Jimmy Donaldson, better known as Mr Beast, has become a household name and the undisputed king of YouTube. With over 320 million subscribers and videos that routinely garner hundreds of millions of views, Mr Beast has cracked the code of viral content creation. But his success is no accident – it’s the result of relentless optimization, meticulous attention to detail, and an obsession with data.
In a rare behind-the-scenes look at Mr Beast’s operation, his thumbnail and ideas lead Chucky, also a co-founder in his data business Viewstats, gave a presentation at VidSummit 2024 revealing the data-driven approach that has propelled Mr Beast to the top. Here are the 8 key secrets that any creator can use to boost their own YouTube success:
1. Break Everything Down to First Principles
At Mr Beast, no detail is too small to analyze. As Chucky explains:
“We have a mindset that’s being trained. It’s called first principle thinking. And you want to break everything down to the first principles. The number one thing with data is, what got you that data?”
Every element of a video – from the idea to the title to the thumbnail to the intro – is broken down and analyzed. This allows the team to reverse engineer why certain videos succeed and optimize future content.
2. Use Data to Find Viral Ideas
Mr Beast doesn’t just rely on creative inspiration – he uses hard data to identify promising video concepts. Chucky revealed that they use a tool called “outliers” to find standout videos in any niche:
“We use outliers a lot. We constantly look at different channels. We’re constantly looking at the copy and post and figuring out why did that perform well?”
When they spot a video that massively outperforms a channel’s typical metrics, they analyze why it went viral and how they can adapt the concept.
3. Combine Interests for Massive Reach
To maximize potential viewership, Mr Beast often combines multiple popular topics. Chucky calls this “interest market cap”. For example:
“When you combine the market cap of a hydraulic press versus a Lamborghini… Let’s say the interest market cap for hydraulic press is 50 million views in the last 28 days. And for Lamborghini, it’s 30 million views, but when you combine that, that’s 80 million.”
By merging multiple high-interest topics, MrBeast can appeal to a huge combined audience as seen in this video.
4. Create Evergreen Content, Not Just Trends
While trending topics can drive short-term views, Mr Beast focuses on creating “evergreen” content that will continue to perform for years. As Chucky notes:
“A lot of this content right now is gonna be here on YouTube for five years still getting views. And I think if you look at TV shows and even music, [much of it] came out 10 years ago, 20 years ago.”
This strategy of building a strong back catalog of timeless content ensures steady long-term growth.
5. Optimize Thumbnails Relentlessly
Mr Beast is famous for his eye-catching thumbnails, and for good reason. The team uses data to constantly refine and test thumbnail designs. Chucky revealed they even have a tool to search and analyze thumbnails across YouTube:
“We have a tool for these tasks that you can search by thumb. You can type in any keywords. And this is how we also get inspiration. It’s actually the main way of inspiration nowadays.”
They’ll create multiple thumbnails for each video and closely track performance to identify winning formulas.
6. Align Intros with Thumbnails
In the age of autoplay, the first few seconds of a video are crucial. Mr Beast ensures the intro of each video delivers on the promise of the thumbnail:
“If your thumbnail is really interesting … and the thing that you promised in the thumb that got you to stop scrolling is now in the beginning of the video, [the viewer is] more likely to click on it because they truly believe that what you’re talking about is gonna be in the video.”
This builds trust with viewers and improves retention.
7. Double Down on Winners (But Innovate)
When Mr Beast finds a winning concept, he doesn’t just repeat it – he finds ways to evolve and elevate it. Chucky gave the example of their “Last to Leave” series:
“The first one we did five years ago was the last to leave the circle. We have four people in a circle competing to leave… Then we did last to leave the circle with 100 people. Now therefore with 100 people that completely changes the content. It’s a bigger circle. We’re able to make better content.”
By iterating on successful formats while adding new twists, Mr Beast keeps viewers engaged.
8. Use Data, But Trust Your Instincts
While data drives much of Mr Beast’s strategy, Chucky emphasized the importance of balancing analytics with creative instincts:
“It’s OK to go against the data. And sometimes data’s going to say one thing, when, in reality, it’s better to kind of check out the content yourself. The data is one thing for patching, but you have to be the one that decides whether you want to include it in your content or not.”
Mr Beast’s team isn’t afraid to take creative risks, even when the data might suggest otherwise.
By never settling, Mr Beast ensures his content keeps getting better and reaching more viewers. These data-driven principles can be applied by anyone looking to grow on YouTube. By taking a methodical, analytical approach to content creation – while still maintaining creative spark – creators can optimize their way to greater success.
