Speaker A
This has been the craziest YouTube journey of all time. I think we might actually be the fastest channel to hit 4 million subscribers in 3 months with like 50 videos. Yes, you just heard that right. This kid in his bedroom who makes random videos about Discord conversations has built one of the fastest growing YouTube channels in history. And the best part is, this was all planned. You see, up until a few months ago, Beluga was gaining about 800 subscribers a month. But then in June, this happened. Beluga, with his infamous cat profile picture, suddenly started getting recommended all across YouTube. What makes it more interesting is the reasons for this sudden growth are very hard to identify. His thumbnails are often poorly cropped and blurry, and his videos are mainly just Discord conversations with no voiceover. I mean sure, it's funny, but how can a made-up Discord conversation between two cats have 25 million views? What are we missing? What could Beluga possibly have discovered about YouTube in June that led to this growth? Well, I decided to dig deeper into Beluga's backstory, and it shouldn't surprise you that this guy is a lot smarter than it seems. In fact, Beluga has pretty much discovered the new blueprint for how to grow a YouTube channel. He used the three-step system to beat the algorithm. The thing is, when Beluga first started his channel, it was very unclear what his strategy was. I mean, his first videos included a reaction to a man being attacked by a goose, a random Minecraft documentary, and a commentary video on Dream. The really interesting thing was hidden inside this video here. On the surface, it may look like a simple explanation of why he was changing his name to Beluga, but within these 67 seconds, it became clear that he knew something that no one else did. I changed my channel name from Survival Mode to Beluga because I think it's a better name, and also starting next week, I'm going to post some of the best videos on the entire internet. I have some huge plans for the channel, and I really appreciate your support. If this channel blows up in the future, you might want to like the video and comment now to prove you were here when it started. I mean, having confidence is one thing, but the way Beluga spoke here made me realize something. This wasn't his first rodeo, which takes us on to step number one. Beluga had a catalyst. Right now, a lot of people say YouTube is too competitive, and there is some truth behind this. There have never been more creators competing for the same audience. But here's the good thing: YouTube's algorithm rewards great videos. Now, that might sound overly simple, but when you strip back all the noise, its purpose is to show intriguing and well-made videos to the right audience. As you may know, YouTube measures this with two main metrics: click-through rate, i.e., the percentage of people who click when shown the video, and average view duration, which is how long these people end up watching the video for. Here's the difficulty though: how can YouTube tell if a video is good if no one sees it in the first place? It's a chicken and egg scenario. The first 1,000 viewers are always the hardest to capture. Some creators target search using keywords. Some try to make videos about current trends, hoping to get swept up into the wave of content. And then there's the shortcut strategy that Beluga used: utilizing a growth catalyst. You see, the truth is this wasn't Beluga's first channel. In fact, his YouTube journey had actually begun in 2019 when he launched a channel about lucid dreaming. After growing this channel to almost 1 million subscribers, it was clear Beluga wanted a new challenge. He decided to go all in on cross-promotion. He mentioned and linked his new channel at every opportunity. He also made community posts about it and even funneled traffic to his Beluga videos through end screens. This promotion definitely helped, but it only brought in a few thousand viewers. So why was it so significant? Well, it was the spark that lit the fire. Now YouTube had an audience to test Beluga's videos with. They could show these viewers the videos, and if the click-through rate and average view duration was good, the algorithm would kick in and start pushing the videos to more people. If a channel is set up in the right way, an injection of people can lead to a snowballing effect. But there's a problem. You see, a lot of people think getting a shoutout from a larger channel is like hitting the jackpot, but if the content you're making isn't already optimized, it can have the opposite effect. So how did Beluga make videos that the algorithm loved? Well, that takes us on to step two. Beluga became the session time king. We all know watch time is very important to grow on YouTube, so how can a guy who makes two and three minute videos be getting so much promotion? Well, that's because Beluga makes bingeable loops of content. The videos may be short, but the average session time is long. This phrase is used to describe the total duration that someone is watching YouTube content, not just one video. Think about this from YouTube's perspective. They could show a viewer a 10-minute video, and they might click off halfway through and leave the platform. This would result in just 5 minutes of session time. But if they show the same viewer a Beluga video, they might go on to watch three more all the way through, leading to a total session time of over 8 minutes. This is why the length is irrelevant if you can make videos that people watch from start to finish. So how does Beluga do this? Let's take a look at this video here and break it down in action. The first thing I want you to pay attention to is Beluga's constant use of sound effects. [Music] Okay. [Music] In these opening 10 seconds, there were 11 different sound changes. The Discord pinging almost forces you to stay engaged. The explosion sound effects and music add variety, and the awkward pauses emphasize the humor. It's very hard to feel bored with so much happening. A lot of creators focus all their attention on the visual edits and not enough on the sound. Also, you might have noticed just how fast-paced the messages appear and disappear. See if you can follow this conversation without having to rewind. [Music] The main reason Beluga does this is to keep the viewer as an active watcher. Beluga demands your full attention. If you look away for even a second, you will miss vital context. There's also a bit of a sneakier reason he does this. The speed that messages go by means you'll naturally have to pause and rewind a few times per video. This can lead to spikes in retention and actually count for a longer average view duration. But the real genius comes from Beluga's storytelling. I know on the surface he might not seem like the Shakespeare of our times, but hear me out. Each of his videos follows the same storytelling template: a relatable situation is presented, the main characters clash or there's a misunderstanding, new characters enter the conversation, and then the video builds towards a punchline. This is his skeleton for all his Discord skits. The story is crafted to constantly give the viewer new stimulus. YouTube videos can't just have a beginning, middle, and end these days. There need to be multiple moving parts. Everything we've discussed so far is important, but there's something missing that, in my opinion, is the main reason Beluga gained 4 million subscribers in 3 months, which takes us on to step 3. Beluga discovered the ultimate title and thumbnail strategy. Let's start by looking at the titles. Beluga always covers topics that are very relatable. Even the titling style of "when you" is very inclusive. He never writes a title that limits the video's potential. Every single one, in theory, could appeal to millions of viewers. Also, notice how concise they are. On average, Beluga's titles are 33 characters long. For context, this is almost half the average title length on YouTube. This is actually a competitive advantage. Viewers can fully understand the concept of the video in just a glance. Another r
