Jake ticks all the boxes for enviable YouTube success. In less than three months, the former 3D motion designer has achieved impressive goals, including:
Back in September 2020, Jake's channel only had 41K total views. But somewhere along the way, he decided to post his first YouTube Short, which are vertical videos of less than 60 seconds.
After watching the first Short go viral, he decided to post dozens more.
In each of the videos, Jake's 3D characters re-enact scenarios from the wildly popular game, Among Us. The goal of the game is to fix a spaceship while avoiding the crew's deadly, knife-wielding imposter.
Jake's most popular video has 88M views and shows players voting an imposter off the Among Us spaceship:
Jake’s meteoric rise to success is what every creator wants. But more than that, creators want the perfect opportunity to get there - a tool for content discovery they can pour their efforts into.
So far, YouTube Shorts are providing that opportunity. They worked for Jake, and if you take the right approach, they can work for you too.
To understand how Jake snagged millions of views, we asked him to share some analytics from his YouTube channel. If you want to grow your channel fast, here’s the inspiring blueprint behind his success.
YouTube is a competitive platform. To stand out from the crowd, you need to give your audience something fresh and exciting. It has to be content they can’t find anywhere else, and that’s why Jake’s 3D renditions of Among Us gameplay worked. No one was expecting his videos, but at the same time, millions of people are consuming Among Us content right now. So whenever possible, capitalize on a trend in unexpected ways to get more views.
Jake did this by identifying a unique opportunity in posting YouTube Shorts. He realized he could dominate the platform with 30-second videos because everyone else was posting minutes of Among Us content.
To help you understand why this works so well, we filmed a deep-dive video about Jake’s channel growth. Watch it below to gain more insight:
Like Jake, plenty Among Us YouTubers are also animators. But obviously, their videos are several minutes long. So Jake isn’t the first person to explore the idea, but he is one of the first to do it in a fresh way, abbreviated way.
Jake’s channel didn’t always have a billion views. In fact, his early content on YouTube attracted about 500 views per video.
Back then, Jake was doing what we recommend to new creators: Post useful, educational content to quickly stand out on YouTube. When you browse Jake’s channel, you’ll find dozens of early how-to videos about a 3D animation program called Maya.
However, everything changed when he posted a YouTube Short. From the moment he saw the first one go viral, Jake got to work creating 50 more. Viewers keep returning to watch his Shorts, but that wouldn’t be possible if Jake didn’t create more of what people liked.
Actually, the fact that viewers “liked” his content may be an understatement. They probably loved it. In the screenshot below, you can see that on average, viewers watch 85% of every video he posts (which is pretty high):
And now, take a look at the average number of videos each viewer watched on Jake's channel:
Amazingly, the average viewer on Jake’s channel watches 6.5 videos. To understand how phenomenal that is, compare it to the vidIQ channel. Our average viewer only watches 1.7 videos!
When you see positive growth on your channel, investigate it. Try to understand what happened and how you can turn random success into consistent victories. Then double down on what works!
If your content doesn’t rely on any specific language, it can capture a global audience. That’s part of the reason Jake’s YouTube Shorts are so successful. They can be enjoyed anywhere by anyone, which makes his Among Us videos highly accessible.
Jake’s videos are popular in Indonesia, the U.S., Brazil, India, and Vietnam. In the screenshot below, you can see what percentage of his audience is watching in these regions:
As great as this tip is, we have to add a disclaimer. Not every creator will find it easy or even possible to create global content. In Jake’s case, animation lends itself to global consumption because the visuals are more important than any language or location.
However, if your content has the ability to go global, give it a try!
YouTube Shorts may be full of opportunity, but that doesn't mean they’re easy videos to make. Creators like Jake put a lot of time, energy, patience, and skill into these less-than-a-minute videos.
When we asked Jake about his video-making process, he said it takes between five and eight hours to make less than 30 seconds of animation. He earned millions of views in exchange, but how many creators have the perseverance to do the same?
Today, it’s pretty clear that getting millions of views on YouTube takes more than just practical skills. You need to have the mindset of a creator, one who follows trends and is dedicated to studying their audience.
Perhaps another factor is shameless self-belief. Over a year ago, Jake told his LinkedIn followers that one day, he’d get 1M TikTok followers making video content. Today, his TikTok has 3.4M followers.
This is the kind of determination every creator needs to have. If you can believe in yourself enough to keep creating, you’ll eventually succeed.
Jake’s inspiring story is one to study in 2021. Explore his blueprint for YouTube success, then tweak it to create a plan that earns you millions of views.
Lydia Sweatt is a writer, bookworm, and bass guitar enthusiast. When she goes outside, a bicycle goes with her.
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