will say subscribers aren't the metric you should really be looking at, but this is just kind of this is what the finding says.
But I would kind of take this further and say educational takeaways is a top reason for watching in the first place. And that's really the more important metric, right? Viewers, uh, view like how long do people watch?
And if you give them those takeaways, they're going to stay around a lot longer. So, we're looking for clear, valuable lessons. You know, not meandering, not kind of talking all about an issue.
You want to really get focused and you want to talk about something specific. So, try to include at least one of those aha moments in every single video you make, if not more than that. Always ask yourself as you're planning a video, what's the most important thing that you want people to remember?
Write that down. Put it in your script or in your outline if you're not scripting it closely. Make sure you hit on that every single time.
Okay. Next, viewers are 100% more engaged with thematically consistent content. And all that really means is having a focused theme.
Your channel needs to be about something focused rather than something super broad or even worse several really focused things, right? If you're talking about, you know, jewelry design and marketing and canoeing, that's a recipe for disaster on a channel. And you just really want to pick one clear message that just defines what the value of your channel is.
So to do this right, just write out one sentence that captures your core promise of your channel. You know, it might be like, you know, quick fixes for busy homeowners. If you're a if you're the honest carpenter here, here's actually just advice for homeowners and DIYers.
It's a really clear promise. Then make sure that every video you make reinforces that message so people can just understand why you, why your channel. A really important thing to point out here is a lot of students in my uh YouTube to clients academy course.
The big mistake they'll make here in this uh your channel banner, you need to make sure it's the promise of your channel, not of your business. Right? So, if this car carpenter, what would be really bad if he put here would be something like, you know, carpentry services in De Mo, Iowa.
That's not what the channel's about. The channel is about giving free advice. So, always make sure that your banner here and your about section here really hit on the value of the channel.
Okay, moving on to the next one. 82% of viewers decide to stay watching a video based on those first 30 seconds, which means you don't have a lot of time to make them pay attention. In fact, I would go a step further and just say like maybe the first 3 seconds.
People are really going to be judging you. So, what you want to do is really start with that compelling hook and a promise. Something like I have here.
In the next seven minutes, you'll learn exactly how I doubled my service bookings without spending more on ads. So, what that means is don't make the mistake everybody else does with the if you like this video, please consider subscribing. That is wasting time.
Don't introduce yourself. None of that. Just get right into the hook.
There's there's time for all of that later on in the video. Okay, next one. Viewer memory increases 70% when creators show authentic excitement.
So, what does that mean? Well, when you geek out about your topic, people are going to remember it more and they're going to be more emotionally invested in your video. So, enthusiasm is infectious, right?
So, in other words, you want to be a little bit more like her than like him. Show some excitement. It doesn't mean you have to be cheesy or over the top.
It just means you have to kind of find the excitement. And what I always like to tell people, the camera does take away about half of your personality as soon as you turn it on, especially when you're new. If you don't believe me, go back and watch some of my my first videos.
I come across very wooden. Took me a long time to warm up and understand that you pretty much have to like double what you think feels normal. Now, a good trick here, what I like to do is when I'm talking to the camera, I like to talk to the camera in a way where I feel like I'm talking to a small group of people, like three or four people.
Because have you ever noticed when you talk to one person, you'll be talking a little bit more like how you normally talk? Like this is probably how I would talk to one person, right? It's a little more muted.
But when you're talking to like a couple people, you kind of naturally get a little more animated and you get a little bit more amped up. That's what I want you to kind of keep in your mind as you make your videos. You know, is that faking it to some degree?
Probably. But sometimes it's what helps. All right.
Next, viewer trust and memory formation are highest when creators share real experience and genuine insights. All right, that was a mouthful, but what it really means is that true authority on YouTube comes from those lived experiences, not just knowledge. And this is especially important now when AI is so on the scene, right?
Anybody can use AI to make a video script. Okay? What AI can't do is AI has no experience.
It's never walked in the world. that's never um learned the wrong way of mowing a lawn until, you know, their dad yelled at them and made them figure it out the right way and then now suddenly they're amazing landscapers, right? So, it's those little things that you need to add into your scripts.
You can use AI as a first draft, but then you got to add in your own experiences, your own hard one knowledge, and that's going to give your videos that edge over AI. So, just keep sharing all those fresh insights from your ongoing work. You're you're working all the time.
You're always working with clients. Keep sharing the new things that come up. You know, maybe you had a really challenging case that took you a little bit to kind of figure it out.
These are the kinds of things you want to talk about, right? Like, if I wanted to become a millionaire in 2025, I'd do this. You know, I'm calling the wedding trends of 2025 or I coach entrepreneurs for $30,000 an hour.
Here's my best advice. But if you're taking all this in and you're still wondering, okay, but how do I actually make videos like that though? I want to invite you to my new free masterclass training, how to attract unlimited clients from YouTube.
So, inside of that training, you're going to learn my exact four secret system for service providers to predictably generate leads and clients while you sleep. More specifically, I'm going to show you how the right YouTube channel can help you finally simplify your lead generation and attract high quality clients and make closing sales four times easier without influencer status or a fancy setup or becoming a full-time YouTuber. So, all you got to do is click right here to save your seat.
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