Steven Bartlett's Insane YouTube Process (Millions of Views Per Video)

11 Dec 2023 · 7 min

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In short

Podcast Summary: Marketing School - Episode #2633

Episode Title

Steven Bartlett's Insane YouTube Process (Millions of Views Per Video)

Hosts

  • Neil Patel
  • Eric Siu

Episode Overview

In this episode, Neil Patel and Eric Siu discuss Steven Bartlett's successful YouTube strategy that consistently generates millions of views per video. They explore Bartlett's content creation process, his approach to marketing, and compare his strategy with other podcasters, particularly Sam Sulek.

Key Topics Discussed

  1. Overview of Steven Bartlett
  2. Background: Host of the podcast "Diary of a CEO" and a prominent figure in the UK’s media landscape.
  3. Subscriber Count: Approximately 4 million subscribers on YouTube.
  4. Content Performance: Rapid view growth, including recent videos garnering over 400,000 views shortly after publication.
  1. Content Strategy
  2. Mass Appeal: Bartlett creates both generic and controversial content aimed at a wide audience.
  3. Example Topics: General advice on personal finance and lifestyle choices.
  4. Controversial Content: Content that provokes thought or debate tends to attract more attention and views.
  1. Testing and Optimization
  2. Thumbnails and Headlines: Bartlett tests over 100 variations of thumbnails and headlines for each video to determine what resonates best with viewers.
  3. Initial Investment: Significant upfront investment in advertising to drive initial views, often funded by sponsorship deals.
  1. Growth Techniques
  2. Ad Strategy: Initially, Bartlett utilized sponsorships to generate capital, which he reinvested in ads to enhance visibility and engagement for his videos.
  3. Community Engagement: Building and targeting communities that are likely to engage with his content after launching new videos, leading to favorable algorithms and organic growth.
  1. Comparisons with Other Podcasters
  2. Sam Sulek:
  3. Sulek has gained more views recently but with fewer video uploads, highlighting different strategies in content creation.
  4. Bartlett's content is interview-based, while Sulek’s is more personal branding focused.

Key Takeaways

  • Content Creation: A balance between creating controversial content and relatable topics can maximize viewership.
  • Monetization Challenges: While mass appeal can generate views, converting those views into profits can be challenging.
  • Testing is Crucial: A/B testing thumbnails and headlines is an effective way to optimize viewer engagement.
  • Initial Investment Pays Off: Strategic investments in ads can jumpstart channel growth, especially in the early stages.
  • Different Strategies for Brand Affinity: Different content strategies will attract different types of audiences; understanding this can help in building brand loyalty.

Conclusion

The episode emphasizes the importance of a strategic approach to content creation, investing in marketing, and understanding audience dynamics to succeed on platforms like YouTube. Neil and Eric encourage listeners to consider these strategies in their own marketing efforts and to engage with their content.

Call to Action

  • Subscribe and Engage: Listeners are encouraged to rate, review, and subscribe to the podcast for more insights.
  • Feedback Request: Suggestions for future topics are welcomed from the audience.

For more information and resources, visit [Marketing School](https://www.marketingschool.io).

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Transcript

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0:00All right, so we are going to talk about Steven Bartlett's insane YouTube process where he gets millions of views per video. So Neil, do you know who this is? I do not. Okay. So have you heard of Diary of a CEO before? No. Okay. So Neil, it's okay. I like to watch these things. Neil doesn't really like to watch these things. He's got better things to do. But here, so take a look. I've got kids and a family. Yeah, exactly. Like I said, better things to do. So this is Diary of a CEO over here. This is Stephen Bartlett. He has about 4 million subs on YouTube. And you can see he did this Jordan Peterson interview two days ago.

0:35He's already got 400 ,000 views. And he did another one five days ago, 695K views, right? Now, Neil, this guy is also, he's a dragon on Dragon's Den, which is the UK's version of Shark Tank. And if, well, I shouldn't have you guess, but just look at this over here. Like, look, Morgan Howes, two weeks ago, 1.6 million views. So he's getting a ton of views, right? So I actually watched a podcast. He's doing really generic content, right? What I mean, generic content and controversial, but generic is it appeals to everyone. So the savings expert, do not buy a house. Do this instead. Read this one.

1:11Read this one. Read the bottom one. I've proven this food keeps you young. No, no, no, no. Read the thumbnail. I have the erection of an 18-year-old. Anyway. So it's like he's creating content that just has mass appeal. No wonder that video has 662 ,000 views. Here's the thing to keep in mind. Dude, the other day I was talking to Alex Hermozzi, and we were talking about social media content. He has the same problem that a lot of other people have. Great-sized following, the type of leads, and the type of business that are hitting him up from his audience isn't ideally what he's looking for. And a lot of that happens because when you create content that's mass appeal, it's hard to drive revenue from it.

