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At first glance, this guy right here might just seem like a typical teenager, but what if I told you he's actually one of the smartest creators on YouTube? Thomas Simons, or as you might know him, TommyInnit,
Discover how TommyInnit gained 7 million YouTube subscribers in one year using storytelling, algorithm hacks, and branding.
Key Takeaways
- Strategic storytelling and dynamic editing are crucial for high viewer retention.
- Optimizing titles and descriptions with targeted keywords boosts video recommendations.
- Collaborations can accelerate growth but unique content and branding set creators apart.
- Consistent humor and engagement keep viewers returning and increase watch time.
- Understanding and leveraging YouTube’s algorithm is key to exponential channel growth.
What the video covers
- TommyInnit, aka Thomas Simons, grew from an unknown Minecraft YouTuber to 7 million subscribers in one year.
- His growth was not accidental but the result of a strategic plan and deep understanding of YouTube's algorithm.
- Tommy spent two years grinding with little growth before exploding in popularity after joining the Dream SMP Minecraft server.
- Despite many Dream SMP members, only Tommy and Dream experienced similar rapid growth, indicating unique tactics.
- Tommy mastered YouTube storytelling by keeping videos engaging, easy to follow, and using dynamic editing to maintain viewer retention.
- He uses text on screen to increase viewer focus by engaging multiple senses simultaneously.
- Tommy’s videos feature a consistent formula with humor spaced regularly to keep viewers entertained.
- He hacks YouTube’s recommendation system by optimizing titles with high-interest keywords and crafting keyword-dense video descriptions.
- Tommy understands the power of branding on YouTube, using consistent thumbnails and visual identity to build recognition.
- The video predicts Tommy could reach 20 million subscribers within a year if his growth continues.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction to TommyInnit and his rapid growth
- 00:37Tommy’s focus on understanding the YouTube algorithm
- 01:10Tommy’s early struggles and breakthrough with Dream SMP
- 01:55Tommy’s approach: learning from successful creators
- 02:39Factor 1: Mastering YouTube storytelling
- 03:24Editing techniques to maintain viewer engagement
- 03:57Optimizing content for new viewers
- 04:41Use of humor and pacing in videos
- 06:16Factor 2: Hacking YouTube’s recommended system
- 06:59Keyword strategies in titles and descriptions
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
has gone from being an unknown Minecraft YouTuber to having well over 7 million subscribers in just one year. A lot of people would look at growth like this and think it was just a fluke, but when you start to dig a little
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deeper, it becomes clear that this guy had a master plan to take over YouTube. I mean, just listen to him talk. This isn't a kid who stumbled on YouTube success by accident. I check my subscribers per day every day,
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and I check, you know, my viewers on the stream loads. I'm really into like learning about the algorithm and stuff and making sure it can be as big and like helping people and getting help. I don't want to get the green up arrows,
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but I want to work out how you get green up arrows and how you get these videos they're getting 10 million views. So what does a 16-year-old know about growing on YouTube that the rest of us
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don't? Well, in this video, we'll break down the truth behind TommyInnit's rise to the top of YouTube. There's more to this than meets the eye. By looking at Tommy's numbers, something pretty insane is revealed. He grinded for two years straight without
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seeing any real growth. After all, he was just another kid making Minecraft videos in his bedroom. But in July of last year, Tommy completely blew up. This was around the time he got involved with the Dream SMP, a Minecraft server started by this guy,
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giving Tommy the opportunity to collaborate with some of the biggest names in gaming. This could seem like a simple explanation for his growth. I can already hear people saying, well, that's simple, just have famous friends. But there's been over 30 other gamers in
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the Dream SMP, and none of them have experienced growth like Tommy. Only Dream himself is growing at a similar rate. So what is he doing differently? If you were to ask Tommy himself, he would probably give you a simple answer like this:
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Um, look what the people who you want to be like are doing. I think, why are they doing that? And then, and then do it, you know. But after I watched and analyzed all of his videos, a few interesting patterns began to
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emerge. Here are the three main factors behind Tommy's exponential growth. Let's figure this out. So a lot of you might be wondering, how did Tommy get the opportunity to collaborate with Dream in the first place? Dream is a nice guy, but he doesn't just
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make videos with anyone. Back when they made their first video together, Tommy had just under 200,000 subscribers. Sure, he was already seeing some decent growth, but it was nothing compared to what was just about to happen. I think even back then,
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Dream realized this guy was going to blow up. He noticed Tommy had a very unique attribute that would set him apart, and no, it's not his English accent. It's factor number one: Tommy has mastered YouTube storytelling. So at this stage, we all know keeping
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people on your video is very important for the YouTube algorithm, and so much of this comes down to using good storytelling techniques. There are three questions that every YouTuber should ask themselves about their videos: Is this an interesting idea? Is the video
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both entertaining and engaging? And is it easy to follow? This might seem overly simple, but for effective storytelling, you need all three. For example, you could make an entertaining video on a great idea, but if people can't follow along and
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they get confused, they'll just leave. YouTube in many ways is about making it as easy as possible for the viewer to keep watching your video. Tommy uses some interesting tactics with his editing to make sure he does this
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with every upload. Let's take a look at him in action by breaking down one of his videos. Now, contrary to popular belief, I am still 16.
