Do You Want A New Metric?

Try this one on for size.

• YouTube Index:  Total Subscribers / (Annual Net Sales / 1,000,000).

Let’s consider two companies.

Company #1:  JCP. Approximately $11,000,000,000 in annual net sales, 61,900 followers on YouTube.

Company #2:  Griot’s Garage (I’ve used this example frequently … and I don’t know their annual net sales, let’s say it is $20,000,000). 39,300 followers on YouTube.

Now, Griot’s Garage could have double that volume in net sales or half that volume … it doesn’t matter. They have a video following. JCP does not. Griot’s Garage customers/prospects care.

If you are a traditional catalog brand, your days of lists and co-ops are ending. They ended years ago to be honest. You’ll move over to Google/Facebook, but your merchandise assortment (catering to a 60-84 year old customer) won’t align with prospects in that realm. You’ll be disappointed. You’ll tell me that digital doesn’t work very well. It works fine. It’s a merchandise / channel alignment that flummoxes you.

Meanwhile, Google/Facebook become more expensive as time passes … and the competition out there dilutes response. Acquiring new customers? It gets harder every day.

This is why community matters. In 2025, Community is your prospect list … it’s the place where you interact with both best customers and prospects … it’s the place where best customers and prospects interact. It’s a living, breathing ecosystem that doesn’t cost you much but pays you back handsomely.

YouTube is just one aspect of community, but it is a reflection of how much prospects and customers want to come along for the ride with you. In the example I gave above, the Griot’s Garage customer/prospect is 300 times more interested in going along for the ride than is the J.C. Penny customer/prospect.

Your YouTube Index matters. It tells you how much your customers and prospects care.

If your YouTube Index is over, say, 200, you’ve got a fighting chance. Though these numbers aren’t set in stone.

What is your YouTube Index?