youtube-rl-tracker

## What I Do Track YouTube video performance to discover patterns in what works. This is "poor man's reinforcement learning" - manually logging outcomes to improve over time. ## The RL Loop ``` 1. PUBLISH -> Upload video with hypothesis (thumbnail style, title hook, topic) 2. WAIT -> Let it run for 48-72 hours 3. LOG -> Record in Notion with views, CTR, retention 4. ANALYZE -> Compare winners vs losers 5. REPEAT -> Apply learnings to next video ``` ## Key Insight from First Data Point **Video 1:** "Using AI agents to pay bills and send invoices" - 8 views in 1 day - Plain talking head thumbnail - Generic title **Video 2:** "Paying My Contractor Through Claude | AI-Powered Finance" - 133 views in 5 days (16x better!) - Thumbnail shows: Face + Product UI overlay + Text "I Let AI Pay My Bills" - Title has: Specific action + Brand name (Claude) + Category tag ### What Made Video 2 Win: 1. **Thumbnail has TEXT overlay** - "I Let AI Pay My Bills" creates curiosity 2. **Shows the PRODUCT** - UI screenshot proves it's real, not just talk 3. **Face + Context** - Person looking at the UI, not just talking 4. **Specific title** - "Paying My Contractor" > "pay bills" (concrete vs abstract) 5. **Brand name in title** - "Claude" attracts AI-interested audience 6. **Category tag** - "AI-Powered Finance" helps discoverability ### Hypothesis to Test: > Thumbnails with TEXT + PRODUCT UI + FACE outperform plain talking head thumbnails by 10x+ ## Database Schema ### Core Fields (Outcomes) | Property | Type | Purpose | | --------- | -------- | ---------------------------------- | | Title | title | Video title | | Views | number | Total views | | CTR | number | Click-through rate (%) | | Retention | number | Average view duration (%) | | Days Live | number | Days since publish | | Views/Day | formula | `Views / Days Live` | | Worked? | checkbox | Binary gut-check - was this a win? | ### Input Features (What You Controlled) | Property | Type | Options | | --------------- | -------- | ----------------------------------------------- | | Thumbnail Style | select | Talking Head, Face+UI, Face+Text, UI Only, Meme | | Has Text | checkbox | Does thumbnail have text overlay? | | Has Product | checkbox | Does thumbnail show the product/UI? | | Title Hook | select | How-To, Story, Listicle, Question, Bold Claim | | Has Brand | checkbox | Does title mention a brand (Claude, ChatGPT)? | | Topic | select | AI Finance, Automation, Product Demo, Tutorial | | Duration | number | Video length in minutes | | Posted | date | When published | ### Reference Fields | Property | Type | Purpose | | --------- | --------- | ----------------------- | | URL | url | Link to video | | Thumbnail | files | Screenshot of thumbnail | | Notes | rich_text | Why did it work/fail? | ## First Entry: The Baseline ``` Video 1 (LOSER): - Title: "Using AI agents to pay bills and send invoices" - Views: 8 - Days Live: 1 - Thumbnail Style: Talking Head - Has Text: No - Has Product: No - Title Hook: How-To - Has Brand: No - Notes: Plain talking head, generic title, no visual hook Video 2 (WINNER): - Title: "Paying My Contractor Through Claude | AI-Powered Finance" - Views: 133 - Days Live: 5 - Views/Day: 26.6 - Thumbnail Style: Face+UI - Has Text: Yes ("I Let AI Pay My Bills") - Has Product: Yes (shows invoice payment UI) - Title Hook: Story - Has Brand: Yes (Claude) - Notes: Text overlay creates curiosity, UI proves it's real, specific action in title ``` ## Thumbnail Patterns to Test Based on initial data: | Pattern | Example | Hypothesis | | ---------------- | ------- | --------------------------------------------------- | | Face + UI + Text | Video 2 | Best performer - proves reality + creates curiosity | | Face + Bold Text | - | May work for controversial takes | | UI Only | - | Good for tutorials, may lack personality | | Talking Head | Video 1 | Worst - no visual hook | | Before/After | - | Good for transformation content | ## Title Patterns to Test | Pattern | Example | Hypothesis | | ----------------------- | ------------------------------------- | ------------------------------ | | Specific Action + Brand | "Paying My Contractor Through Claude" | Winner - concrete + searchable | | Generic Action | "Using AI to pay bills" | Loser - too vague | | Question | "Can AI Really Pay Your Bills?" | Untested - may drive curiosity | | Number + Outcome | "I Automated 5 Hours of Finance Work" | Untested - quantified value | ## Weekly Review Process 1. **Sort by Views/Day** - normalize for time live 2. **Filter by Worked? = true** - what patterns emerge? 3. **Group by Thumbnail Style** - which visuals win? 4. **Group by Title Hook** - which hooks work? 5. **Compare Has Text vs No Text** - does text help? 6. **Compare Has Brand vs No Brand** - do brand names help? ## Integration with YouTube Studio Skill Use `skill("youtube-studio")` to: - Upload new videos with test hypotheses - Update thumbnails based on learnings - Track which changes improve performance ## Reference Image The winning thumbnail (133 views) vs losing thumbnail (8 views):  **Key visual differences:** - Winner: Face looking at UI, text overlay "I Let AI Pay My Bills", product screenshot visible - Loser: Plain talking head against brick wall, no text, no product context