For a creator with a YouTube channel, inactive users are a bone of contention. Certain users subscribe to ‘All notifications’ but do not engage with any of the posted content. YouTube has decided to lessen push notifications for such subscribers to prevent them from getting overwhelmed and unsubscribing. Due to this, creators are likely to see a drop in ‘Bell notifications sent’ in the YouTube Studio data.
Keeping the switch off rate low
As per a platform update, the inactive subscribers will continue to get notifications on their inbox but will not receive any push notifications on their devices. If a subscriber hasn’t been watching the videos of a particular channel, they will get lesser push notifications from it, even if they have opted for ‘All notifications.’
The thought process behind this is to stop subscribers from switching off notifications altogether. Getting annoyed with too many messages can drive subscribers to turn off all notifications, which will be worse for YouTube.
“If an inactive “All” subscriber watches your channel later from any source, we will resume sending them push notifications,” the YouTube update stated.
For YouTube channels that are not posting frequently, none of the subscribers will be considered inactive. All of the ‘All’ subscribers will receive push notifications once the posting starts again.
YouTube has approximately 2.53 billion active users across the world, making it the second most used social media platform. According to a study by Global Statistics, “approximately 45.5% of all internet users globally were active YouTube users. This indicates that nearly 1 in every 2 internet users engage with YouTube’s video content.” This is an indication of how vast the number of inactive subscribers would be.
YouTube updates vs creator’s outlook
From a creator’s point of view, this latest update from YouTube comes with a layered impact. Creators are at a risk of losing out on subscribers who will no longer get push notifications. Since push notifications are sent directly to their device, they are likely to click on them and come to the video or Shorts. Without them, it could be a case of out of sight, out of mind.
However, YouTube counters this concern with an explanation: “Viewers are more likely to turn off all notifications when they feel overwhelmed by content they’re not interested in, so as less of your audience turns off all notifications, your channel’s reach will improve over time.”
The creators need to make a note that if their active subscribers are not getting push notifications, it is not due to the current update. There could be a number of other reasons for this such as reaching the maximum limit of 3 video notifications in a 24-hour period.
With more relevant notifications going their way, subscribers will be encouraged to engage with content that truly interests them while the creators will have to focus on creating content that garners long-term engagement from their audience.
