On YouTube, there is nothing better than getting feedback from your viewers, especially when the insights make your content better. Sometimes, the best way to get this information is by polling your audience on the YouTube Community Tab. It's a fantastic way to spark new conversations, address real pain points, and introduce ideas that grow your channel.
At vidIQ, our channel is about making your life better as a content creator. Through our polls, we try to understand your problems holistically and share tips and tools to fuel your success.
That's why we asked you, the vidIQ community, all kinds of questions in 2023. You gave us thousands of responses, sharing what you felt about YouTube, the monetization game, and your individual growth journeys.
Before we explore each poll, know that small creators make up most of our community. Many of them are grinding their way toward 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time so they can get monetized. Our insights are from creators who watch the vidIQ channel or interact with our community posts.
Want a brief snapshot? Here are seven YouTube statistics that show what small creators (in the vidIQ community) were thinking, feeling, and doing this year:
First of all, a massive shoutout to the vidIQ community for engaging with us and participating in the polls. Your support keeps us motivated! Having said that, these were the most popular, opinionated polls on our community tab in 2023.
In this poll, we asked our community their thoughts on the YouTube monetization system. Although it was a close contest, the majority of respondents think the rules and processes are fair. This makes sense given that YouTube is making life easier for small channels, from changing profanity rules to unlocking fan-funding options.
We like to check up on our loyal viewers from time to time. In this poll, we wanted to know how our community was doing on YouTube in 2023, good or bad. Much to our pleasure, 70% of the participants said their year was going “better than [they] thought.” We’re glad to be of service!
Now, we know our community is primarily new creators trying to make it on the platform. But, as a fun experiment, we posted a poll asking the number of channels our viewers have. Expectedly, the majority of people said “1.” However, a respectable 19% chose “2”, which was pleasantly surprising! After all, we interviewed a creator this year who runs more than 20 automated YouTube channels.
YouTube Shorts are a powerful tool for channel discovery, but it looks like our community loves long-form videos more. A staggering 85% would rather make or watch longer content.
Before YouTube introduced the new thumbnail A/B testing tool, we asked viewers which thumbnails they would click on. Through these polls, we learned what our viewers like aesthetically. So far, bold, yet simple thumbnails are winning the race!
Here, we asked creators to choose between 1,000 YouTube subscribers or 10,000 video views. A whopping 72% opted for 1,000 subscribers, which makes sense considering it is one of the requirements for monetization.
This is another image poll asking creators how they want to grow on YouTube: faster in the short term or steadily in the long run. 92% of participants chose “forever growing” instead of “fast-growing”, and we couldn’t agree more with the results! This proves that many creators aren't looking to go viral here and there; they want to grow large channels with longevity.
69% of voters in this poll believe that YouTube changed for the better in 2023. Looking at the comments, many creators feel this way because their channels are growing, they're excited to learn content creation, and they love how YouTube is improving the platform.
With this poll, we got an answer to a very important question that pops up now and then. We asked our viewers whether they would take a course on video editing or thumbnail design. The majority, with 72% votes, chose “video editing.” This proves that making presentable videos is important to small creators.
We asked our viewers about their preferred device of choice to watch YouTube on, and a staggering 78% chose “Phone.” Maybe that's why YouTube Shorts are so explosive this year...
Looking for a New Year's resolution to pursue in 2024? Start polling your audience on the YouTube Community Tab! With thousands of poll responses, this is an easy way to promote your YouTube channel inside the app.
Everything you need is in the YouTube Studio, and there are plenty of features to customize your content.
Read More: How to Use the YouTube Community Tab and Engage with Viewers
1. Click the Create icon at the top of your YouTube homepage. Select Create Post from the drop-down menu.
2. Select the Image Poll/Text Poll option to begin your poll.
Once again, we would like to thank every community member for participating in our polls and helping us grow with you! The new year is fast approaching, and here’s how to prepare for YouTube growth in 2024.
In addition to being an avid movie and gaming enthusiast, Uttaran Samaddar is an experienced writer who has lent his creativity and unique perspective to various publications. He loves hearing and telling stories.
