Getting personalized feedback that you can use to grow and expand your content is a big challenge on YouTube. We all know there's plenty of data in the YouTube Studio, but it takes time to dig through it all and even more time to understand the metrics. Meanwhile, the bigger question gets lost in the madness: "What can I do to grow my channel 

 has the insights you've been looking for. This AI-powered chatbot uses your channel's data to answer important questions about your content, such as:

"How do I get more views? Which videos should I make next? How's my YouTube channel performing?"

A conversation thread from the  vidIQ AI Coach

AI Coach is for YouTube creators who need real, actionable advice. By providing personalized insights, channel audits, and content creation support, AI Coach connects with your channel data to reveal the best growth strategies on YouTube.

Best of all, our YouTube coach is powered by 

, a chatbot that understands your questions, follows the flow of a conversation, and provides human-sounding responses. So you're not just getting personalized advice; you're also getting the tech-savvy magic that comes with artificial intelligence.

We like to think of it as GPT-4 + Your Channel = The Ultimate YouTube Coach.

Getting started with AI Coach is easy and only takes four steps:

With a free vidIQ account, you can ask for title ideas, video ideas, script assistance, and general YouTube advice. Subscribe to our Boost plan to unlock personalized advice, channel audits, data-driven insights, and the latest GPT capabilities.

2. Type a question into the 'Ask Me Anything' box, or choose one from the prompt library. Click '

The AI Coach's "Ask me anything" box for text entry

Which of my videos is performing better in terms of watch time and audience retention?

3. Ask follow-up questions to get detailed advice.

User asking the AI Coach a follow-up question

It's just like a normal conversation, so your AI Coach will remember everything you said in the conversation when giving responses.

The reset button to start a new conversation is on the top right

Skip Hours of YouTube Planning and Strategizing

With AI Coach, you'll save more time and accomplish more goals on your YouTube channel. Interacting with the tool allows you to:

 Chat with AI Coach anytime, and explore the prompt library to kick off a conversation.

Gain insights into your channel performance:

 See what is or isn't working, then use the insights to improve your content strategy.

: Get personalized titles and video ideas so you can reach the right viewers and turn them into subscribers.

Skip the channel research and let AI Coach suggest your next video hit.

How many videos should I have on my channel to get the most out of AI Coach?

To receive the most accurate and tailored advice, your channel should have at least two videos within the last 60 days.

How quickly can AI Coach access and process my YouTube data?

AI Coach takes up to 72 hours to analyze new videos on your channel and provide insights.

What kind of metrics and insights can vidIQ's AI Coach offer me?

AI Coach analyzes crucial metrics, including:

It also analyzes the performance of your top, worst, and most recent videos, offering valuable recommendations for your channel.

Can AI Coach compare my channel's performance with other channels?

AI Coach is designed to focus on your channel's metrics and deliver personalized advice rather than directly comparing it to other channels.

YouTube Coaching for Channels of All Sizes

vidIQ makes YouTube coaching accessible to all creators. Using decades of expertise and cutting-edge technology, we built the world's first AI coaching platform just for you! It's for small channels, large channels, and everything in between.

AI Coach graphic showing chatbot questions

YouTube doesn't have to be hard. Ask our AI Coach for personalized advice about growing your YouTube channel, 24/7.

ChatGPT for YouTubers Is Here: How to Use vidIQ’s AI Coach

You can’t have a thriving YouTube channel without 

. Most creators know this, so they work extra hard to make images that encourage more video clicks.

Nonetheless, making thumbnails on the fly is easier said than done. It takes time to come up with a good design, find a harmonious color scheme, and make sure everything in the frame is balanced. 

So how do you make YouTube thumbnails fast and easy?

First, don’t rely on the old method. This is where you look for a background image on Google, open up Photoshop, and spend hours designing a thumbnail mostly from scratch. Instead, use these six tips to make thumbnails in record time!

Do you show your face in YouTube thumbnails? If so, you’ll save a lot of time by taking 10-12 headshots that you can use to create any type of thumbnail — happy, shocked, amused, and other emotions that draw people in.

Since you’ll need a lot of thumbnails on YouTube, this works best if each image shows a 

. Then you can match the right pose to a specific thumbnail idea in your mind.

For example, YouTuber-in-residence Rob Wilson uses the same 

 to create thumbnails like this for the vidIQ channel:

Youtube Thumbnail with the creator looking confused

Creating a few background styles is another way to make YouTube thumbnails faster. After all, who wants to spend hours designing a thumbnail because they’re always starting from scratch? 

