A question we receive from creators all the time is, "

How long to get 100 subscribers on YouTube?"

Well, we won’t keep you in suspense. Our answer is roughly two months or 

How did we get this number? By asking you, of course.

, we asked creators how long it took them to gain 100 subscribers on YouTube. More than 13,000 people responded to our poll, and here are the anecdotal results:

As you can see, 58% of respondents haven’t reached 100 subscribers yet. That left 5,500 creators we could get some kind of data from.

If we only include those respondents, here are the new percentages of how long it took some creators to get 100 subscribers:

Before we go any further, we need to add a quick disclaimer. The poll results above are purely anecdotal and don’t represent official vidIQ data.

Nonetheless, we did some extra math to see if our results 

 believable. With basic addition, we know that 45% of respondents got 100 subscribers in less than 50 days. And 55% of respondents accomplished the same goal in less than 365 days. With extra calculating and extrapolations (all speculative, really), that's how we reached our magic number of 61 days to reach 100 subscribers.

To see how we arrived at that number, watch the video below:

Also, if you’re way better at math, tweet us your answer at @vidIQ.

We’re answering the 100-subscriber question anecdotally, so here’s a fun theory. 

If it takes 61 days on average to get 100 subs, you'd need:

Does YouTube Get Easier After 100 Subscribers?

Not substantially. With 100 subs, you're still in the small creator club. YouTube is difficult at this point, but you'll feel more confident with 100 strangers believing in your channel.

YouTube gets easier once you have 1,000 subscribers

. That's the number you need to enter the YouTube Partner Program and monetize your channel. You also need 

How to Monetize Your YouTube Channel - A Beginner's Guide

Combine those two milestones, and you'll unlock the best YouTube has to offer: 

, Super Chats, Channel Memberships, and more.

What Happens When You Get 100 Subscribers on YouTube?

The main perk you receive is the ability to 

. So if you're interested in starting a business, reaching 100 subscribers is good for your online brand.

Also, you need at least 50 subscribers to live stream on YouTube using a mobile device. One hundred subscribers is twice that amount, so naturally, you'll unlock the ability to go live anywhere there's internet access.

Gaining YouTube Subscribers Is About More Than Numbers

The data above is what many creators want to see. They want to know how long it takes to get a certain amount of views or subscribers on YouTube, because there's so much uncertainty from the start.

The problem with trying to come up with a solid answer is that the math doesn’t make sense. It’s hard to calculate on-camera likability, the quality of your keywords, or how attractive your thumbnails look. But somehow, you need to measure those things because they help your YouTube channel grow.

Keyword research for dominating YouTube search results

A tool that compares your thumbnails to your competitor’s

A channel audit tool that shows which videos attract the most subscribers

What You Should Actually Focus on as a New Creator

When you start your YouTube journey, it won’t be easy or feasible to follow 

. Most likely, you won’t post two videos each week and earn exactly 100 subscribers in 61 days. You’ll probably try new things to see what works best, which could mean posting five videos one week and three videos the next.

Also, the distribution of views and subscribers doesn’t adhere to a strict formula. Some videos will get less than 10 views and earn you no subscribers; next week, a video may get hundreds of views and attract 25 subscribers.

When you’re just starting out on YouTube, take care of the basics:

Create eye-catching thumbnails for your videos

That will earn you more subscribers than any YouTube posting formula.

Have you reached 100 subscribers on YouTube? Here are 10 tips to get your first 1,000 this year.

The time it takes to gain 100 YouTube subscribers depends on many factors. But if you're looking for an exact number, here's our honest guess.

How Long Does It Take to Reach 100 Subscribers on YouTube?


On YouTube, few milestones are as satisfying as getting 1 million subscribers. After years of filming and uploading, watching your channel go from zero to hero is 

. It’s even better than gaining your real first subscriber (who isn’t a robot or sub4sub operative).

But what does it take to grow your audience and 

receive the infamous gold YouTube plaque?

