Lecture Notes: Analyzing Viral YouTube Shorts by Jenny Hoyos

Introduction

• Speaker: Jenny Hoyos, 18-year-old YouTuber
• Achievements: Over 600 million views in the past year, averaging 10 million views per video
• Focus: How to make anything go viral, especially on YouTube Shorts

Key Points and Strategies for Making Viral Content

Analysis and Insights

• Research: Analyzed thousands of shorts, including those by Mr. Beast and Ryan Tran.
• Key Learning: Emphasizes the importance of every second in a short.
• Platform Differences: YouTube's preferences differ from other platforms; retention not as crucial as believed.

Creating Content

• Hook and Story: Every short should have a strong hook and engaging story.
• Personal Touch: Content more engaging when personal.
• Example: Cooked for strangers to fix her broken kitchen, creating a personal and ironic story.

Elements of a Good Short

• Visual Hook: Should be understandable even without sound; can serve as a thumbnail.
• Strong Hook: Simple and clear, akin to explaining to a 5-year-old.
• Storytelling: Should encourage viewers to watch till the end and re-watch.
• Retention: High retention (90%+) is essential for virality.

Creation and Editing Process

Hook and Visuals

• Visual Planning: Jenny sketches out visuals (like thumbnail planning) before filming.
• Simplicity: Keeps hooks simple and tests them for readability (fifth-grade level or lower).
• Readability Tools: Uses readabilityformulas.com to ensure simplicity.

Script and Execution

• Script Structure: Hook, foreshadowing, problem-solution; uses “but, therefore” storytelling.
• Editing: Adapts based on retention data; example of trimming one second to improve video performance.
• Analytics Usage: Scrapes transcripts and analyzes retention graphs to optimize content.

Platform-Specific Insights

Differentiating Content

• YouTube: Prefers longer (around 34 seconds), more detailed stories.
• TikTok: Prefers shorter (10-20 seconds), fast-paced, information-dense content.
• Instagram: Visual emphasis and sharability, often muting audio.

Future Goals and Expansion

• Long Form Content: Jenny aims to transition into long-form content while maintaining shorts.
• Research: Studying long-form strategies to replicate her success in shorts.

Audience and Demographics

Target Audience

• Core Audience: Younger audience, including her nieces who are 7 and 10 years old.
• Communication Focus: Ensures that content is engaging and understandable even for non-English speakers.

Adapting Content for Platforms

• TikTok Ban: Shifted focus to YouTube after being briefly banned on TikTok.
• Adaptation: Found content preferences to differ per platform based on data analysis.

Learning from Data

Importance of Retention and Shares

• Retention: Despite common beliefs, retention might not be as crucial as shares and viewer satisfaction.
• Shares Impact: High shares-to-views ratio can significantly impact a video’s performance.

Conclusion

• Strategy: Continuous analysis and adaptation based on audience behavior and data insights.
• Innovation: Focus on storytelling, personal touch, and platform-specific content strategies.