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And I don't know how either. However, in Britain, when you're 16, you have to go to college. 16 to 18, you have to go to a college, and recently, about two months ago, I started college. The other thing that I
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am is a Minecraft player. Whether or not you're a YouTuber or not, being a Minecraft player is never the coolest thing. Now, today, I'm going to be telling you about how after only two weeks, my entire college found out that I am a Minecraft YouTuber.
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The first thing you'll notice is Tommy is terrified of leaving in any static footage. Every one to three seconds, he's introducing a new element or changing position to add movement. This instantly hooks you into the video. If you look away, you'll miss something.
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But he does this while still making it easy to follow. If you watch it back, he actually gave us a lot of context without ever feeling boring. He told us he was 16, he was in college, and he was a Minecraft YouTuber.
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This makes his content optimized for new viewers. It could be the first video from him you ever watch, and you won't feel lost. My intention was to keep the channel quiet because one thing you don't want your first impression to be to
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a load of new people is, hey, I'm a Minecraft YouTuber. Something else you might notice is Tommy's heavy use of text, and there's actually a psychological reason for this. Reading is an active activity, whereas listening and watching is passive. This basically means that by
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having text on screen at all times, Tommy is asking for more of your focus. You're watching, listening, and reading at the same time. In terms of keeping people entertained, Tommy has a formula. If you watch any of his Minecraft videos,
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they're edited so that there's a funny moment at least every one to two minutes. All the space in between builds up momentum for the joke, and when it happens, it's giving the viewer exactly what they came for.
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However, while Tommy's editing and storytelling means he's getting great retention, this doesn't explain how his videos are getting picked up in the first place, which takes us on to factor number two: Tommy is hacking YouTube's recommended system. A lot of people still think YouTube
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search is how new people get discovered, but for big growth, it's really all about getting recommended. This is when YouTube places your video as suggested beside someone else's or on the YouTube homepage, known as browse. All of my videos that have gone
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viral have done so by getting over 90% traffic from these two sources. So how does a video get picked up in the recommended system? Well, YouTube primarily looks at the data points from the video's performance, but your titles and descriptions can
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help you to categorize your video and recommend it to the right person. If we first look at Tommy's titles, you'll notice some obvious things. He uses the keyword Minecraft in pretty much every single gameplay video. The ones where he doesn't, he uses a big
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YouTuber's name like Dream or Technoblade instead. These are high-interest keywords. By associating his videos with them, it's telling YouTube that this is a video on a topic that will appeal to a lot of people. But his descriptions are where he does
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something a little more intriguing. In the first line, he'll always repeat the title with different wording and name drop anyone featured in the video. However, it's actually when you scroll down that we discover something curious. In every description, he includes two
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blocks of text like this, and when you read them, they don't actually make much sense, especially this second paragraph. This is Tommy finding a way to include extra words related to his niche. He's basically writing sentences using only
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high-interest keywords. For example, including the words "but lava rises" might give this video a better chance of being suggested next to an upload like this. By shoving as many high-interest keywords into his title and description as possible,
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Tommy's trying to increase the chances it gets recommended to more people. It's almost like a sign to YouTube that this video is going to be relevant to a larger audience. You'll notice a lot of other people in the Dream SMP also do this.
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In theory, this could be creating a recommended loop of the
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something that only the very top youtubers understand and that is factor number three tommy in it is a branding genius if you look at tommy's channel page the first thing you'll probably notice is all the thumbnails look exactly the same he has the same
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expression and even wears the same t-shirts now this might confuse some people but it comes down to tommy understanding the power of his brand branding in business is usually done with a logo but on youtube it's done with thumbnails
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using a similar style for each video builds a level of familiarity with his viewers now when he uploads there's zero decision making time his audience sees and clicks right away another thing that helps build his brand is his relatability
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if you think about his ideal target audience it's probably someone around his age the unique thing about tommy is most people his age would have no idea how to grow a youtube channel like he's done tommy has been able to brand himself as
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a relatable teenager while all the while possessing the youtube knowledge of someone much more experienced now i'm going to give a prediction on where tommy will be in a year's time but first i've got something else to share if you're like me seeing this sort
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of rapid growth motivates you to grow your own channel so what if i told you you could learn from a youtuber with over 13 million subscribers for free well that's possible with today's video sponsor skillshare skillshare is an online learning
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community that i've been using for years basically anytime i want to learn something new i search it on skillshare and they've got me covered recently i was surprised to discover that the one and only mkbhd just launched his own class called youtube
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success he breaks down his tips and tricks for getting more views and beating the algorithm people would literally pay thousands of dollars for this advice how often does one of the biggest creators in history share all their youtube secrets
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also if you play minecraft that are interested in how tommy in it uses mods you should check out this class here it teaches you exactly how to make a minecraft mod from scratch skillshare is very affordable as it is
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but for you guys i've got a special link for a free trial to the premium version you can sign up in literally 30 seconds with the link in the description and it really supports the videos i make at no cost to you
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so what is my prediction for tommy and its future growth i think he could easily be sitting on 20 million subscribers this time next year but what do you think if you enjoyed this video remember to subscribe because
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i've got the worst ratio of non-subscribers on all of youtube also if you want to connect with me make sure to follow me on instagram and twitter linked below for now though i'll see you in the next one
Topics:TommyInnitYouTube growthMinecraft YouTuberDream SMPYouTube algorithmcontent strategyvideo storytellingYouTube brandingsubscriber growthPaddy Galloway
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