, we share tips to help creators of all sizes hit 1 million subscribers. Regardless of your niche, Vyyyper (vidIQ executive producer), Daniel Holzhauer (social and community manager), and Rob Wilson (YouTuber-in-residence) share the secret sauce for rapid growth. And guess what? We used these same strategies to grow the 

First, Break Your Million-Subscriber Goal Into Smaller Chunks

One million is a big, intimidating number. To reach that many subscribers on YouTube, you should break the figure into mini-goals that are easier to process.

For example, you can plan your growth as follows:

From there, aim to reach 20,000 subscribers; 30,000; 

Chunking it out this way will keep you focused and motivated. Instead of thinking, 

I must reach 1 million subscribers as fast as possible

, you free yourself from lofty expectations.

11 Strategies to Reach 1 Million Subscribers on YouTube

Increasing your subscribers on YouTube is surprisingly formulaic. While some creators grow their audiences using different topics, one thing remains constant: 

You must hook viewers, deliver the value they’re craving, and convince them to return.

 Do these three things, and you’ll turn casual viewers into loyal subscribers.

Here are 10 actionable tasks that make the journey easier.

Your channel needs a clear niche regardless of the content you upload. It’s hard to accept, but people won’t subscribe if you keep switching your channel’s theme. In fact, they may never return if you switch from lifestyle content to sports commentary to gardening to cryptocurrency. They’ll wonder, 

Where are the videos I subscribed to see?

How to Choose the Best Niche for Your YouTube Channel

On the vidIQ channel, we hit 1 million subscribers by finding a niche and sticking to it. We were all about YouTube education, and people subscribed because we constantly shared YouTube advice, tutorials, and news.

“We were the first channel to really talk about hashtags as a new search traffic driver…. [YouTube] sent that video to the top of the search rankings, and its been there ever since,” Rob says. “That was a catalyst for us to think about how we could be the primary resource for all sorts of basic YouTube education.”

We sort of stumbled into the YouTube education lane, but don't hesitate on your own channel; declare a niche as soon as you're ready.

2. Create a Service-Based Channel That Helps Viewers Succeed

The more you serve your audience, the bigger your channel grows on YouTube.

It sounds like a cliche – an obvious statement that makes creators say, “Duh!” But thousands of people skip this important step.

So when you create your channel, ask yourself a brutally honest question: 

What is the specific value I’m providing viewers?

How to Make the EXACT Videos YouTube Subscribers Want to See

There’s no right or wrong answer to this question. But just know that to gain 1 million subscribers, you need 

 sort of answer. You’re not making content to please yourself; you’re trying to solve a problem in the viewer’s life, whether that’s extreme boredom or needing to buy a single-family home on a tight budget. It all depends on your niche and the challenges people face. How can you help them succeed?

3. Master the Ultimate YouTube Duo: Video Title + Thumbnail

What if we told you viewers spend less than three seconds deciding which videos to watch? How would you make your content stand out on YouTube after hearing that?

There’s only one correct answer this time. To get more subscribers, you need attractive YouTube thumbnails and emotional video titles. Both items are the lifeblood of your channel, and together, they attract viewers before you’ve spoken a word.

“You’re just trying to get someone to see it and stop that scrolling action,” Daniel says. “It’s the same as when you’re looking through your Instagram feed; you’re looking through Twitter, you’re half reading, you see something – and boom. You stop, and you look at it…. that’s how YouTube is.”

4. Add a YouTube Subscribe Button to Your Videos

The easiest way to gain subscribers is to display a watermark that reads, “Subscribe” on all your videos. When viewers click this button, they have the option to…well, subscribe. Pretty simple, right?

Once you have an image you want to use as a subscribe button, all you have to do is upload it to the branding section of your channel.

Here’s how to add that watermark to YouTube videos:

Upload your image and choose when you want it to appear in your videos: at a custom timestamp, the end of your video, or the entire time.

And here are the image requirements for YouTube watermarks:

PNG, GIF, BMP, or JPEG files (1MB or smaller)

5. Use YouTube End Screens to Promote Your Videos

End screens help you get more YouTube views and attract subscribers. These interactive screens appear at the end of videos and allow viewers to click on extra content from your channel. So instead of someone watching one video, you encourage them to watch two – possibly three if the following video has 

YouTube End Screens - How to Make Cool Video Outros

As you recommend more content, viewers begin to understand the value of your videos. That builds a compelling case for 

 someone should subscribe to your channel. If you add a subscribe button to all of your end screens, that seals the deal too.

