Transcription
Over the last year, countless YouTube channels have exploded, and growth creators went from barely a few thousand subscribers to hundreds of thousands seemingly overnight. But what makes this even more interesting is that it all happened during a time where YouTube was supposed to be more competitive than ever. So I did some digging, and after closely analyzing dozens of these breakout creators, I discovered something: whether they realized it or not, each of these creators followed a new system for growing on YouTube—a three-part formula that was hiding in plain sight. And it all starts with part one: establishing a sticky channel strategy.
You see, most of us know that in order for a video to get recommended on YouTube, people need to click on it and watch it. So naturally, we focus on making videos we think people will click on and watch. We'll come up with an idea we think might have potential, spend countless hours scripting and filming and editing your videos to perfection, agonize over creating the right title and thumbnail, and then press publish. But while we may think that we're doing everything right, we're actually neglecting the single biggest driver of YouTube growth momentum. Let me show you what I mean. This is breakout creator, Tas. Over the last year, Tas generated over 10 million views and scaled his channel to over 130,000 subscribers. But that wasn't the case only 11 months prior. He was clearly putting in the work; his videos had clear titles, intriguing thumbnails, and comment sections full of viewers appreciating his storytelling and production quality. But despite all that effort, his channel wasn't growing consistently. He had a few one-off hits, but the views didn't carry over to his other videos. And if we take a look at three of his videos from this time period, we can discover why. Each of these videos, on their own, were quite solid, checking all the boxes for what's supposed to work on YouTube, but put together, they completely divided his audience, and the segmentation was holding his channel back.
You see, when someone clicks on and enjoys one of your videos, they're far more likely to watch the next video you upload, and when that video delivers, they're even more likely to watch the one after that. Over time, this creates a snowball effect, with each new upload getting pushed out to an increasingly larger and larger base of people—at least that's how it's supposed to work. Because the audience targeted by each video is inconsistent, the views of one video get blocked from carrying over to others, or worse, can even hurt the performance of your other videos. And that's what was happening to Tas. Looking at these three videos, we can see a video targeting young people interested in self-improvement, another for gaming enthusiasts, and a third aimed at young professionals. Now you might argue, "Well, surely those audiences overlap, right?" Young people interested in self-improvement might also play Grand Theft Auto or care about early career challenges. But that's the tricky thing about audience, and that's the reason why general advice like "just find your niche" isn't really all that helpful, because realistically, you could talk yourself into making nearly any connection. So to clear things up, follow the 80% rule: ask yourself, "Would 80% of the audience of my last video be interested in my next video?" Applying this rule to Tas, the problem becomes quite clear: Are 80% of young people interested in self-improvement also interested in Grand Theft Auto? And are 80% of gamers going to care about a young guy cold-emailing a bunch of CEOs? Probably not. Just because topics are adjacent doesn't mean they apply to the same core audience.
But the lack of a defined audience wasn't Tas's only problem, because serving a consistent audience only makes up one half of a strong channel strategy that promotes momentum. The other half comes from delivering a consistent format. Your format is the container you use to present your content. I dive deeper into form in another video of mine, but the same topic presented through different formats will result in wildly different videos, each with its own unique viewing experience. And if we take a deeper look at Tas's videos, we can see that there isn't just an audience inconsistency; there's a format inconsistency. Here we have a storytime vlog, investigative explainer, and a relatable challenge. And while each of these videos, on their own, were quite well made, put together they created an inconsistent viewer experience. Without a predictable title and format, viewers didn't know what to expect, and when they don't know what to expect, they're less likely to stick around long enough to generate channel momentum. So Tas just made some changes. Instead of bouncing between different audiences and formats, he focused on a strong, well-defined channel strategy: making investigative documentaries for young adults interested in modern life and culture. This change allowed for momentum. Once a viewer enjoyed one video, they were more likely to watch the next because they knew what to expect, and the content consistently delivered on that same promise. And the results speak for themselves: consistent six-figure views that give creators with 10 times the subscriber count a run for their money. So before you make your next video, ask yourself: Is your channel set up in a way that supports momentum, or is each upload hindering the growth of the next? To ensure that your next killer video has enough power to carry over enough views to blow up your channel, you must have the proper foundational channel strategy in place first. But a strong channel strategy alone can only get you so far, because in order to build the momentum that drove their explosive growth, last year's breakout creators needed that initial big hit to set the ball rolling in the first place, which brings us to part two in their formula to blow up on YouTube: designing your video recipe.
