The Godfather of YouTube Strategy

Patty Galloway is widely considered the top YouTube strategist in the world.
As the founder and CEO of Creator Kids, he has worked with some of the biggest names on YouTube, helping clients like MrBeast, jesser, and Ryan Trahan collectively earn over 750 million views per month.

What sets Patty apart is where he focuses his efforts – in pre-production. “I think a huge amount of it comes down to where they’re actually allocating their time in the video making process,” he explains.

For most creators, pre-production – coming up with ideas, titles, and thumbnails – is an afterthought. But for Patty, it’s priority number one.

Spend More Time in Pre-Production

When Patty analyzes a channel, the first thing he looks at is how much time is actually spent on ideation.

He often finds creators spending just an hour brainstorming ideas each week, out of a 40 hour work week. “You’re spending one hour of that time on the actual most important thing,” he points out.

The ideas themselves lay the foundation for how successful a video can be. A half-baked idea won’t perform as well as one thought through completely.

Yet creators frequently neglect this crucial early stage. Patty’s goal is to shift mindsets and establish “a culture towards making content where we analyze what we make and why.”

What Makes a Great Video Idea?

To develop strong ideas, Patty recommends establishing clear criteria. Some factors to consider include:

• Does this idea excite us to make it? Don’t film something just for views if you’re not passionate.
• Is it feasible to produce? Can you reasonably pull it off?
• Is there evidence it could get a certain number of views? Look to your past performance or competitors.
• Will it appeal to a wide percentage of your audience – both core fans and newcomers?
  

Ideas should satisfy as many criteria as possible. For example, Jesse’s hit “5 NBA Games in 50 Hours” took a format core fans loved (basketball videos) and scaled it up in a unique, shareable way.
It appealed broadly rather than narrowly focusing on established fans alone.

The Importance of Packaging

Once an idea is selected, the crucial “packaging” phase begins. Patty views YouTube as “a game of clicks and watches.” Clicking a video is approximately 40% of the battle, yet creators often allot just 3-5% of time to thumbnails and titles.

Packaging is about optimizing everything presented to the viewer before they press play. This includes:

• Titles – Keep them short (under 50 characters ideally), simple, punchy, and readable globally
• Thumbnails – Focus 80-90% on intriguing scenarios/images over design. Show something worth clicking for like danger, curiosity, etc. Limit text but use when beneficial.
  

The goal is to portray the video’s feeling and make its promise of value obvious at a glance.

Thorough packaging can turn mediocre ideas into successes and elevate great ideas even further.

Developing Titles and Thumbnails

When brainstorming titles, Patty recommends crafting 20-30 variations to choose the strongest.
With tools like Anthropic’s ChatGPT, variations are effortless to spin off in real-time.

He suggests narrowing options through consensus amongst your team and external folks like other YouTubers.
Also reference what’s worked historically for your channel and competitors.

Some key signs of a strong title include:

• Simple and straightforward
• Punchy and emotive language
• Short (under 50 characters ideally)
• Globally understandable
  

For thumbnails, the psychology and curiosity behind the image matter most over technical design flourishes.

Action-based entertainment thumbnails can show something happening, while other genres open curiosity loops through text or implied situations. Even “boring” topics like tutorials can portray excitement.

Final Thoughts on How to Go Viral on Youtube

With a thorough development process focused on pre-production, even average ideas can thrive and great ones soar to new heights.

By allocating more effort upfront to ideation, packaging, testing variations, and strategic planning, creators gain a major advantage in the click-based game of YouTube success.

In the end, “the idea is more important than everything” according to Patty. Proper packaging and development take promising concepts to the next level.

Following Patty’s practices will undoubtedly strengthen any YouTube channel over the long run.

(Source: The Creator Science Podcast Featuring Paddy Galloway)