Transcription
I studied the last 20 videos for Mr. Beast's other channel, Beast Reacts, and in this video, I'm going to show you how he applies the winning formula from his main channel to get millions of views on this way simpler style of content. You could actually make.
And the first thing that stuck out like a sore thumb is that even though the Beast Reacts videos are just two guys in a room chatting, he still manages to make his topics just as interesting with a fraction of the work. And he does this by finding visually interesting, unusual, and exciting things to make the topic of his video. And then he just simply features that interesting, unusual, or exciting thing in the thumbnail. I mean, look at that. Who could ignore that cake image? And that's why you should always be on the lookout for incredible stories in your niche that are out of the ordinary. Because when you find one, it's potentially accompanied by a ready-made, highly clickable thumbnail too.
And being out of the ordinary is a big part of the formula. The next thing I notice kind of surprised me. Jimmy doesn't actually mention in his titles that they are reaction videos. The expression on his face kind of hints to it. And that makes sense to me because you have to work out the most clickable thing about your content is to your viewers and then make it stick out to them really fast. And in this case, mentioning their reaction videos will actually get in the way. Also, every title on this channel is short and sweet, and it just simply says what the amazing content inside is, which works so much better than a title like this, which of course is the same system he uses on his main channel.
Now, of course, getting a click is one thing, but once you have a viewer in, you've really got to keep them watching as long as you can. Now, Mr. Beast once said, "You don't need an intro. That's what your title is for." But keeping an intro short is very tough. And how short is short? To try and give you more accurate answers, I studied the 20 video intros, and this is what I found. On average, his videos show a clip relevant to the title in the first 4.95 seconds. In other words, he shows the viewers what they came to watch really fast. There's no introduction to who he is, there's no backstory or easing people into the content. In many cases, he doesn't even say that he'll be reacting. It just gets straight into the interesting information that made you want to click. "These are the most expensive items in the world ever. This thing right here costs one million dollars."
Now, you might notice there were three videos on my spreadsheet where he had longer intros. These were all from the same type of video where he sets up how the concept of it will work because they're gonna play a game in it. So even though his videos tend to start very fast, sometimes you still can't avoid a short setup. What's crazy is, without those three, the intros were on average 3.1 seconds long, and many were just one. So I think you should try this when you make your next video. Keep your intro under two sentences, ideally just one, and then just get going.
Now, the next part of the formula is really smart, and it's something any creator can take advantage of. But before we move on to that, I need to show you what I found about their editing. In the first 20 seconds, they were on average 14.75 cuts. Actually, I tried to count every text cut and effect that he used, and I literally couldn't keep up with it. So what does that teach you? Well, actually, it teaches you not to edit like Mr. Beast. Mr. Beast has been making content for years, and he knows this style works for his viewers. But if yours are older than his, say in their 50s, it's too fast. The older generations prefer a slightly slower pace. And if you're trying to teach someone complex math, well, that's not going to work either. So editing is about creating a style and pace that works for your viewers.
But, but, but, we can still learn a lot from the way he keeps people's attention, even if your own pace is a lot slower. Which moved me on to analyzing the very smart way he uses text. Look at this. You're reading this text, aren't you? And that's because it's very hard not to. And when you listen, watch, and read, it makes your brain more involved with the content, and that's great for your attention. And even the way his text enters the screen is interesting. Look, it suddenly pops on. It's not static like this. It has energy. But it's not a case of animating subtitles throughout your whole video. What you tend to find on Mr. Beast Reacts is at the start of his videos, there's a lot of text used, and it's very high-paced. And then as it gets going, the use of text slows down a little, and he then uses it sparingly to emphasize certain points. Exactly the same as his main channel.
The next part of his formula I found was effects, but not mind-blowing, high-budget effects. A lot of the time, they're just backing up what's being said. For example, Jimmy says, "We're going to be reacting to superheroes in real life." And look, all he's done is added a few superheroes there. So you can download images like this and then just put them into your editing timeline and use a simple transition to bring them in and out of shot so they have that movement that keeps them interesting. Again, he does it here when he says, "This guy that has superhuman strength," and again when he says, "Craziest cakes."
Before we move on to the most important part of Mr. Mr. Beast's formula, there's a few other things I've noticed about the editing. And the first one comes with a cautionary note for newer creators. And that's movement. Quick zoom effects and transitions where things fly in and out of the screen, and the camera shakes about, and it tracks the movement of their faces, which gives it a lot of energy. But for many small or new creators, this is going to be something you've got to work up to, as it can require a lot more skill to pull off. It's actually very easy to misuse transitions and movement and wreck content.
And then the second thing, and this is really important, is that they cut out so much content. This is a reacts channel, and you nearly never see an entire video they react to in full. It's just the highlight of a clip, then their reaction. And that's what's crazy. Even though these videos they react to are funny and amazing, they still can't risk a moment where the content gets dull. So they have to cut them down. So when editing, you need to constantly ask yourself, "Is this getting boring?" Or, "If I deleted this scene here, would it still make sense and flow a lot better?" What's more, even when they only use a few seconds of the content they're reacting to, they still add jump cuts to that and simple effects. Because although using footage on top of your videos makes it all more interesting, it can still get boring. So little animations and subtle explosions are a fast way to level up your entertainment factor.
And now we have the powerful part of the formula Jimmy brings over from his main channel, and it's one that if you use it in your own videos, you will always hold people's attention longer. And that's storytelling. So one type of content they make is a "try not to laugh" challenge. It's still a reaction video, but it's dressed up in a slightly different format. And these videos always start by setting up the challenge, and then Mr. Beast gives the challenge some stakes to create tension and anticipation. And pretty much everything you've ever watched on TV or film has stakes. The Avengers, the planet was at stake. Toy Story, getting left behind was at stake. And look at the videos on Mr. Beast's other channel. Every video has stakes, especially his new one where the world is at stake if we don't clear up the oceans, which is why you should donate to this fundraiser. Seamless. So not only do you enjoy the content they react to and the way they react to it, but you want to see how much money they make, or worse, how much money they lose. It's multi-layered. Layer one: interesting content. Layer two: their reactions. Layer three: a challenge. Layer four: stakes. And you can bring that over to regular content too, just as he does on his reacts channel.
Now, before I go on to address the massive problem with all of this that you might be thinking, there's one last part of the formula which is crucial for even the simplest videos, and that's personality. Personality is the reason PewDiePie can get 100 million subscribers sitting in a chair, and why videos of two guys in a room can get so many views. It's the engine of Beast's YouTube formula because without it, nothing else would be as effective. And that might mean the odd hint of silliness or showing your more vulnerable moments. But either way, YouTube is not the place to be shy. The more you can openly be yourself, the better, because it's what humans bond with, and that alone can grow a channel.
Now, there's tons to learn from Mr. Beast, but I couldn't really ignore the elephant in the room. Mr. Beast could post a blank video and still get a million views. And often that's what makes people say, "Well, of course these things work for him. It's Mr. Beast. It won't work for me." But actually, the only reason he has such a devoted community that watch everything he makes is because of the effort he's put into his content over the years and the time he took to establish what works for his viewers. No matter what Mr. Beast does, he gives it his all, and he focuses on making everything incredibly interesting from the second you see the thumbnail to the end of the video. And that is what YouTube is about. He could have easily made a reaction video and said, "That'll do." But "that'll do" just won't do on this platform. So to become the next Mr. Beast, or just get better, ask yourself every time you make a video, "How can I make this one slightly better than the last?" And then this video here will help you take more steps towards doing that by following in the footsteps of another incredible YouTuber that you shouldn't ignore.
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