From 67 to 1,000 Subs in 15 Days: Behind the Scenes of a SaaS YouTube Strategy

Every SaaS company has one.

It’s that dusty YouTube channel, created years ago with good intentions. It holds a few unlisted product demos, maybe a webinar recording, and has about as many subscribers as you have direct reports. A digital graveyard.

I'm helping a PLG SaaS solve a classic startup problem: activating a dormant, two-year-old YouTube channel with 30 subscribers now that their product has officially launched.

Today, that channel has over 1,000 subscribers and just crossed 775,000 views in the last 28 days. Most of that growth happened in the last two weeks.

This project is ongoing, and the strategy is evolving daily. I'm sharing it live because the tactical nuances often get lost when you wait to write the polished 'how we did it' post months later. This is the messy, in-the-trenches reality.

The Strategic Why: Beyond the established Playbook

As a marketer, I'm always looking for acquisition channels that can become a competitive moat. SEO, and cold outreach are essential, but they are also red oceans. YouTube offers something different: the ability to build a genuine audience, create brand affinity, and own a traffic source that isn't purely pay-to-play. The goal here isn't just views; it's to build an acquisition channel for a SaaS product.

Phase 1: The First 30 Days of Learning (aka Slow Growth)

Two months ago, I took over the channel. We started creating content, a mix of Shorts and a few long-form videos. The result after a full month of work? We went from 30 to 67 subscribers.

That’s it. 37 new subscribers.

And about 6000 lifetime views.

While the numbers were tiny, the data wasn't. We learned what topics got zero traction, which formats were duds, and we saw a tiny spark in one or two of our Shorts. This failure was the most valuable feedback we could have asked for.

Phase 2: The Pivot That Ignited Growth

Armed with a month of data, we pivoted the strategy hard. We stopped throwing things at the wall and focused on a simple, two-pronged approach:

1. YouTube Shorts for massive, top-of-funnel reach.
2. Long-form videos for building authority, trust, and eventual conversion.

The results speak for themselves. In the last 28 days, we’ve added +925 subscribers (+999% growth) and generated over 775,000 views. The channel flew past the 1,000 subscriber mark just last week.

The Tactical Deep Dive: How We're Doing It

1. The 'Low Effort, High Value' Shorts Engine

The key to our explosive reach was YouTube Shorts. But creating endless unique videos is a resource drain. Our breakthrough was identifying a single, repeatable format that is engaging and thought-provoking. We then built a workflow to produce them in batches.

This lets us post 5 Shorts per day at regular intervals.

I want to stress one thing: Low effort does not mean low value. The videos are simple in production, but the content itself is high-value. This systemization feeds the YouTube algorithm what it loves: consistent, engaging content. 

The data proves this: our average percentage viewed across all Shorts is over 200%, meaning most viewers watch them at least twice. 

This is a massive signal to the algorithm to push our content further.

And it's working. A staggering 99.8% of our 775k views came from New Viewers, confirming that Shorts are our discovery engine.

2. The Long-Form Foundation for Authority

Shorts get you seen, but they don't build deep trust. That's the job of our long-form content.

Right now, our long-form videos are intentionally short (2-4 minutes) to rapidly build a library and establish topical authority.

But here's the most exciting part, where the strategy truly comes together. Our Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) for this SaaS is squarely in the 25-45 age range. A quick look at our audience demographics confirms we are hitting the bullseye. The 25-34 (32.3%) and 35-44 (22.6%) age groups now make up nearly 55% of our total viewership.

This proves our Shorts aren't just attracting random viewers; they are a highly effective magnet for our target demographic. This gives us immense confidence to double down on our long-form content, knowing the right people are already here to watch it.

What's Next? From Reach to Revenue

We've successfully built the top of the funnel. The data shows our next challenge clearly: only 0.1% of our views come from Regular viewers. This is expected, but it's our cue to focus on retention.

The next phase, already in production, is to move towards longer videos (8-12 minutes). These will be designed to hold attention, deliver deeper value, and begin converting this highly-qualified new audience into a loyal community and, eventually, customers.

My Key Takeaways For You So Far:

• Don't Abandon Your Graveyard Channel: It’s an asset waiting to be revived.
• Embrace the Learning Phase: Your first month might feel like a failure. It's not. It's data collection.
• Target Your ICP: Massive views are only valuable if they're from the right people. Use YouTube Analytics to verify you're attracting your target customer.
• Use a Dual Strategy: Shorts for qualified reach, long-form for deep resonance.
• Systematize Your Wins: When a format works, build a workflow around it to scale production without sacrificing quality.

I’ll share more on how this evolves as we tackle the next phase of converting this audience.

What's the single biggest challenge holding you back from using YouTube for your business? Comment below.

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Update [Aug 29, 2025]

A week since I published this post, the channel has crossed million views and inching closer to 1500 subs. Here's the raw data from Youtube analytics.

Our plan remains unchanged: expand long-form mid- and bottom-funnel content for nurturing and conversion, while keeping the top-of-funnel engine running smoothly.

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That’s a wrap for Issue #44 of the Organic SaaS Growth newsletter. Thanks for reading and as always, feel free to reply with thoughts, questions, or what you'd like to see next.