As a shortcut, leverage the power of artificial intelligence. Different AI tools will generate photos for you, and it only takes a few seconds to get stunning results. All you have to do is describe your YouTube video or what you want the background image to look like.

 works (a tool by vidIQ). With just one keyword, it generates a video title, description, script, hashtags, voice-over, and some thumbnail backgrounds to choose from.

Let’s say you want to make a video about Japanese ramen. You could type “how to make Japanese ramen” into the keyword section, then 

— a variety of backgrounds will appear.

AI content generator for Youtube with a keyword typed into the search bar

3. Pose for a Thumbnail While You’re Filming

, you may need images that are more relaxed and down-to-Earth. Some creators pull this off by making the thumbnail for their video while filming that content.

For this time-saving hack, you’ll keep the camera rolling but stop to 

pose for a thumbnail in the middle of your video

. It’s up to you whether you keep this "segment" in your final upload. Sometimes it’s endearing and lets people know you have a lighthearted personality on YouTube!

While editing the video, take a screenshot of your “posing” clip. Send it to Canva or Photoshop, where you can spice up the image with text, emojis, and other visual elements. 

For example, here’s how you could transform a selfie into a YouTube thumbnail.

Of all the methods out there, this is probably the fastest. It’s typically used by people who shoot vlogs, pranks, challenges, and storytime content.

4. Use High-Performing Thumbnails as a Template

You’ve likely heard this advice before:

If you want to make thumbnails faster, create templates you can use repeatedly.

While templates are always a good idea, recycling any old design pattern is not. You want to use templates that produce high-performing thumbnails on your channel — a template 

 you instantly get more clicks. Not only does this save you time, but it also arms you with data when answering the question, “What thumbnail style should I use?”

To start, pay attention to which videos perform well and the 

. More than likely, these images are high-quality, attention-grabbing, and have consistent branding.

From there, you can decide which thumbnail templates have the highest return on investment.

Sometimes, it’s better to make a bunch of thumbnails simultaneously instead of one at a time. That’s because filming a video, editing the footage, and making a thumbnail within the same day is tiring. You'll be happier (and more energetic) when that list becomes a bit shorter!

For example, what if, on day one, all you did was film multiple videos? And on day two, what if you spent time creating thumbnails for all of your content? For the rest of the week, you could edit the videos, tinker with titles, and spend time uploading the content.

Lastly, the fastest way to make thumbnails is to never, ever make them. If you're thinking, 

 let us explain.

If someone can do a task faster than you (and you have a little cash to spend), why not outsource that job to an expert? In the case of YouTube, you could hire a thumbnail designer to make images that take your channel to the next level.

Fiver and Upwork are good places to look for these creatives. Many thumbnail designers work on a freelance or contractual basis, so you’ll find strong candidates on those sites. Another place to look is 

, a website with plenty of thumbnail designers for hire.

These six tips will help you make thumbnails faster for horizontal videos, but don't forget about your YouTube Shorts. They need thumbnails too!

If you don't know how to make custom thumbnails for YouTube Shorts, this guide has all the details!

YouTube thumbnails are a big part of any channel, but sometimes they take forever to make. Design them faster and easier with these hacks!

Faster Than Ever: 6 Ways to Make YouTube Thumbnails in Record Time

While scrolling Twitter, we noticed a shocking tweet about how much (or more accurately, how little) you can make from YouTube Shorts ad revenue. 

, who has nearly 2 million subscribers, wrote:

"YouTube Shorts monetization update [for] one Short. 14 million views, 0:49 average view duration, $0.01 revenue per mille = $122.78. Good bonus money, not enough to make a living out of it."

," a viral Short on Pucky's channel. Surprisingly, a payout of $122.78 for this video translates to just 

Considering how low that is, we decided to follow up with Pucky and ask more questions. For one, why is his YouTube Shorts ad revenue so low? And second, how does this payout compare to the now-canceled 

, which awarded the top creators up to $10,000 monthly?

YouTube Shorts Monetization: How to Profit from Short Videos

“The most I made from the Shorts bonus was $3,000 in a month,” Pucky says. “That’s not the amount I’m getting right now…it’s pushing me to experiment and try different things.”

While some creators earn $900 per Short — according to Pucky — others don't make nearly as much. Sometimes where they live or even the language they speak affects the advertising revenue on their channel. In Pucky's case, he makes cosplay-style videos in mostly Spanish, and the Latin American market is smaller compared with other locations.

