Everyone steals ideas.
That shot you saw in the movie, that idea you heard somewhere, that product that solves a problem, even this newsletter.
Most creators draw inspiration from which they create something new.
There is no shame in that.
So, here are some Viral YouTube titles, thumbnails, and Instagram reels that you can take inspiration from.
Title framework: I [activity] for you.
Why this works:
- open loop — the main reason I think this worked well is the thumbnail.
The text on the thumbnail is short, clear, and ends with an open loop, leaving the viewer wanting to know more about the topic.
- trend hacking— using something popular in your niche to drive views.
This is a new book in the business niche written by the founder of AppSumo and entrepreneur Noah Kagan (check out his channel it is great). So it is already popular among her ideal audience.
The book is well highlighted because of the contrast from the background.
- negative — using and highlighting words like NEVER in the thumbnail is a great strategy because people would like to avoid them.
Examples of titles:
- I used 50 AI tools for you.
- I went to Thailand for you.
- I watched The Fall Guy for you.
- I cracked the YouTube algorithm for you.
Title framework: Asking [expert/authority] [their secrets]
Why this works:
- desire — everyone wants to be like the experts in the video and wants to know their secrets. So they would click the video.
- authority — you should be doing this with experts or authoritative figures in your niche that people want to listen to.
- random interview style — I saw this style of content getting popular a couple of years ago (check out Noah Kagan’s channel).
And now also people are creating these kinds of interviews relevant to their niche
Examples of titles:
- Asking bodybuilders how they bulk and cut
- Asking strangers to rate my paintings
- Asking rich people what they do for a living
- Asking web developers how they got a job
Using trends to get views on Instagram
Here is an analysis of an IG reel that got my attention some weeks back.
Check out this IG reel: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6OqByDvuUI/
- trend hacking — this reel is based on a trending shot from the movie Avesham by Fahad Fasil.
People have taken the trending audio and the scene to create their unique version for their niche. - reach more people — Here the creator uses it for entertaining content in his niche so the video reaches even more people outside his niche just because it is entertaining.
- simple — I have seen some videos doing the same trend but getting less views because they use too much text, making it hard to keep track of what is happening in the video.
That is it for this week, if you found this helpful, here is the previous letter.
-Sayar