Analyzed
40
videos through the pipeline
> 3x
19
of their channel's views
< .5x
0
of their channel's views
On-screen captions53% pushed24% rest2.1x
A number in the title21% pushed10% rest2.0x
Wry, sarcastic or playful register21% pushed10% rest2.0x
35 seconds or shorter21% pushed14% rest1.4x
Three or fewer pauses74% pushed52% rest1.4x
Ends on a call to action26% pushed19% rest1.3x
First-person voice37% pushed29% rest1.3x
Speaks straight to camera53% pushed43% rest1.2x
Hook or title asks a question26% pushed24% rest1.1x
High-energy delivery37% pushed33% rest1.1x
Loudness swings 15 dB or more63% pushed71% rest0.9x
First word inside half a second84% pushed95% rest0.9x
180+ words a minute42% pushed52% rest0.8x
Lift is the smoothed share among pushed videos over the share among everything else, from the 40 analyzed videos. With 19 pushed, treat anything under about 2x as noise until the catalog grows.
Views as of Oct 4, 7:27 AM.
Asks a question14.2% of winners · 18.2% of losers
Shouts a word in capitals5.1% of winners · 6% of losers
Says “watch”, “see” or “listen”8.2% of winners · 6.7% of losers
Upworthy archive, same story tested with different wording. The one place the evidence is randomized rather than observational.