Are you struggling to monetize your Shorts properly? Here’s what Pucky is doing to boost his income (and what you should do too).

1. Turn Your Shorts into Compilation Videos

According to Pucky, AdSense revenue for long-form videos is much higher than AdSense revenue for YouTube Shorts — at least right now. So why not take all of the 

 on your channel, string them together, and create a compilation video? That way, you're using old content to make new money.

, but few creators use the hack to repurpose their Shorts.

“If you have a series of Shorts that are doing well, turn that series into one long-form video," Pucky says. "Put the Short with the most views at the beginning of the compilation and the one with the least views at the end. That will keep your audience retention high.”

As you build a compilation, don’t forget to create an eye-catching thumbnail for the video. Pucky says his 

 (people who saw the thumbnail versus those who clicked on it) when there’s an attention-grabbing image.

 is when a company pays a creator to advertise a product or service on social media. That could be anything from meal kits to vacuums to cleaning solutions that can be used around pets; it just depends on a creator's audience and what they're willing to buy. 

If your channel gets decent views, you can either pitch yourself to brands or have a talent agency find brand deals for you. You may have to "prove yourself" a bit more when it comes to agencies, but signing with one may be easier than you think. In fact, Pucky got signed after networking with Corey Tonge, another creator in his YouTube niche.

"I saw that he was signed with ViralCollab, and I said, ‘Hey, I want more information about your agency and what you guys offer,’ " Pucky says. "The co-founder saw my content and my channel and wanted to talk to me ASAP.”

According to Impact.com, micro-influencers on YouTube make between 

 per branded video. So brand deals are well worth the effort, especially if you have anywhere from 10,000 to 75,000 subscribers.

A man using a phone and DSLR to record at the same time

YouTube Shorts are popular right now, but it's not the only thing you should focus on when it comes to making money.

“I see a term that’s going around a lot: 

," Pucky says. "I think that's the future now with this new monetization program. The more you do, the better off you are. If you do long-form, Shorts, Instagram, and Snapchat, it's better for you money-wise.”

Multi-format creators earn more because they monetize videos on several apps. Plus, they’re attractive to brands that want to advertise to customers on various platforms outside of YouTube. From Instagram to TikTok, these creators reach 

 of a brand’s audience for a much higher payout.

4. If All Else Fails, Embrace Longs and Shorts

mobile screen options to create either a Short a regular YouTube video

If Shorts don't produce a viable income for you, it’s time to consider longs. These traditional, horizontal videos give creators the highest payout possible, so posting them alongside your Shorts can never hurt.

“If you're like me and you're not seeing a lot of revenue from Shorts, they’re still worth posting because people are discovering who you are,” Pucky says. “The views you get from Shorts might transfer into long-form views, merchandise, brand deals, or all those things.”

But if you’re new to YouTube, Pucky’s advice is clear: 

“If you think Shorts will get you monetized quicker, go hard on that until you're monetized,” he says. “Then transfer over to long-form. Or, do both because, at the end of the day, 

long-form pays better than Shorts right now.

When Shorts revenue is low, one creator uses innovative solutions to boost his earnings.

YouTube Shorts Not Paying the Bills? 4 Solutions to Boost Your Revenue

There are many ways to get more views on YouTube, but researching your audience is the most underrated. After all, you can only chase viral trends for so long. Eventually, viewers will need a deeper reason to stay on your channel, like getting a problem solved or enjoying your personality.

We’ll show you how to build that foundation in six powerful steps. This article will teach you how to research your viewers, create a persona to understand them better, and use that information to sharpen your YouTube strategy. Best of all, we’ll do it using 

 is the best place to learn more about your viewers, subscribers, and non-subscribers alike. It has almost everything you need to know, from viewer demographics to the type of videos your audience is watching.

Here’s how to find the YouTube Audience tab:

Analytics option on YouTube Studio navigation bar

Now you’re in YouTube Wonderland, aka Channel Analytics. This page has a dashboard that shows your channel's unique viewers, subscribers gained over time, and how many new viewers return to your channel.

Below that is a series of panels with even more insights, but more on that later.

Building a Persona for Your YouTube Audience

 is a fictional character that represents your most engaged fans, and it’s one of the best ways to understand your target audience. With a persona, you’ll create a snapshot of your viewers and why they take specific actions on your YouTube

Ideally, you’ll give this persona a name — Jack, Amanda, Bill, or something else. Then you’ll create a story for your character. This short narrative (around 200 words) summarizes your main viewer, from the videos they watch on YouTube to where they live. This becomes a guiding light you can reference later, especially when deciding which videos to make.

