Goal matters most
Across all 94 promotions, the Audience growth goal averaged $0.045 per subscriber. The Video views goal averaged $12.07 per subscriber for about the same cost per view.
Case study · KhunShawn YouTube channel
5.6x the views in 28 days
One gaming reaction channel went from 91.6K to 516.6K views in 28 days. About 85% of those views were not paid.
5.6xviews per 28 days
30xsubscribers gained
$0.022paid cost per subscriber
Sep 6 to Oct 3, 2026. Source: YouTube Studio analytics and the Studio Promotions list, pulled Oct 5, 2026. One channel's result, not a guarantee.
Before and after
The same channel, 28 days apart
| BeforeAug 8 to Sep 4 | AfterSep 6 to Oct 3 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Channel views, 28 days | 91.6K | 516.6K | 5.6x |
| Subscribers gained, 28 days | +138 | +4.1K | about 30x |
| Watch time, hours | 3.7K | 6.8K | 1.8x |
| Total subscribers | 60,412 | 64,636 | +4,224 |
| Average views per day | about 3.3K | about 18.5Klast 7 days: 17.1K | 5.2x to 5.6x |
91.6K1.0xBefore
Aug 8 to Sep 4
Aug 8 to Sep 4
475.8K5.2xAfter
Sep 1 to 28
Sep 1 to 28
516.6K5.6xAfter
Sep 6 to Oct 3
Sep 6 to Oct 3
Proof from YouTube Studio
Straight from the channel's own dashboard
Top: the 28-day window. Bottom: the last 7 days.
The last 7 days read 40% lower than the 7 days before because that earlier week contained a single-day spike. Daily views then settled and held near 17K a day, about 5 times the level before the campaign, for more than two weeks.
The paid test
Ten small promotions, $56 in total
We ran YouTube Studio promotions with the Audience growth goal at $5 to $10 each, always on clips or videos that were already performing. Ten promotions cost $56.43 and brought 2,569 subscribers, about $0.022 each.
| Promoted video | Start | Spent | Views | Subs | Cost / view | Cost / sub |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Save Me Mario clip | Sep 13 | $4.99 | 1,477 | 376 | $0.0034 | $0.013 |
| Spider-Man clip (Letting You Win) | Sep 13 | $4.98 | 897 | 308 | $0.0056 | $0.016 |
| Spider-Man clip (Three Of Them) | Sep 13 | $4.99 | 1,355 | 264 | $0.0037 | $0.019 |
| HSR trailer clip (Cyrene) | Sep 13 | $4.98 | 332 | 181 | $0.0150 | $0.028 |
| Bodycam clip (Ragdoll) | Sep 13 | $4.92 | 355 | 182 | $0.0139 | $0.027 |
| Bodycam trailer clip | Sep 13 | $4.98 | 302 | 178 | $0.0165 | $0.028 |
| MLBB skin clip (Shura Hayabusa) | Sep 10 | $9.97 | 1,079 | 405 | $0.0092 | $0.025 |
| HSR 4.6 video still running | Sep 27 | $5.47 | 1,146 | 242 | $0.0048 | $0.023 |
| MLBB video still running | Sep 27 | $5.50 | 892 | 217 | $0.0062 | $0.025 |
| Limbus video still running | Sep 27 | $5.65 | 887 | 216 | $0.0064 | $0.026 |
| Total, 10 promotions | $56.43 | 8,722 | 2,569 | $0.0065 | $0.022 |
Three of these were still running when the numbers were pulled on Oct 5, and two more promotions started that day. This page updates after Oct 19.
- Save Me Mario clip$0.013
- Spider-Man clips$0.017
- HSR$0.026
- Bodycam$0.028
- ZZZ$0.030
- MLBB$0.034
Scale runs to $0.05. For comparison, the Video views goal across 94 promotions cost $12.07 per subscriber.
What we learned from 94 promotions
Three things that moved the cost
Small beats big
In 2026, promotions of $6 or less cost $0.021 per subscriber, while $15 to $25 promotions cost $0.055.
Content type matters
Reaction clips with a clear punchline (Mario, Spider-Man, MLBB, HSR, ZZZ) cost $0.013 to $0.034 per subscriber. Essay-style videos got zero subscribers.
After the ads
Did the views keep going?
Partly. The promotions seeded the clips, and most of each clip's views came from outside the ad. But the individual clips levelled off once the ad finished. The channel as a whole held its new level, at about 17K views a day for more than two weeks after the spike, against 3.3K a day before.
- Hololive clip (Kiara)87%
- Spider-Man clip (Three Of Them)85%
- Save Me Mario clip76%
- MLBB skin clip (Shura)81%
Not from the ad (organic, Shorts feed, search)From the $5 to $10 promotion
Window: Sep 6 to Oct 3 for the first three clips, Sep 1 to 28 for the MLBB clip. The three Shorts moved by about 1% or less between the Sep 28 and Oct 3 reports, so they have plateaued.
What else drove the growth
Not only ads. About 85% of views were not paid
- 37.7% Shorts feed
- 18.0% Browse features
- 16.6% Search
- 14.9% Promotions
- 12.8% Other sources
Volume
387 videos published in the 28-day window, against a usual 39 to 90.
Shorts
The Shorts feed delivered 37.7% of all views (179K). One Short, a Limbus Company fan-levels reaction, reached 41.7K views.
Search and browse
Search brought 16.6% of views and browse features 18.0%, so the growth was not only paid.
Series
New Genshin cutscene reaction videos earned about 2.7K to 3K views each in their first day, roughly 8x to 10x a normal new upload.
Read this before you compare
What these numbers do and don't say
- These are the results of one gaming reaction channel, on its own audience. They are one channel's experience, not a guarantee of what any other channel will see.
- Cost per subscriber counts subscribers attributed to the promotion. Subscriber quality is still being measured.
- The individual promoted clips plateaued after their ads ended. What held was the channel as a whole.
- Five promotions are still running, so these figures will be updated after Oct 19.
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