Instead of placing two or three videos on your end screen (plus a subscribe button), display just one video.

 who kind of teased this idea of having one very intentional end screen,” Rob says. “If you give someone more than a few options, they’ll have choice paralysis. Give them one option and be very explicit about why they should choose that option.”

6. Be Engaging on YouTube to Retain Viewers

If you want to grow your channel to 1 million subscribers, you should make content people crave. That’s easier said than done, but you can succeed by focusing on one YouTube metric: 

A video has three crucial “moments” for retaining viewers:

 How many people are still watching after the first 30 seconds?

 As you move from scene to scene, are viewers staying or leaving?

 Are people making it to the end to click your end screen and watch more content?

How to Increase Audience Retention on Every YouTube Video

The length of your video doesn’t matter as much if the whole thing is entertaining. To achieve that, 

slowly improve your average view duration

. This is a percentage showing how long viewers watched a video on average.

“Whatever length your video is, get people to watch that video for as long as humanly possible,” Vyyyper says. “I think that’s the real metric.”

Want to introduce your content to potential subscribers? 

 within your niche, then make videos about the ones that matter to your audience. If you include high-volume keywords that aren’t too competitive, your video could really take off.

You might see something like this in the YouTube Studio if that happens:

. Make sure the trend has some crossover between your current viewers and those excited about the trend. Both audiences should have similar goals – learning to cook, discovering new music, etc. – so new subscribers have a reason to watch non-trend-related videos.

“We did quite a lot of trend jacking and surfing two or three years ago when I was looking at the Pewdiepie versus T-Series subscriber race,” Rob says. “We got a lot of traffic from it and a lot of new viewers, but they weren’t necessarily interested in YouTube education. They were interested in the subculture of the subscriber race.”

This tip is pretty straightforward but easy to miss: Create an upload schedule and stick to it no matter what happens. Posting videos consistently will help you retain the subscribers you’ve gained on the road to 1 million.

If you slip up and become inactive on your channel, viewers will depend on another creator for their entertainment or education. That pushes you 10 steps backward when you’re growing a channel.

9. Don’t Be Afraid to Pivot Your Content

We have a confession that will transform your YouTube journey forever.

The videos that attract your first 10,000 subscribers are worthy of celebration, but they won’t attract your next 100,000. Furthermore, videos that help you reach 500,000 won’t take you as far as 1 million – and that’s OK.

On YouTube, viewers change their interests over time. You should explore new video ideas to attract subscribers and retain old ones simultaneously.

7 Tips to Craft Irresistible Video Ideas on YouTube

“Our target audience tends to be YouTube channels that are under 1,000 subscribers, and they are working toward monetization…. But there is so much more untapped audience out there – people who have monetized and want to turn their channels into businesses and full-time professions,” Rob says. “I think there’s also so much in YouTube culture that we just gloss over the surface of.”

No matter how well something is working on your channel, experiment. Test new video concepts to reach more viewers and get your channel discovered.

10. Outsource the Work You Can’t Handle Alone

Can you grow a YouTube channel to 1 million subscribers without help? It’s certainly possible. That’s what we did on the vidIQ channel. 

But imagine how many subscribers we would have if we outsourced our extra work. With a team of people editing videos, writing scripts, and creating thumbnails, we might have 2 million subscribers.

“I think the one thing creators struggle with is giving up control,” Rob says. “You get to a certain size of community and content and quality that you 

Once you have 500,000 subscribers or more, it’s time to audit your workflow. What’s the one thing stifling your productivity? Who could you hire to ease that burden?

11. Almost at a Million Subscribers? Live Stream the Final Moments

Let's say your channel is sitting at 980,000 subscribers and slowly creeping toward a million. There are two things you can do in this situation:

Let people subscribe at a natural pace (within a few weeks).

Live stream the experience to reach 1 million in a few days.

We chose to stream those final moments, and it paid off; viewers joined the celebration and started subscribing to help us reach our goal.

Here’s how we set up our million-subscriber live stream:

We ran a continuous stream on the vidIQ channel for a few days.

