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 from which you can take inspiration.
Title framework: So, you want to [action and entity]
Why this works:
- desire — there are a lot of people who would like to learn to code and build apps or build software businesses.
- beginner-oriented — 95% of audiences are beginners, so making beginner-oriented content can get you more clicks/views.
- thumbnail — the thumbnail is unconventional from videos like this. This helps get attention to the thumbnail and the words like “coding“ talk directly to the people who the creator is targeting. The thumbnail is simple, clear, and out of the box.
How do you come up with out-of-the-box thumbnails?
Well, you need to look beyond your niche.
People are told to find thumbnails that work in their niche and try to make something similar but that floods the platform with similar-looking thumbnails in a niche.
So the solution is to look at thumbnails that also worked in other niches. Look at movie trailer thumbnails, trending video thumbnails, etc.
Seriously, movie/music producers spend lakhs to design the right thumbnail/cover images so you can observe and learn a lot from them.
Then try to find elements that worked in them and create your own from that.
Examples of titles:
- So, you want to start Instagram?
- So, you want wider shoulders?
- So, you want to travel the world?
- So, you want to learn violin?
Title framework: I’m [older age]. If you’re in your [younger age]’s watch this
Why this works:
- specific audience — It talks to a specific age group, calling someone out is the best way to get their attention, like their name/groups they subscribe to/their age, etc.
- curiosity — the best part about this video and why it works is the difference between ‘old’ and ‘young’ age. This instantly makes the audience think that there is a lot of advice and insights that this guy can give them and it also catches on their desire to improve.
- scarcity — texts like “It’s too late“create scarcity, they want to know what this guy has to say before it is too late again.
I have seen videos like this getting more views, here is an example of someone using the same idea to make a version of their own, just 2 days ago.
Examples of titles:
You can only frame this title in a couple of ways so I’m not going to give any examples for this.
How to make an educational video that is too satisfying
Here is an analysis of a YouTube short that got my attention a few days ago. The video has generated over 1.8 million likes and 65 million views when writing this letter. And today we are gonna see why it went viral.
Do me a favor and watch the above video and come back to read further (please don’t get lost in scrolling I share some important tips below).
Hook Framework: Show something satisfying/shocking that is related to the video (it shouldn’t be bait)
Examples:
- Could be showing something cool about a science experiment/any work that you are doing and educating the audience based on that.
Why does this work?
- This is basic human psychology, if they see something interesting, satisfying, or shocking it gets their attention.
- Don’t drag: the one thing I love about this video is, that it uses the time effectively explains the concept, and doesn’t drag the video too much hence it will get more rewatches.
- Visual Variety: There are only 2 clips used to make this video. This shows that you don’t need to always show a clip every two seconds to get someone’s attention. Use the visual variety that you have sensibly. Don’t need to overdo it and make quick cuts if the video doesn’t demand it.
That is it for this week, if you found this helpful, here is the previous letter.
Or check out all my letters from here. See you next Monday, God willing.
– Sayar