Jackson Fay

Building in Public 🚀
Youtube Strategy & Product Building
10M+ Subscribers with our clients

[Jackson Fay @JacksonFay12]

Mr Beasts new video proves that episodic content will be the new winning format for YouTube.

[Jackson Fay @JacksonFay12]

@RileyCardwell Title should explain the video. Thumbnail should make someone want to click

[Jackson Fay @JacksonFay12]

@MazidAnsari01 @YouTube Hopefully this is just a glitch 😅

[Jackson Fay @JacksonFay12]

How much YouTube pays for 1 MILLION views in 10 different niches:

1. Comedy & entertainment — $1,500
2. Gaming — $3,000
3. Lifestyle & vlogs — $2,500
4. Food & cooking — $4,000
5. Fitness & health — $5,000
6. Travel — $5,000
7. Technology — $7,500
8. Business & entrepreneurship — $12,000
9. Digital marketing — $16,000
10. Personal finance — $20,000

1 million views. Same platform. Potentially a $19,500 difference.

[Jackson Fay @JacksonFay12]

If you want MILLIONs of views on youtube....
Put Mr.Beast in your title and thumbnail.

100% works everytime

[Jackson Fay @JacksonFay12]

This video was a banger AND a tax write off, lol.

[Jackson Fay @JacksonFay12]

Marketing is all ecompassing, sure.

But... the excecution side of marketing is HEAVILY shifting towards social media content.

You cant have marketing without content.

[Zach Blank @zachblank]

Seems like every smart company is building a content team now

Companies are finally realizing that knowing how to capture attention is one of the most valuable skills in business

[Jackson Fay @JacksonFay12]

Another proof point...
Youtube is growing like crazy

[Jackson Fay @JacksonFay12]

Scale is nearly impossible for a 1-man team.
Even with AI.

People shouldn't be afraid to grow the pie, even if they lose a slice.

[Jackson Fay @JacksonFay12]

I completely agree with this point. Creators should ALWAYS be doing competitor research, but never at the expense of analyzing their own channel's performance.

[Abdullah @stratbyabdullah]

A 4% CTR isn't bad.

I see teams panic over this number every week. So here's what @YouTube itself says.

Half of all channels and videos on YouTube sit between 2% and 10% impressions CTR.

That's straight from their Help page.

And CTR is supposed to drop when a video starts working. When YouTube pushes it to the home page, way more people see it, including people who've never heard of you. More impressions, lower CTR.

So a falling CTR with rising impressions is often a GOOD sign.

The actual red flag YouTube names is this combo:
High CTR. Low AVD. Lower than expected impressions.

They literally call that clickbait.

What to do instead:
→ Compare CTR against your own videos, not other channels
→ Look at it by traffic source (browse, suggested, search all behave differently)
→ Judge packaging on whether people click AND stay

A great thumbnail doesn't just get the click.

It makes a promise the video KEEPS.

[Jackson Fay @JacksonFay12]

@PicturesFoIder So funny

[Jackson Fay @JacksonFay12]

This guys has one of the most insightful posts on X

[Abdullah @stratbyabdullah]

YouTube doesnt pick your thumbnail test winner on CTR

it picks it on WATCHTIME and this is EXACTLY why you should have 3 Completely Different Story Angles in each Thumbnail Variant

YouTube says it straight up on their Help page: they optimize tests "for overall watch time over other metrics, like click-through-rate"

and their reason is simple

a good title and thumbnail should help people pick the RIGHT video. not just any video

so think about what that means

a clickbait thumbnail can win the click and still lose the test

because the people who clicked felt tricked and left

the thumbnail that wins is the one that sets up the video honestly and gets people to stay

now heres where most creators mess it up

they make 3 versions of the same idea. same face, same text, different color

and YouTube comes back with "Performed Same" or "Inconclusive"

because there was nothing real to test

the fix: brief 3 different PROMISES

thumbnail A promises the result
thumbnail B promises the conflict
thumbnail C promises the person

now the test actually tells you something. which promise keeps people watching

2 more things YouTube says that most people miss

test older videos first. its literally what they recommend

and early impressions come mostly from people who already know your channel

so a thumbnail that wins on day 1 is winning with your fans. new viewers might pick something totally different

and thats exactly why YouTube announced dynamic thumbnails. you give 3 options and it shows each audience the one that fits them. not live yet, but its coming

creators have already run 40M+ of these tests since 2024

most of them were testing shirt colors and background changes

start testing promises.

[Jackson Fay @JacksonFay12]

If you’re in the creator economy, I want to connect. (Editors, designers, agencies, managers, creators, etc)

HMU and DM me.

We’re trying to build our network

[Jackson Fay @JacksonFay12]

I could write a book about the cycle of Youtube.
Everything comes back around...

[Jackson Fay @JacksonFay12]

This might sound stupid, but I seriously think creators need to have contingency plans.

Use seprate emails, checklist your videos to make sure your not violating TOS, build on other platforms

[Deekor @deekor_v]

Was about to post a video, refreshed the page and boom 😂😂😂

As much as it’s funny but omooor 😔💔

[Jackson Fay @JacksonFay12]

@saimagnate 🙏

[Jackson Fay @JacksonFay12]

UNPOPULAR OPINION:
Most YouTubers don't need more views.

They need to monetize
the views they already get.

Agree or disagree?

[Jackson Fay @JacksonFay12]

When we first started making merch for YouTubers, our first client was a shoe-review YouTuber. His entire channel was dedicated to reviewing shoes.

When we signed him, we were stoked. He had a few hundred thousand subscribers, and the product-market fit seemed obvious.

Socks. Specifically, basketball socks.

We spent about eight months designing and iterating on six different versions of basketball socks.

When we finally launched, they did alright. We sold a few hundred pairs, but nothing life-changing.

Honestly, we were underwhelmed.

The lesson here is this: product-market fit can seem obvious on the surface. The audience might be there, and the product might make perfect sense.

But you also have to understand the channel itself and what makes its audience want to buy something.

In hindsight, the missing piece was personality. His content was great for reviewing shoes, but it didn't build the kind of personal connection that makes viewers want to buy products from a creator.

An audience that watches your content isn't necessarily an audience that will buy your products.

[Jackson Fay @JacksonFay12]

Hold on... Druski's engagement is at what??

[Abdullah @stratbyabdullah]

This YouTuber made $65M last year with 0.09% ENGAGEMENT

Dhar Mann is #2 on Forbes' top creators list for 2026

only MrBeast made more

but his engagement is the lowest in the whole top 10

MrBeast sits at 3%

Druski at 13.77%

Dhar Mann? 0.09%

so how does that make $65M...

VOLUME

300M+ views every single week

and he puts his videos out in 13 different languages

one script, 13 languages

then Fox signed him to make 40 microdramas

short vertical shows you watch on your phone

he doesnt need you to comment

he needs you to watch, in whatever language you speak

[Abdullah @stratbyabdullah]

This YouTuber made $65M last year with 0.09% ENGAGEMENT

Dhar Mann is #2 on Forbes' top creators list for 2026

only MrBeast made more

but his engagement is the lowest in the whole top 10

MrBeast sits at 3%

Druski at 13.77%

Dhar Mann? 0.09%

so how does that make $65M...

VOLUME

300M+ views every single week

and he puts his videos out in 13 different languages

one script, 13 languages

then Fox signed him to make 40 microdramas

short vertical shows you watch on your phone

he doesnt need you to comment

he needs you to watch, in whatever language you speak

[Jackson Fay @JacksonFay12]

@Dexerto Do we know who designed this?