 None of us were talking or appearing on the stream yet, but we had a screen showing our live subscriber count. It was steadily ticking toward 1 million subscribers, so people knew the point of the video.

When we were close to 1 million, several creators at vidIQ hopped on the live stream.

 We continued to show the subscriber count, but now there was more discussion and intrigue. We talked about the journey to 1 million subscribers and shared YouTube growth advice.

Lastly, we displayed channel names as a free shout-out whenever someone subscribed.

 This really boosted our subscriber count. You can achieve the same thing using a plug-in from 

Tube Talk logo with a shiny gold YouTube play button award on white background

In 11 steps, you can take your YouTube channel from its current size to 1 million subscribers. Keep reading to learn how.

How to Reach 1 Million YouTube Subscribers In 5 Years or Less

Do you ever wish you could get inside a viewer’s mind and read their thoughts? If so, what secrets would you unravel about your YouTube subscribers?

We’re willing to bet most creators want to know one thing: 

Which videos will you, the viewer, watch without question on my channel?

It’s impossible to read minds, but maybe you can do something else. Perhaps you can take a slight detour from guessing what viewers want, and instead, 

How to Get More Views from YouTube’s Audience Data Tool

, a real estate creator, about understanding your YouTube audience. Kristina has 144,000 subscribers and enough channel research to gain thousands more. Her not-so-secret advice is to determine which videos people will (or won’t) watch on your channel.

It sounds simple, but getting to know your audience isn’t easy. Here’s a guide for discovering your viewers’ interests and making videos they love.

Want to get inside your viewers’ heads? You’ll need a few basic details first. It helps to know three things at the beginning of your research: 

your viewers’ age, gender, and location

. That tells you what stage of life they are in, plus the types of videos they might enjoy.

Here’s how to find those demographics on YouTube:

Log in to YouTube and go to the YouTube Studio.

Near the top-right of the screen, select a period of data to analyze.

Scroll down to see your channel’s audience demographics.

You can also check out two more panels on this screen: “

Here is what one of the panels looks like:

Kristina used this same audience data to make irresistible videos on her channel.

“I found a pattern.... they really like watching people have an alternative life,” she says of her audience. “They have a dream of living off the grid. They may not necessarily do that, but they definitely like watching that stuff.”

Identify Viewers’ Problems, and Deliver Solutions

Most people come to YouTube for a reason, and that’s to answer a specific question. How do you kill a computer virus? What’s the best recipe for cajun chicken wings? There are plenty of videos to watch, but only one will be clicked.

Winning that battle is possible if you know your viewers’ interests and hobbies. But winning the war? That victory goes to creators who can identify problems and offer a solution.

“My specific [audience] is very concerned with a housing crash,” Kristina says, referencing the pandemic housing shortages. “I wanted to tie that in specifically to affordable housing options. So, for example, in my most recent video, I said, ‘A housing crash will not make housing more affordable, and then I explained the reasons why.’ That, I know, will appeal to my audience.”

What does your audience struggle with daily? If you can make videos about those things (and offer solutions), your channel will grow exponentially.

Test Different Videos to See What Subscribers Like

When Kristina wanted to increase her YouTube subscribers, she went into learning mode.

She tested different videos to see what viewers:

Kristina stuck to her niche but took detours to the other side of real estate – topics like house flipping and expensive home renovations.

“I started doing these ‘real estate agent reacts’ type of videos, and they did OK,” she says. “But not anything to write home about. It was a test. I tried it, it was a failure, and I learned from it. And then I moved forward.”

Testing content that fails until you find the perfect match can seem daunting. But then again, that’s how Kristina gained enough insight to grow her audience. Without those learnings, it may have taken her years to reach even 10,000 subscribers.

5 Amazing Tips to Get 10,000 YouTube Subscribers – Fast

Create a Persona for Your YouTube Viewers

Have you ever given your subscribers a name or a fake personality? Have you ever penned a list of their unique traits?

 for your audience, or in other words, a short story about who they are.

Kristina named her audience “Frank” because to her, that describes them perfectly. Her viewers tend to be:

Over the years, Kristina has learned that “Frank” doesn’t watch videos about:

 That’s it. Those are the types of videos he’s willing to watch, and nothing else will retain his attention.

