Here's a great lesson about the YouTube algorithm. This video started out as an 8/10 (bad). It's now a 1/10 and is on track to become our fastest ever video to 1 million views. What do you think we changed? What could have possibly led to such a dramatic turnaround for this video? The answer... Nothing. No thumbnail or title change. Sometimes doing nothing is the strategy. Here are 4 considerations to help you decide if a video needs a packaging change, or should be left alone: 1. Consider topic Some video topics and ideas are more immediately relevant, some are more evergreen focused. Often the former will perform well straight out the gates and slow down over time, often the opposite can happen with the latter. This sounds obvious but is usually left out of decision making. In our x/10 ranking system we may forget the context and compare videos with completely different topics. 2. Consider audience fit Naturally, it is faster for the YouTube algorithm to re-target your regular viewers then try to find a new audience. Some videos aren't a perfect fit for your most dedicated viewers, but have potential with a broader more casual audience. Often this is the case when experimenting with something new, and is not a bad thing when done with care. 3. Consider metrics (carefully) As I've been saying for years, people often over-value the usefulness of metrics like CTR and AVD. However, in the first few hours of a video being uploaded they still can provide some insight. For example, if views are a little low, but AVD and CTR look great relative to impressions/views and I can't think of any other reason why that might be the case, then I'm usually inclined to give a video more time. 4. Consider subjective opinion on packaging This one is so important. How much did you (and ideally others who know your content) like the packaging before going live? I'm always going to be more loyal to a thumbnail and title that we all felt strong about ahead of upload. This is less of a data-backed reason, but in my decision-making I still like to incorporate it. These are 4 quite simple decision-making considerations. Here's two examples of it applied: Scenario 1 The video is an 8/10 in the first hour. The topic we uploaded wasn't a news specific video with any real urgency, it was also slightly experimental for our audience, but the metrics seem good and as a team we all feel really positive about the packaging. Decision: I would give this video more time to see if it can recover. Scenario 2 The video is an 8/10 in the first hour. The topic we uploaded was covering a current events trending topic, it should be a great fit for our audience, but the metrics look bad and we as a team are very on-the fence about the thumbnail Decision: I would try a thumbnail change. Too often, people make decisions just on the ranking system alone. This is a mistake. Think: What's the audience explanation for this? I hope this was useful. Unfortunately, this content isn't free. You need to pay with a like and retweet!