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How to Be a Great YouTube Creator: Tips from MrBeast

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TubeBuddy
February 10, 2020
MrBeast

Todd, product manager for recommendations and the homepage on YouTube, sat down with MrBeast to talk about how to get more views and win on “the algorithm.” Here’s some of the top tips they covered!

They start by covering some of MrBeast’s background and that he started making YouTube videos with an old iPhone until he could invest his earnings into better recording equipment.
Tips for success:

  • Tell people why they should watch your video, at the start of the video. Don’t start the video with some random or unrelated shot.
    This helps keep viewers engaged and retain them longer than the first 10 seconds or so of the video – which helps ensure its success.
  • Don’t blame “the algorithm.” Instead, dig into your channel’s analytics and find what’s successful or not. Figure out what YouTube “wants.” 
  • Focus on Click-Through-Ratios and Viewer Retention. These are the two key metrics to making sure your video is successful on the platform.
  • The Recommendations team is also now working on including viewer satisfaction with videos as a factor in how much it gets recommended. This is currently done with surveys on the homepage that ask you if you liked a recent video you’ve watched, what you liked most about it, and so on. 
  • Evaluate if the video you’re working on is something a viewer will watch all the way through, and if they will enjoy it enough to click on your next video when YouTube recommends it. Keeping viewers happy and returning is key to success.
  • MrBeast says he always makes sure that every shot or scene in a video is worked on so that it all makes an impact. Filming and editing both involve making sure there’s never a dull moment in the video. 
  • Establish some sort of “payoff” for the end of the video that keeps viewers watching the full video.
  • Look at your audience retention graph, find common points where viewers drop-off, write them down and don’t do whatever caused the drop-off again.
  • Spend an hour a day brainstorming ideas for new videos or new angles to approach videos you want to make.
  • Create an environment that keeps you wanting to come back and work on videos. This is both the physical environment you work in, but also the people you work with.
  • Connect with other creators and work with them. Don’t spend too long just working by yourself.

MrBeast runs a very successful channel and while some tips are easier said than done (I’ve spent no shortage of time trying to find specific things that cause viewer drop-off to no avail) hopefully these tips and his approach can give you insight on how to run a more successful channel!
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EposVox
Tech educator, ’90s and ’00s Nostalgia Nerd, Pixel and Framerate Junkie. 12 years on YouTube is a loooong time.
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