In today's YouTube landscape, it's harder than ever before to make a video that stands out, because it's not enough to just make good videos anymore. With AI lowering the barrier to entry and making it easier than ever to create truly quality content, good is the new baseline. And with hundreds of creators targeting your same target audience, anything that isn't remarkable gets ignored, which is where your video recipe comes in. A video recipe is a unique combination of ingredients that makes your videos feel fresh and memorable. It's a core set of elements that not only defines your style but helps you stand out in the first place. And the key to designing a great video recipe is differentiation: providing something remarkable in at least two out of three core areas: personality, production or editing quality, or content value. Starting with personality, you don't need to be the most charismatic person alive in order to be differentiated through personality. Rather, the harder you lean into your authentic self, the more you stand out from those who don't share your unique personality traits. Consider what elements of your personality aren't often shared by others who target your same channel strategy. Maybe it's your dry humor, your analytical mindset, your relatability, your thoughtfulness, or any other of the myriad personality traits out there. However that shapes up for you, leaning into what makes you, you, makes your content harder to replicate; it makes it easier to build a loyal base. Take Martina from Nerd Forge, for example. Her quirky, chaotic energy makes her videos feel fun and playful, drawing viewers back for more than just her DIY projects. Compare that to Lana Blakeley, who creates a soothing and thoughtful atmosphere with her deeply calm, reflective approach. Differentiating through personality isn't about forcing yourself to give off typical YouTuber energy; it's about identifying the traits that make you different, embracing them fully, and leaning into them consistently across your videos.
The second way to differentiate yourself is through your production or editing quality: using cinematography, motion graphics, sound design, or pacing in a way that uniquely shapes the viewer experience. And differentiation through production or editing quality doesn't necessarily mean high-budget production. Sure, big-budget creators like MrBeast are known for their showstopping visuals, but there are plenty of other creators out there who've stood out by going in the opposite direction, deliberately leaning into raw, minimalistic production to create a more personal, down-to-earth viewer experience. The goal isn't to have the best production value on the platform; it's to create a style that's memorable and aligned with a feeling you want to evoke when a viewer watches your videos. And finally, you can differentiate yourself through content value: offering something that's more insightful, more in-depth, or more novel than what's already out there. Take Cleo Abram, for example. Her videos stand out because of her ability to not only conduct deep levels of research but also make complex topics and answers accessible to all. Compare that content value with that of Michelle Kare, who differentiates by leaning into emotional storytelling, taking viewers on high-stakes, real-life adventures with compelling personal narrative at the core. But whether it's through well-researched insights, thoughtful storytelling, or simply a unique point of view, differentiation through content value is all about offering something that makes people think, laugh, or see the world differently. Pick at least two out of three of those ways to differentiate yourself, and you'll end up with a video recipe that makes your videos feel like a breath of fresh air to those who watch them.
