Oh wow you've just unlocked a memory of mine I almost forgot I had a similar experience with my friend’s yt channel. We used to engage with our audience through comments and social media, and I remember how we would always create the weirdest thumbnails and titles haha. We used to record pc audio to add voiceovers and keep viewers engaged, we had so much fun. Even though we closed our channel, I feel like these tactics really helped us gain our first subscribers, so maybe try again?