The Audience tab and all of its data will help you build an accurate persona. So let's explore it in detail, and give you the tools to develop a content strategy and make successful YouTube videos.

If you want to know your viewers better, always start with the basics:

When they’re on YouTube (days and times)

This will help you build the foundation of your audience persona. Knowing their age, gender, where they live, and more brings context to their YouTube behavior.

Which videos do your viewers watch when they’re not on your channel? This question is important because they interact with other creators’ content too — not just yours. To truly understand why they’re on YouTube, you need a broad understanding of what they do on the platform.

You’ll find this data on two panels within the Audience tab:

A list of other channels and videos vidIQ viewers watch

Here, you’ll learn which topics your viewers follow on YouTube and who your competitors are. It also answers a gigantic question: 

3. New vs. Returning Viewers to Your Channel

“New viewers” is a pretty straightforward metric, but what does 

 mean on YouTube? Overall, it’s the number of viewers who have visited your channel before 

, the breakdown of new versus returning viewers on your channel indicates your audience's loyalty.

If you have more new viewers than returning viewers

“This indicates that viewers may watch some of your videos but are less likely to return to watch more. It’s common to see this trend among channels that upload videos about different topics, which attract different types of viewers, or 'how-to' channels, where viewers watch a video to learn how to do something but aren’t likely to return to watch more.”

If more people are “returning” to your channel versus discovering it

“This indicates that a channel has a loyal audience who is likely to return to watch more. It’s common to see this trend among channels that upload consistent content about similar topics or in a familiar format, channels with consistent hosts such as familiar faces and personalities that viewers grow to love, or channels that create popular series to keep viewers coming back for more.”

Depending on what you find, it may be wiser to target new viewers (if your channel is stagnant) or aim for loyalty (if you’re new to YouTube).

4. Videos That Bring Viewers Back to Your Channel

Now that you’re familiar with new versus returning viewers, let’s take it a step further. Which videos inspire people to return to your channel?

A list of videos bringing return viewers to the vidIQ channel

Study this panel closely, and you’ll learn which videos turn new viewers into repeat viewers!

You probably know that most YouTube viewers don’t hit subscribe right away. There’s a little dance at first, where creators have to “prove themselves” by posting good videos, and viewers have to decide if the channel is right for them. Depending on the audience, you could end up “dancing” for months.

But you can end this tango by discovering which videos bring in the most subscribers. You won’t see this on the Audience tab, though, so here’s how to navigate there:

 below the YouTube dashboard showing monthly views, subscribers, revenue, and watch time.

4. See which videos attract the most subscribers. Write those ideas down because you’ll need them later!

top videos bringing in subscribers on the vidIQ channel

Lastly, check the Audience tab to see which videos get the highest watch time on your channel. 

 is the total amount of time people spend watching your content, both on your channel and individual videos.

Like the previous metric, you won’t find this information on the Audience tab. So here’s how to get it:

3. Next, you'll see a list of videos and the watch time they accumulated, starting with the highest amount. You can filter data by the last week, month, 90 days, year, or since the beginning of your channel. Be sure to write these videos down (perhaps the top 10).

Putting it All Together: How to Build a Persona for Your Audience

By this point, you should know a few things about your audience:

How many are new versus returning viewers

The type of videos they watch, in general

Which videos make them return to your channel

Which videos hold their attention (watch time)

After completing the exercise above, here’s a basic persona we could build for the vidIQ channel:

Matt is a 24-year-old male who lives in the United States. He likes to watch channels like Film Booth, VEED Creators, Creator Booth, and Channel Makers, which means his main goal is to grow a YouTube channel. He’s interested in several topics, like how to start a faceless YouTube channel, get more YouTube Shorts views, and grow his subscribers. That’s the type of content he watches, and he typically does that on Sundays between 7 a.m. and noon.

Matt is a loyal viewer of the channel. He often returns to watch videos about monetizing a YouTube channel, achieving 4,000 watch hours, avoiding the biggest YouTuber mistakes, and growing as a small creator. To make Matt subscribe, I usually have to post videos targeted to small creators.

Steps to Take After Building Your Persona

The next step is creating videos that appeal to the needs of that persona, plus using 

 that signal their deepest desires. On our channel, those phrases seem to be “small channels,” “4,000 watch hours,” and “get 1,000 subscribers.”

