Why I Regret Running YouTube Promotions And Why You Might Too

Over the past five months, I experimented with something that many YouTube creators are curious about but don’t talk about much: running paid promotions on my videos using YouTube Ads. I ran video promotion ads from January to March 2025. Before I get started I just want to say that this is my personal experience with running video promotions. Your experience may differ. I am also no expert in running YouTube ads i’m just a basic YouTuber and these are my thoughts.

At first, it seemed like a no-brainer. I thought: "More views = more growth, right?" And in the beginning, it looked like it was working. I was getting more views, and there was even a slight bump in subscribers. But as time went on, I started noticing something strange, my organic reach was dropping, and my overall channel performance started to suffer.

After months of running promotions and analyzing the data, here’s my honest take: YouTube promotions did more harm than good to my channel.

The Hidden Cost of YouTube Promotions

The biggest issue I ran into is something that YouTube creators rarely talk about: the algorithm doesn’t separate paid promotional stats from your organic stats. Everything, the click-through rate (CTR), average view duration, bounce rate, all gets lumped into the same pile.

That sounds fine in theory… until you realize how ads actually work.

When you run a promotion, your video gets blasted out to thousands of people, most of whom have no idea who you are. Only a small fraction of them actually click on the video promotion. That means your click-through rate plummets, especially compared to your organically recommended content.

And what does a low CTR tell the YouTube algorithm?

Exactly: “This video isn’t interesting.”

Which leads to fewer impressions. Which leads to fewer clicks. Which leads to less watch time. And that feedback loop doesn’t just affect the video you promoted, it can drag down your entire channel’s performance if you're not careful.

Unfortunately… YouTube markets promotions in a very misleading way.

They imply:

“Pay a little → get more exposure → grow faster.”

But in practice, it’s more like:

“Pay a little → get low-quality views → confuse your algorithm.”

It’s Not Just About Views - It’s About Engagement

Sure, I got more views. But those views didn’t translate into meaningful engagement. Ad viewers are often "cold" they aren’t clicking because they’re curious, they’re clicking because your ad happened to catch their attention for half a second. They might not watch to the end, they might not like the video, and they rarely subscribe or watch more of your content.

That’s a recipe for weak performance metrics, and on YouTube, weak performance metrics = invisibility. I didn’t notice this right away because the extra views you get can mask a lot of the issues. But once you stop promoting videos you’ll see that your channel isn’t preforming as well as it was before you started running the promotions.

So, Is There Any Good Use for Promotions?

Yes but only in very specific situations.

If you have a guaranteed banger, a highly clickable, timely video that you know will perform well, then a targeted promotion could help you get initial traction. Think of a trending topic, an in-depth product review that just dropped, or a video with a killer thumbnail and title that people will watch till the end. In those cases, you’re amplifying a video that already has the potential to go viral.

But if you’re just trying to juice views or grow your audience through brute force, I’d strongly advise against it. YouTube promotions are a double-edged sword, and unless you know exactly what you’re doing, you’re more likely to hurt your channel than help it.

What YouTube Needs to Fix

If YouTube simply disconnected promotional stats from organic stats, this wouldn’t be a problem. The algorithm could judge your content based on organic performance alone, while still letting creators use promotions as a tool for exposure. But as of now, that’s not how it works. Everything gets merged, and that means a poorly performing ad campaign can sabotage your channel’s momentum, even if the video itself was decent.

Final Thoughts

If you’re thinking about running YouTube promotions to grow your channel, my advice is simple:

Don’t.

Unless you have a high-engagement video that’s tailor-made for a wider audience, you’re better off focusing on organic growth strategies: improving your thumbnails, tightening your intros, increasing viewer retention, and making content that truly connects with your niche. Promotions might seem like a shortcut, but in my experience, they’re more like a trap.

What Now?

Now I have to get to fixing the damage caused by video promotions. I have to bring my click through rate up and make a few banger videos.