Take McAri Espe, for instance, a breakout creator who carved out a unique lane in the self-improvement space. Mari's channel strategy isn't anything inherently unique; she targets self-improvement seekers through action-driven 30-day challenges. But what sets her apart, what initialized her channel blow-up, is her video recipe. Her personality is uniquely down-to-earth, funny, and relatable. She leaves in awkward moments and adds humor, which makes her content feel authentic and refreshing. She also differentiates herself through her editing style; it's raw and imperfect in a way that feels intentional. It doesn't have the overly polished vibe of many other self-improvement creators, which makes it stand out. And that's the key: even though her audience and format aren't new, Mari's unique combination of personality and editing style makes her content feel different, and that difference has helped her build a loyal fan base. But here's the catch: if your video recipe is too easy to copy, others will copy it. That's why great creators build video recipes that include something called an entry barrier—something that makes their content harder for others to replicate. And this entry barrier can take a few different forms: access to something others don't have, whether that's a specific place, a resource, or life experience; skill in a particular area, whether it's proficiency in something related to the video-making process or expertise in a specific topic; or personality, which is inherently unique to you. The more you lean into your authentic self, the harder it is for others to copy you. For example, one of Mari's entry barriers is the relationship she shares with her parents; she incorporates them as recurring characters in her videos, adding a wholesome, real-life element that makes viewers connect with their family as if they were their own. The result is a unique viewing experience that feels personal and hard to replicate; it's something only she can offer. And if you're thinking, "Well, I don't have any special entry barriers," think again. Everyone has something unique they can lean into, whether it's a skill, a life experience, or just your unfiltered personality. You already have ingredients that no one else can copy. So as you design your video recipe, ask yourself: What makes you different? What's something only you can offer? And how can you create a viewing experience that feels unmistakably yours? Your goal is to create a set of core ingredients—elements that show up in every video you make—because when your recipe is consistent, your content becomes sticky. Viewers will know exactly what they're getting, and they'll come back not just for the video topic but for the experience that only you can offer. And when you achieve that, you stop competing with other videos; you create a supply of one. With your unique video recipe locked in, you're ready to create differentiated videos within your channel strategy that feel like a breath of fresh air.
And now we have two parts of the formula for blowing up on YouTube: channel strategy and video recipe. But unfortunately, neither one of those matters if you don't have the third part of the formula: your click system. Because if no one clicks on your video in the first place, no one will ever watch it, and all that effort put into your unique video recipe and channel strategy will go to waste. So to ensure their videos got seen, last year's breakout creators developed a repeatable system for getting clicks. They realized that as long as they ensured that at least one click element—the idea, the title, or the thumbnail—had proof of prior success, their videos were de-risked. Because if you try something completely untested, there is a high likelihood that it won't perform well. But if you ground your video in a click element that has already worked well before, you dramatically increase its chances of success, which brings us to the simple three-part system for getting repeatable clicks: find what works, identify why it works, and apply it to your video in a way that doesn't interfere with your unique style.
The first step all comes down to the ability to recognize something called outliers. Outliers are those rare videos that blow up and far outperform most of the other videos on a channel, and outliers are absolute gold mines because they reveal what resonates most with viewers. So how do we find these outliers? One way is to simply spend more time on YouTube, both within your niche and outside of it. Spend 1 hour a day actively studying YouTube. Look at channels, pay attention to videos that get significantly more views than the channel's average, and screenshot and store those examples. Over time, you'll build up a swipe file of ideas, title structures, and thumbnail concepts you can use as the validated anchor for your own content. This approach works, but it can take a lot of time, which is why instead, many of the top YouTubers use a tool specifically designed to find outliers for you called Spotter Studio. I've been using Spotter Studio for many months now. It's my absolute pleasure to introduce them as the sponsor of this video. Here's how it works: Spotter Studio makes it easy to track outliers both within your niche and outside of it, allowing you to quickly identify outliers without spending hours manually searching. All you have to do is click this tab over here; you can search for the topic of your video directly in the search bar, and Spotter Studio will immediately give you outliers for that topic. But the real power comes from this button right here, because Spotter Studio links directly to your channel; it can instantly give you high-signal action outliers that are directly relevant to you, your target audience, and the content you make. From there, you can get as granular as you want with the filters. For Christy glances, I like to set the outlier index at a minimum of three, with the video views at a minimum of 100,000 views. But if you want to find outliers from specifically up-and-coming creators, put a cap on the subscriber count. And if you want to find specifically recent outliers, set the upload date a year back. If you find an outlier that inspires you, Spotter Studio not only makes it incredibly easy to save them to be viewed all in one place, effectively building your inspiration bank for you, but also allows you to immediately start brainstorming videos based off of the outliers you find. Spotter Studio has seriously saved me so much time, and it's an incredibly powerful tool for anything pre-production related beyond outliers as well. I'm talking idea generation, title structures, the best AI-generated thumbnail inspiration I have ever seen, and so much more. The team is constantly adding new features to give creators all the tools they need to plan killer content. And if you want to check it out, which I highly recommend that you do, you can use my link in the video description to try it out for 60 days free. Thank you so, so much to Spotter Studio for sponsoring this video.
