We applied our strategy to this small YouTube channel. 6 months...

We applied our strategy to this small YouTube channel.

6 months later:

- $500/month - $10k/month
- 200k views/month to 2m views/month
- 237k views average

So f**k it… Here’s the strategy they used:

First of all, here's the actual channel.

They went through our accelerator, applied our strategy and ended up with basically 10x more views + revenue.

But what did we recommend that helped them grow so much?

Let's break this down into 4 main stages.

1. Identifying success indicators

Before we even apply a strategy, we actually have a formula for predicting success on a channel.

This is important, if you apply a world-class strategy to the wrong channel, nothing will really happen.

So what are these indicators?

To summarize them, here's what we look for.

- Clear defined niche
- Full time effort from founder
- Previous 'outlier' video in last 365 days
- 1m+ video view potential

You should cross-check these against your own channel, do you satisfy all 4?

2. Build around channel outlier

One of the biggest mistakes small creators make?

Not actually learning from their outliers and failing to double down on them.

This couldn't be more true for this channel. Take a look at this.

This video was posted right before the channel applied our strategy.

The crazy thing is, this did 286k views, but they went right back down to under 10k views a video right after.

Why? They didn't build around it and learn from it.

Whenever I am trying to build around an outlier, here's the guidelines I use

- Repeat the idea, but with a twist
- Use same thumbnail format
- Improve retention based on prev videos curve
- Don't leave it too long

Stupidly simple, but look at this....

They repeated this outlier using these principles... and it did....

1.9 million views.

Insane.

The funny thing is, is the creator was trying to change too much about the thumbnail to ''make it different''.

I told him to try make it as close as possible.

Ok now the creator had just make the biggest outlier in the channel's history, by far...

Now became the important part...

3. Turning an outlier into an entire strategy

When we see a video do 1.9m views, on a channel averaging just a few thousand, to me this isn't just an idea, this is a strategy.

it became crucial to actually dig into ''why'' this worked and how we can do more of it.

Here's some of the takeaways I have for why this video went so viral.

Now the goal was to use these insights to craft a plan to double down even further.

This is where it's important to start to try to think outside the box.

''Do more of these'' is a dumb strategy by itself.

How can we then build an entire strategy around this outlier?

My recommendation after studying this niche more was based on one hypothesis.

I believed it wasn't just the puppy that made this viral, but the actual animal interaction itself.

So the channel tried out this format with more twists.

Since posting the original outlier, the channel has actually repeated this format 10 times.

Making up basically 50% of the uploads.

it's a great question to ask yourself, what if you made your outlier... your entire strategy?

Ok... so the channel is ideating well around this outlier format.

It's still young, and over time it will need to ideate more viral formats.

There can be a danger of doing something too much (although most miscalculate when).

But ideas alone aren't enough....

4. Bringing optimization to a non-optimized niche

Ok I kinda hate the word optimized when it comes to youtube, but stick with me here.

Everyone knows the tactics people like Mark Rober or Ryan Trahan use to make viewers watch for longer.

But can this work in the dog niche?

In fact, the founder of this channel asked me this exact question in one of our sessions.

''No one else in the dog niche really uses storytelling or retention principles... does it just not work?''

It's a good question...

But this is one of the biggest leverages you can use with smaller niches on YouTube.

Often content in these niches isn't optimized because there's less competition pushing the bar higher.

Entertainment or gaming are ruthlessly competitive, the dog niche... not as much.

So there was an opportunity to start hitting better retention than the more established and large dog channels.

Here's some of the things the channel implemented.

None of these are mind blowing. They are simple things others just weren't doing.

So now not only was this channel doubling down on an outlier format... they were also improving retention on each video.

Just because others aren't doing something, don't just assume it's because it doesn't work..

After applying these 4 steps... the results speak for themselves.

I don't usually reveal client/students videos like this.

If you found this valuable, I'll do more.

I'll pick someone who likes + RT's the top tweet & literally help you come up with an outlier idea myself.

Huge credit goes to the creators of this channel.

Sometimes a talented and driven creator just needs direction. Our recommendations may seem simple, but a lot don't follow them!

I think they can become one of the biggest channels in their niche. 🚀

Closing in on 100k views in less than 2 hours.

I get it. You want more of these kind of threads!

Also releasing a great newsletter this week.

20,000 creators will receive it. Make sure you’re one of them: paddygalloway.com/join

300k views, 3000+ bookmarks.

Still crazy to see so many people interested in youtube and the strategy behind it these days.

I remember when the strategy space felt like I was alone with like 5 other people haha.

@SGCBarbierian and me chopping it up