YouTube Audience Retention - 3 Channel Boosting Secrets You Need to Know

Before you create your next video, think about your audience’s persona. Then ask yourself if you’re prioritizing what 

Got Multiple Personas? Identify What Connects Them All

Knowing your main persona is a step in the right direction. But what if your audience has multiple personas across thousands of viewers? Is there a way to make all of them watch the same video?

send the right signals in your video titles and thumbnails.

For Kristina, that meant writing titles for two personas that love the same thing: affordable housing. That way, no viewer feels alienated, and Kristina gets the maximum number of clicks. Check out the thumbnail for the video below, which sticks to the "cheap house" theme.

But what if one video is all about an affordable, eco-friendly home? Kristina knows most of her audience doesn't care about sustainability. The solution is to mention that detail briefly while emphasizing the main topic: affordable housing.

“If I’m showing a house, I can literally say in the video, ‘These are eco-friendly materials, and it actually costs you less,’ Kristina says. “That’s not me forcing the fact that it’s an eco-friendly house and shoving it in their face....and then it’s not [them saying], ‘Don’t force me to do something.’ It’s like, ‘Oh, that’s cool that it’s eco-friendly too, but I really just wanted a cheap house.’”

 that connects different viewers, you can convince all of them to watch the same thing.

Want to take your subscriber knowledge to the next level? Here are three things YouTube channels with over 1,000 subscribers have in common.

Smiling woman with long hair promoting Tube Talk podcast with dark and pink background.

Which videos do subscribers actually like watching? It's a mystery to most YouTube creators, but this guide will reveal those hidden secrets.

Is 12 months enough time to get 40,000 YouTube subscribers?

Your first year on YouTube is about learning how to become a skillful creator, one who knows how to make great thumbnails, write awesome titles, and increase their views. That’s a lot to handle all at once. In the meantime, most creators are lucky to get just 10,000 subscribers.

How Long It Takes to Get 10,000 YouTube Subscribers

. In just a year, this Lego gaming creator managed to get 40,000 subscribers, proving that the right content strategy leads to YouTube success.

, we chat with RuggedEagle about how he achieved such a feat.

Here are RuggedEagle's six tips for blowing up on YouTube – fast!

RuggedEagle says you need to post lots of videos to stand out as a new creator. It’s hard to come up with a specific number, though. Everyone’s YouTube journey is different, which means your output will vary compared to other creators.

But if you need a place to start, Rugged Eagle says 

“If you’re new to the scene and you’re making one video a week, it’s going to be hard to get an audience built,” he says. “So you need to have a bit of quantity at the start.”

Quantity Over Quality - The One Thing New YouTubers Should Focus On

Our co-host Vyyyper chimed in with an important point too: It’s less about the number of videos you create and more about how consistent you are. If you’re making three videos a week but can maintain that schedule, it will be hard to succeed on YouTube.

After all, increasing your subscribers is about:

2. Choose a YouTube Niche With Endless Depth

The last thing you want as a beginner creator is to 

. That’s why choosing the right YouTube niche is crucial. You want to pick a genre with endless depth – something you can make videos about for years to come.

RuggedEagle has the perfect YouTube niche in Lego gaming. Millions of people grew up playing those games, so there’s an audience just waiting to be found. Plus, there are 

 in existence. RuggedEagle could spend the next 10 years talking about them.

There’s also a nostalgic thrill because of all the brands associated with Lego.

Want to gain 40,000 subscribers on YouTube? Here’s how one creator revamped his channel to see outstanding growth in just 12 months.

How to Get More YouTube Subscribers

How Long Does It Take to Reach 100 Subscribers on YouTube?

How to Reach 1 Million YouTube Subscribers In 5 Years or Less

How to Make the EXACT Videos YouTube Subscribers Want to See

Gaining 40,000 YouTube Subscribers: 6 Tips to Get There In 12 Months

5 Amazing Tips to Get 10,000 YouTube Subscribers – Fast

3 Uncommon Ways to Grow Your YouTube Channel

What YouTube Channels with Over 1,000 Subscribers Have In Common

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