YouTube rolls out new audience insight tools

The platform now provides clarity on membership cancellation, and can compare new and returning viewer data.

YouTube has updated its analytics platform to provide enhanced audience insights.

Creators will now have access to data analyzing membership cancellation, and will also be able to compare new and existing viewer data for the first time.

In addition, YouTube has carried out improvements to the design of its studio platform to enhance the user experience.

Why we care. The detailed audience breakdown will enable advertisers to understand how different audiences engage with their content on a deeper level, allowing them to make more data-led decisions and create more targeted content for improved reach and conversions.

Filter performance metrics by audience segment. The YouTube product team have launched a new feature in Studio Analytics to help creators better understand how new and returning viewers watch their content. This means creators can now compare how many views they get from different audience segments.

The platform has also created a new tab in Deep Dive Analytics called “New and Returning Viewers”, where creators can analyze the performance of their content based on audience segments. In addition, new filters have been added at a channel and video level to simplify data analytics. Here, you can now select whether you want to see data from new viewers or returning viewers.

Memberships revenue analytics. YouTube has added two new cards and one new insight into the memberships tab:

• Total members – This card allows creators to see their total number of members, and within this, two additional categories: recurring memberships and members with gifted memberships. The subcategories help creators to understand the different types of members they have.
• Members join from – This provides insight into how creators convert memberships with their content.
• Reason for membership cancelation – This new insight has been added to memberships on YouTube analytics but not in the detailed view of an existing report.

TextField Modernization. The YouTube team have also rolled out improvements on a standard shared text field component across the main and studio platforms. The changes include:

• Updated visual design
• Migrated key surfaces
• Enhanced error states

What has YouTube said? Conor Kavanagh, YouTube monetization policy lead, said:

• “When a member cancels their membership, they will now be asked to provide a reason for their cancellation through an optional survey. This data will be collected and displayed in a separate card on the membership chip.”
• “By understanding the reasons why members cancel their memberships, creators can gain valuable insights into potential improvements or changes to their content or membership offerings.“
• “Before the launch of this [Filter performance metrics by audience segment], creators could only see how many new or returning viewers they had, or how many views they got, from all viewers.”
• “But now, creators have the ability to see how different audience segments watch their content. This means that creators can now see how many views they got from new viewers, and compare it to the number of views from returning viewers.”