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Case Study: YouTube Channel Growth

Executive Summary

Faced with an outdated and underperforming YouTube channel, our objective was to position the artist’s channel for sustainable growth and prepare it to support an upcoming album cycle. Over 12 months, we aimed to:

  • Grow subscribers by at least 4.5%
  • Increase monthly watch hours by 4.5% within 6 months, and 9% within a year
  • Become eligible for the YouTube Partner Program
  • Build a solid infrastructure to support the artist’s album release through long-form video content

The first four months presented a unique challenge: the artist was off-cycle, with no new music or usable archival content. Despite this, we established a content and optimization strategy that delivered measurable, lasting growth.

Our Role

Fred & Augustus was embedded within the artist’s broader team and led the YouTube growth initiative from strategy to execution. Our contributions included:

  • A full channel audit to evaluate existing content, performance gaps, and creative opportunities
  • SEO optimization across legacy content and the development of templates for future uploads
  • Content strategy and production planning in preparation for the upcoming release
  • Day-to-day upload management and rollout coordination
  • YouTube-Shopify integration to support merch visibility and on-platform sales
  • Ensuring tour dates were consistently reflected on video assets

This work was part of a larger marketing campaign surrounding the album and subsequent tour.

Execution & Delivery

Upon review, the channel suffered from inconsistent posting, minimal SEO, dated content, and little variety in format. We addressed these challenges through a mix of content upgrades and tactical improvements:

Optimization & Infrastructure

  • Refreshed video metadata: SEO-optimized titles, descriptions, tags, and keywording
  • Added end cards, cards, and crosslinking to improve retention and drive channel exploration
  • Organized content into playlists and improved channel branding

Content Expansion & Consistency

  • Introduced a structured content cadence, including long-form and short-form formats
  • Produced new content types: behind-the-scenes footage, interviews, lyric videos, Shorts, and high-quality live performance clips
  • Implemented a Shorts strategy to drive algorithmic discovery and bring in new viewers
  • Activated the Community Tab with regular polls, announcements, and post updates

Engagement & Cross-Platform Integration

  • Engaged fans through comment replies, pinned comments, and polls
  • Cross-promoted YouTube content across email, SMS, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, pre-save campaigns, and paid ads
  • Coordinated video drops with release moments to drive maximum impact.

Audience Demographic

  • Location: US, Canada, UK, Mexico, Italy
  • Age: 25-34, 35-44, 45-64
  • Gender: (M/F) 66.3%, 33.7%

Results 

Though the first few months were focused on rebuilding rather than capitalizing on new content, the channel saw steady and meaningful gains:

  • 📈 Subscriber growth exceeded the 6-month target of 4.5% and continued upward momentum
  • ⏱️ Monthly watch-time increased by over 4.5% by month six, and by more than 9% over twelve months
  • ✅ YouTube Partner Program eligibility was achieved
  • 🎬 The release-day long-form video content became one of the top-performing assets on the channel
  • 📊 YouTube Shorts brought in new impressions and a younger viewer demographic, expanding audience reach

The result was a revitalized YouTube presence that not only met technical goals but laid the foundation for long-term growth and monetization. The artist’s catalog became more discoverable, merch sales were integrated into the platform, and the channel is now a key pillar of the artist’s overall digital ecosystem.

Using Format