But it's not enough to just find outliers. The second step is identifying why those outliers worked, and to do that, you need to break it down: Was it the idea that stood out by presenting a unique concept that grabbed attention? Was it the title that stood out by opening a strong curiosity gap the viewers couldn't resist? Or was it the thumbnail that stood out visually in a way that made people stop scrolling and click? The goal is to pinpoint what exact click element made that video so special so you can then take that element and apply it to your own style, which brings us to the third step in the three-part system for getting repeatable clicks: applying what works without losing your originality. And this is where a lot of creators mess up. They see a viral video, and instead of just taking inspiration from the part that matters, they copy the whole thing—the idea, the title, the thumbnail, everything—and they hope for the same result. But this rarely works, because cloning content makes you forgettable; you blend in instead of standing out. The trick is to only take one click element—the idea, the title structure, or the thumbnail concept—and adapt it to fit your own video recipe.
A great example of this is breakout creator, Dea, who brought in over 3 million views and scaled to over 100,000 subscribers last year by injecting a friendly, cozy "best friend who's been there and consistently delivers high-value gold nuggets" video recipe within the notoriously competitive business niche. And I want to direct you to this video, which brought in over 100,000 views; it was a huge outlier of her channel at the time. If you watch the video, it feels like classic Dea, but what might surprise you was that the thumbnail concept wasn't entirely original; it was inspired by this video from Ali Abdaal. But Dea didn't just copy Ali's video. She came across the outlier, and she identified its strong thumbnail concept. With that proven thumbnail concept as the validated anchor for her click system, she adapted the idea and title to fit her style and audience. She changed the scope, tweaked the title framing, and added her own personality and aesthetic editing, making it feel fresh and unique to her viewers. That's how you benefit from what's proven to work while still making it your own. Instead of just blindly following someone else's recipe, think like a chef who understands flavors and experiments with ingredients. Ask yourself: Why was this satisfying to watch? What emotional reaction did this trigger in me? And how could I recreate that in my own way? Which element should I keep, and what can I change to make this uniquely mine? By focusing on these questions, you ensure that you're keeping the essence of what makes that inspiration video great whilst also adding your own twist. And over time, as you repeat this process, you'll naturally develop your own click system; you'll get better at generating ideas that are grounded in proven patterns, crafting titles that spark curiosity, and creating thumbnails that stand out while staying true to your brand. And that's how you create content that not only has a high likelihood of success but that also feels unmistakably yours.
When you combine a solid click system with your unique video recipe and a well-defined channel strategy, you've got everything you need to not just grow but blow up your channel in a way that's scalable, sustainable, and built to last. But here's the real secret: while it might feel like all these breakout creators blew up overnight, they absolutely didn't. Tas has been making videos for over 4 years, Dea has been at it for three, and Mari started creating content on an entirely different channel when she was just 13. It takes time, and it's not a race. There's still plenty of time to blow up your channel. The best thing you can do is keep learning. You're going to post a lot of videos that don't take off, and that's okay. Every video is a lesson; every flop helps you refine your recipe, your process, and your approach. The creators who blew up didn't get it right on their first try, but they kept going; they kept posting, and they learned from every failure, and they improved from every small success. They kept building until they found their loyal audience. So keep going, keep creating, and who knows, maybe one year from now I'll be breaking down your channel. And as you refine your video recipe, if you're considering differentiating yourself through your editing style, I would highly recommend checking out this video where I break down exactly how to edit a killer video to blow up your channel. Otherwise, thank you so much for watching; like, subscribe if you can, keep creating, and I'll see you in the next video.