You should also take new versus returning viewer data into account. If you have an overwhelming amount of new viewers, maybe it’s time to “niche down” and post what they’re 

 interested in to build loyalty. If they’re loyal already, perhaps it’s time to experiment with other topics to reach a new yet similar audience.

When you’re ready, here’s how to test a video idea before you start filming.

A group of people watching a youtube video

Want to get more views on YouTube? Create a persona for your audience, then use it as a guide for making relevant videos they can’t ignore.

Understanding YouTube Viewers: 6 Steps to Build an Audience Persona

 is never easy, but fortunately, you don't have to do this alone. On YouTube, everyone is pulling inspiration from each other. If one creator goes viral with a video title, thousands more will remix the same idea.

And that’s what title expert Jake Thomas has been studying for years. He looks at the most successful video titles on YouTube and shares those insights in his weekly newsletter, 

In this article, we’ll share the high-performing titles that Jake has discovered, plus a few others that get massive clicks on YouTube. Watch this video to hear his insights, or keep reading for the complete list of titles!

Adding “stop this” to your title is an easy way to 

take your video from “meh” to mesmerizing

. After all, viewers are bound to be curious when a video claims they’re doing something 

Just imagine it: You’ve been cooking eggs on the stove your entire life, and now YouTube is suggesting a video titled “Stop Making Eggs on The Stove.” It’s enough to make you question your whole life! Now you’re thinking, 

That sense of curiosity is why people click on a YouTube video. For example, fitness channel 

 on a video titled “Stop Doing 100 Pushups a Day. I’m Begging You!”

Millions of people want to improve their daily habits, whether that’s exercising, being productive, or detoxing from social media. That’s why titles promising a clear solution get clicked on more often; viewers are looking for tips they can use right now!

, a productivity creator, used strategy to write a title for her most popular video yet. It’s called “4 One-Minute Habits That Save Me 20+ Hours a Week.” It has over 

“This video targets a huge, broad audience. Everyone wants to save 20 hours a week. Also, the timeframe of one-minute habits makes this video way more enticing,” Jake says.

According to Jake, this title achieves two things at once. It provides quick tips (one-minute habits) and says why the video is beneficial (save 20+ hours a week). That’s a powerful pitch!

3. “This Will Change Your Life Forever.”

Titles that promise life-changing results cause viewers to dream bigger, fantasize deeper, and imagine more clearly. They create a sense of hope so strong that millions of people watch the video.

3 Secrets for Writing Click-Worthy YouTube Titles

“I used this framework in an A/B test recently,“ Jake says. “Title A was ‘This Will Have a Huge Impact on Your Mix - Excite Audio LifeLine Console.’ Title B was ‘This Plugin Will Change the Way You Mix Forever,’ and that 

But it’s not just the idea of changing one’s life that people love; it’s the idea of change in general.

That’s why a channel like BassFishingHQ can get over 

This Study Changes Everything We Know About Bass Fishing

This YouTube title plays on a viewer’s fear and curiosity at the same time. Implying that someone should 

 do a specific task or refrain from some behaviors is pretty controversial! Most people will either click on the video to see if it’s talking about them or click to start a debate in the comment section.

Controversy aside, this title gets massive views on YouTube. One example is “20 Halloween Candies You Should Never Eat” from a channel called 

People love experiments on YouTube because they learn something new without going through a full, all-encompassing experience. Think of it like 

Pairing this idea with the title “I Tried…and This Happened” allows you to introduce a challenge, connect it to a core desire, and get people excited about the outcome.

Want to write better YouTube titles? These 7 ideas are proven to get you more clicks, from the "stop doing this" formula to the “change your life” strategy.

Posts Written By Lydia Sweatt

ChatGPT for YouTubers Is Here: How to Use vidIQ’s AI Coach

Faster Than Ever: 6 Ways to Make YouTube Thumbnails in Record Time

YouTube Shorts Not Paying the Bills? 4 Solutions to Boost Your Revenue

Understanding YouTube Viewers: 6 Steps to Build an Audience Persona

7 Types of YouTube Video Titles That Get Massive Clicks

Everything You Need to Know About Starting a YouTube Podcast

YouTube Monetization: Which Videos Count Toward 4,000 Hours of Watch Time?

How to Choose a Winning Thumbnail Style for Your YouTube Channel

The Secret Formula for Gaining and Retaining YouTube Subscribers

Ask an AI Coach: 4 Ways to Spice Up Your YouTube Video Titles

From Weird to Charming: 10 Unique YouTube Channel Ideas That Actually Worked

How to Grow Your YouTube Channel in 2024: The Ultimate Guide