📊 ClassNotes 018: $1 vs $500,000 newsletter

The first time I encountered a Mr. Beast video was in 2017.

While working the second shift at my higher ed job, I scanned YouTube for a background video to play while I finished approving timesheets. That's when I saw this kid with a 23-hour and 48-minute video of him counting to 100,000. 

What in the world? 

But that is what Jimmy Donaldson does better than any YouTuber on the planet. He makes you pause at the absurdity of his claims.

And his titles play a major role in his success.

After the last newsletter’s dive into MFM’s topical strategy, I wanted to apply a similar technique to studying Mr. Beast’s titles.

Here’s what I did:

• Instead of sorting by the most popular, I focused on Mr. Beast's most recent videos since Donaldson is obsessed with data — I knew that every new video would be applying the lessons learned from previous ones. Therefore, newer titles would be more optimized than older ones.
• I scraped the last 50 titles and view counts into a Google Sheet.
• Next, I played with the data. I wanted to find patterns and common themes and see if word count or title length were important.
• The most interesting finding came in the form of word choice.

4 Key Findings of Mr. Beast's Content Strategy

Keep your titles brief and scannable.

Most of Mr. Beast’s most successful titles are only 5-6 words long and use very simple language. When run through a readability test, his content scored at a 5th-grade level or "Very easy to read."

From my work in education, I’d argue his titling is even lower than that – at perhaps a 2^nd or 3^rd-grade level, which is why he's able to attract millions of people across the age spectrum to his content.

A few tricks he uses include:

• Using nice round numbers (e.g., 100, 1,000, 500,000).
• Choosing short words that only have 1-2 syllables each.
• Leveraging hyperbole language to make his titles emotional and memorable (e.g., most, largest, giant).

Create experiential content.

Something happens in every Mr. Beast video. And he invites us to take part in it.

I really can’t overstate that first sentence enough. So much content online is merely a rehashing of what other people have done (Yes, even this newsletter at times 😅).

Would you rather learn interesting facts about Italy or see it? Would you rather hear about a successful business or watch them build it in real-time? 

Mr. Beast creates an experience for his viewers by taking them on a journey (I did this…) or by challenging them and recording it (You do this…). His content is a byproduct of the incredible feats they're attempting.

Integrate gaming elements for retention.

Retention is the most powerful metric on YouTube. The longer people stay watching your videos, the more YouTube will recommend them so that more people watch — fueling the cycle of growth.

Most people pursue retention through clever editing and storytelling. Both work but can be difficult to get right. Gaming, in many ways, is a shortcut to successful storytelling. The beginning, middle, and end are already laid out for you: 

• Introduce the game.
• Play.
• Crown the winner.

Donaldson's gaming language, such as "first," "last," "survive," and "escape" are staples of his top-performing videos because they get people to watch all the way through.

Lure people in with desirability.

There’s a reason so many of Mr. Beast’s videos revolve around huge sums of money ($500,000 or $1,000,000), beautiful cars (Lamborghini), and exotic places (Antarctica, remote islands) — it’s because people want these things. 

We want to be rich, have status, go on adventures, and Donaldson’s videos tease these desires.

We like seeing the things we want. It makes our brains feel like we have them, even if just for a moment. And you can do the same for your audience.

In two weeks, we'll close out 2023 with one of my all time favorite topics: pricing strategy.

— David

📚 Extra Credit

1. Why the vibes are off. My friend and fellow internet nerd, Will Patrick, recently wrote an incredible piece about Mr. Beast. I'll tease you with one of my favorite lines, "If we feel uncomfortable when we watch these videos, it might be because we see glimpses of ourselves."
2. Start a Newsletter with Ghost. If you want to start a newsletter like this one, I recommend using Ghost. It's easy to use and affordable for new creators ($9/mo).