This YouTube Channel Skyrocketed to 450k subscribers with Just 11 videos

This YouTube Channel has skyrocketed to 450k subscribers with just 11 videos. Every video has reached over a million views, with their lowest at 800k.

Here's how XKCD's "What If?" video ideas, titles, and thumbnails are helping them with explosive growth:

Let's break it down👇

‍

‍

Leveraging Existing Popularity

- Brand Recognition: The series is based on the bestselling book "What If?" by Randall Munroe.

‍

When I first saw the YouTube channel, I recognised it instantly because I had seen this book in every bookshop in the UK for the last ten years!

‍

‍

- Familiar Artwork: There is clearly recognisable branding in the channel's titles and thumbnails as they mimic the style of the book and the XKCD webcomic, creating instant recognition with fans.

They even use the 'What if?' logo in the bottom left-hand corner and use brand familiarity to get clicks.

‍

Read this tweet (https://x.com/WhiffenYT/status/1805211802621358511) if you want to know more about brand familiarity.

‍

Crafting Irresistible Titles

‍

- Curiosity-Driven Questions: Titles like "What if you swam in a nuclear storage pool?" and "What if everyone jumped at once?" ignite curiosity.

They're reminiscent of VSauce and Veritassium titles that do the exact same thing:

‍

‍

- Extreme Scenarios: These hypothetical questions push the boundaries of imagination, making viewers eager to know the answers.

This is largely why the book has been a bestseller for many years!

‍

Visual Simplicity

‍

- Hand-Drawn Style: The simple, hand-drawn animation is both nostalgic and accessible to a broad audience (more on that in a mo).

We've seen this style make a comeback recently with channels like Easy Actually ()(https://x.com/WhiffenYT/status/1760585636916896163) having explosive growth.

- Clean Thumbnails: They use minimalistic designs that stand out in a sea of overly complex thumbnails.

‍

Broad Appeal

‍

- Wide Audience Range: The video ideas that they're picking are fantastic because they're so broad they appeal to both young and old viewers.

Popular 00s shows like MythBusters and How It's Made were huge because they had a massive total addressable market, and that's exactly what we're seeing with XKCD's What If?

‍

Short, Engaging Content

‍

- Brevity: Videos are concise, averaging 4-5 minutes, I found myself really engaged and never felt like the video was dragging.

- High Retention: Shorter videos edited in the style they've perfected help prevent boredom and encourage viewers to watch.

I imagine that due to the short videos, they're getting pretty high retention until the end and most likely encouraging binge-watching sessions across all their videos.

‍

Here are Some Action Points for You:

‍

Whilst you may not have a famous book or comic, there are a few things you can learn from their channel:

Leverage Familiarity: Use recognizable styles or themes from popular sources that are relevant within your channel’s niche.

Spark Curiosity: Pose intriguing, hypothetical questions in your titles.

Keep it Simple: Use minimalistic and clean thumbnail designs that relate well to the question posed in the title.

Be Concise: Make your videos as long as they need to be. Don’t make them longer than they need to be.

Appeal Broadly: Create content that can be enjoyed by a wide range of ages and interests.

‍

Have a great weekend! 👋

‍

My Favourite Things This Week

‍

‍

Video I’m Watching…

‍

How to Stop Faking your YouTube Personality (and feel natural) - If you find it hard to speak on camera and feel like you’re exaggerating your personality or being someone you’re not, watch this video.

This video is excellent as Jon Dorman breaks down the different types of YouTubers and how their personality affects the videos that they produce and how you can find your own style.

‍

Book a Free 15-Min Call With Me.

‍

This is a quick note to let you know that if you find this newsletter valuable, you can book a free 15-minute call with me here.

‍

I’ll review your channel and give specific advice on how you can generate more views by creating better video ideas with stronger titles and thumbnails.

‍

‍

‍

Video I’m Watching…

‍

How I’d Go From 0 To 100,000 Subscribers On YouTube In 2024—This was a great video I watched from Dan Koe about how he would grow a YouTube channel in 2024.

‍

I’m unsure why he has unlisted this video, but it’s still up if you click that link.

Thread I’m Following…

‍

YouTube Test Features and Experiments - This was a pretty cool page I found on the YouTube website.

‍

It’s updated regularly and gives insights and updates on YouTube’s latest features and experiments. If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of YouTube’s latest innovations, this thread is definitely worth a bookmark.

‍

Thanks for reading, if you want to reach out to me, just send a tweet to @WhiffenYT.

‍

Jamie