OTLE, SCV, Spiritual Shorts - Affiliate Meeting - October 2025

Chris, Curtis, David and Howard, discuss the performance and strategy of their YouTube channels, focused on spiritual or religious content, as they mention Swedenborg and ministry.

*Key Discussion Points:*

*YouTube Performance & Analytics:* The group discusses their recent video performance, focusing on click-through rates and audience retention. One participant notes that high impressions can lower the click-through rate, which is not necessarily a red flag. They also analyze their retention curve, with one person experimenting with putting a 30-second "highlights reel" at the beginning of a video to improve audience retention. They observe that clear chapter markers in the video seem to encourage viewers to skip to those sections.
*Content Strategy & Ministry:* A core theme is the struggle to balance creating content that performs well on YouTube (being data-driven) with their mission of ministry or providing spiritual nourishment. The idea of a "viewer-centric" YouTube platform, which may conflict with traditional ministry approaches, is brought up.
*Audience Engagement:* They discuss the strategy of dealing with audience comments, including setting boundaries for private vs. public conversation, and the value of audience members suggesting topics.
*The YouTube Formula & Goals:* They express interest in learning more about the "science" of YouTube to increase their reach. The book *The YouTube Formula* by Derral Eves is recommended as a resource. The participants consider setting specific goals, such as using the channel to drive people to private ministry or counseling sessions.
*Future Focus:* The group decides to focus on improving retention curves and creating a consistent channel design (logo, fonts, colors). They also plan to make future meetings more hands-on by workshopping video ideas, titles, and hooks.