The Client
Bubbles and Friends is an award-winning educational children’s channel created by The Learning Experience®, a nationally recognized leader in early childhood education. Designed for preschool-aged kids, the channel combines engaging animations, captivating music videos, and interactive live shows to teach foundational topics like colors, shapes, and animals.
With a mission to make learning fun and accessible, Bubbles & Friends leverages the expertise of The Learning Experience® to inspire curiosity and creativity in young minds across the United States.
Vireo Services
youtube strategy
Video SEO
youtube packaging
channel segmentation
reporting
TLDR
We partnered with Bubbles and Friends to optimize their YouTube strategy, focusing on growing organic reach in key English-speaking markets like the United States and United Kingdom, while segmenting their Spanish and Portuguese audiences into dedicated channels. Through strategic optimization, including targeted content, SEO enhancements, and better audience alignment, we achieved a 755% increase in watch time (+5,349,538), a 253% increase in average view duration (7:00 to 25:24), and a huge overall improvement across key channel metrics.
The Challenge
Bubbles and Friends came to Vireo with the goal of improving organic reach and building a stronger connection between their brand and target audience. Their biggest challenge was overcoming a complex multilingual content strategy on their main channel, which targeted three different language segments.
Despite the channel’s primary audience being English speakers, our analysis revealed that more than half of the viewers were watching content in other languages. This not only fractured the audience base but also hindered the organic growth of the English content, making it difficult to reach the right viewers and keep them engaged.
YouTube Kids-Specific Challenges
- Confusion for Young Viewers: YouTube Kids is primarily designed for young children, who may not have strong language skills yet. Mixing multiple languages in the same channel can confuse them, especially if they accidentally play videos in a language they don’t understand. This can lead to frustration and a poor experience.
- Inconsistent Audience Engagement: Kids are more likely to engage with content in their native language. If a channel alternates between different languages, it may dilute the engagement rate. Subscribers who follow the channel for content in one language may be disinterested or skip videos in other languages, negatively affecting CTR, watch time, and overall interaction with the brand.
- Algorithm and Recommendation Issues: YouTube's algorithm considers user behavior to recommend videos. If a channel posts videos in multiple languages, it could confuse the recommendation system, making it less likely to show the right content to the right audience. This may lead to lower discoverability for both the channel and its videos, while also complicating the data we need to analyze for growth.
- Channel Identity and Branding: Consistency is key to building a strong brand. Having videos in multiple languages can make it harder to establish a clear identity for the channel. This might affect how viewers perceive the channel and reduce loyalty, as it becomes less clear who the target audience is.
- Parental Control and Preferences: Parents often set preferences in YouTube Kids for the language they want their children to consume content. A mixed-language channel could bypass those preferences, causing videos in unwanted languages to appear leading parents to unsubscribe or block the channel altogether.
It became clear that achieving sustainable, long-term growth would require a strategic shift in distributing content. This meant exploring the idea of new channels so that we could provide an easy and enjoyable experience for viewers while giving us more precise insights into other essential content adjustments.
The Execution
goals
Our goals consisted of three key focuses. First, we aimed to grow the English-speaking audience in the US and UK by refocusing the main channel on English content, addressing the challenge of a multilingual audience.
Second, we worked to transition over half of the total viewership—Spanish and Portuguese-speaking audiences—to new, dedicated language-specific channels without negatively impacting overall viewership.
Finally, we worked to build a loyal and engaged audience across all markets, increasing organic reach, boosting views and watch hours, and fostering stronger brand loyalty for Bubbles & Friends.
The Plan
- Transition the main Bubbles and Friends channel to become the official English-language channel, focusing on growing English content.
- Create two new channels for Spanish (ESP) and Portuguese (POR) language content, linking them to the homepage of the English channel.
- Apply YouTube SEO and thumbnail strategies to improve overall channel performance after content was segmented by language.
- Implement content strategies around formats like Live and Compilations for the main channel, aligning with audience preferences to maximize watch time.
- Continuously monitor, experiment, and adjust content & packaging strategies based on our own analytics & competitor data.
The Strategy
Audience Segmentation
We first stopped publishing Spanish and Portuguese content on the main channel, then created dedicated channels for each language. This allowed the main channel to focus exclusively on English-speaking viewers in key markets like the US and UK while delivering targeted content to Spanish and Portuguese audiences on their respective channels. This strategic approach enhanced content delivery and improved audience engagement across all segments.
Long Form & Live Content Strategy
We created longer compilations and adjusted their 24/7 live stream strategies. This includes effectively using episode premieres and redirects to guide the audience to lucrative live content. We experimented with key topics and themes that were aligned with the target audience based on extensive research into the market and viewer behaviour. Adjusting our content strategy beyond our core episodes boosted watch hours and views, which also helped build brand awareness & loyalty with our target audience.
Thumbnails & Branding
We revamped the thumbnail designs to be more engaging and aligned with the preferences of the Kids audience. We created a distinctive, recognizable style with bright colors and simple, focused images of the show’s characters.
Continuous Adjustment
While we initially conducted thorough research, we didn’t stop there. We continuously monitored and reviewed our content in order to understand what resonated with our audience and what didn’t. We also regularly checked in on competitors and successful content in the Kids space to apply key insights to our work. On top of research and data analysis, experimentation is KEY on YouTube. We played with content formats, thumbnail styles (through A/B testing), and title structures to uncover our channel’s success formula, guide our strategic adjustments, and encourage further growth.
The Results
Organic
2/27/2023 – 12/31/2023 compared to 1/1/2024 – 10/31/2024
Partnering with our client, we successfully elevated Bubbles & Friends on YouTube! By focusing on tailored content strategies, enhancing video SEO, and introducing language-specific channels, we achieved notable improvements across key YouTube metrics. Take a look at the outstanding results we accomplished together. These metrics are the total results of all three channels together: English, Spanish, and Portuguese.
VIEWS
6M to 14.9M
WATCH TIME
708K to 6M
CTR
3.6% to 3.7%
AVD
7:00 to 25:24
Average View Duration by Geography
Before
When all of the content lived on one channel, we could see that the countries we were targeting fell short in terms of average view duration.
After
With an enhanced, organized viewer experience, we saw a big increase in average view duration for the target countries of each channel. This signaled increased viewer satisfaction, and improved organic performance across the board.
English Channel
Spanish Channel
Portuguese Channel
‘Back To School’ Live Stream Comparison
Our live strategy also played a key role in removing confusion for young viewers who visit the main channel. By focusing on one consistent language, we improved clarity and engagement, which in turn strengthened the channel’s branding and identity.
This shift also drove significant growth in unique viewers, which was a clear sign of progress. The strategy’s positive impact was further reflected in a 38% increase in revenue from this content, showcasing its success.
Organic results in the first 14 days
VIEWS
UNIQUE VIEWERS
WATCH TIME
2023 (Back to School)
82K Views
64K Unique Viewers
51K Watch Time
2024 (Back to School)
135K Views
98K Unique Viewers
84K Watch Time
Project Contributors
Vireo Video
Sally Lamberton
Account Director
Kenzie White
Senior Strategist
Tarık Emir Ergün
Marketing Assistant
Bubbles & Friends
Brooke Cameron
Director of Content
Francisco Baquero
VP, Brand Development