2:04Now, it doesn't mean Alex is doing a bad job. He's actually doing a great job because everyone knows him. So now if he does outreach to companies, they're going to know him and it's going to convert extremely well. Plus, he can monetize his audience. So it's not like he's losing money or anything like that. But when you create generic content, it's harder to monetize. When you create content around a specific vertical, EX, I create very specific content to marketing, not marketing for startups, marketing for larger corporations. And what I found is I don't get the amount of views, but the monetization from a visitor or someone viewing the content to a conversion into a customer is much better than if I created generic content that just appealed to the mass and got tons of views.

2:46All right. So still, we're going to give you part of the process that Stephen Bartlett has. And one thing is, I don't know if you know this, well, you probably don't because you haven't seen this thing, but he tests over a hundred thumbnails and headlines per video. It's a lot of testing, right? And so that's one piece. And I'm not saying everyone should do this. We're just saying, Hey, this is part of his process. The other thing, which, which, um, which I learned was that in the very beginning, he was spending a lot of money to drive views. And so the way he would do this is he would get like four, let's say four title sponsors.

3:21So it's like this podcast is sponsored by Pepsi, for example. They might pay him$500 ,000, right? So you get four of them for$500 ,000. That's$2 million. He would take that$2 million and dump it all into ads to get the views going in the early days, right? And then supposedly one thing that he does is that, and this is his team doing it, they will then find a community of people that are engaging and viewing the videos. They'll always try to blast those people hard when a video comes out. and so the video gets a lot of uh gets a lot of play in the beginning right and usually when youtube sees as a signal where there's a lot of views coming in initial first 24 hours or even faster than that and they're also pushing views from perhaps a paid standpoint that video is usually going to do better right and now he doesn't need to do it anymore because he has the reach but that's how he got a jump started because this guy seemingly came out of nowhere he was part he had like one of uk's largest social media agencies and then he decided to do this podcasting And he really has been rising quite a bit in the last couple of years.

4:21Yeah. And he's done a really good job. I think it's great branding. Dude, if you can create mass content that appeals, if you can create content at a regular frequency that appeals to the masses and is controversial, like don't buy a home, do this instead, you're going to end up getting a lot of views. Yep. And then, by the way, we were talking about Sam Sulak a couple episodes ago. So this guy, Diary of a CEO, 25 million views in the last 30 days. So Sam Sula got more than him. But only seven videos published, right? Because there's a long-form podcast and then 330 ,000 subscribers, new subscribers.

4:59So anyway. Wait, Sam Sula got more than him? Yeah, Sam Sula got more views. I thought Sam Sula got half a million views a month, no? No, no, no, no, no, no. So Sam Sula got about 26 million views in the last 30 days. And then Diaryover CEO is about 25 million or so. So it's slightly higher. Oh, okay. Yeah. The interesting thing is Sam Sulek's videos are all about Sam Sulek. The Diaryover CEO one, it's like the interviews one. So it's a little different. If you want to build brand affinity, you might go to Sam Sulek model. And one of you that's listening right now, if you've got something really interesting, you're a bodybuilder, go and do it.

5:33Tell us how this goes in the next two years or so. Just copy that formula and say you learned it from marketing school. So that is it for today. Hope you enjoyed this episode. Please don't forget to rate, review, subscribe. check out this video over here and we'll see you tomorrow

From the publisher
In episode #2633, We explore Stephen Bartlett's YouTube process, where he consistently generates millions of views per video. Our analysis centers on Bartlett's content strategy, which involves creating both generic and controversial content to capture broad appeal. We also highlight Bartlett's testing process for thumbnails and headlines, along with his initial investment in driving views through sponsorships and paid ads. Drawing comparisons to other podcasters like Sam Sulek, we discuss various approaches to building brand affinity. Don’t forget to help us grow by subscribing and liking on YouTube! Check out more of Eric’s content (Leveling UP YT) and Neil’s videos (Neil Patel YT)  TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: (00:00) Today’s topic: Steven Bartlett's Insane YouTube Process (Millions of Views Per Video) (00:49) Discussion on the mass appeal of Stephen Bartlett's content (02:25) Neil Patel's experience with specific content and monetization (03:06) Stephen Bartlett's process of testing thumbnails and headlines (03:36) Stephen Bartlett's initial investment in ads to drive views (04:21) Stephen Bartlett's rise in popularity in recent years (04:40) Importance of creating controversial content for mass appeal (05:04) Comparison between Stephen Bartlett and Sam Sulak's views (05:19) Different approaches to building brand affinity (05:39) That’s it for today! Don’t forget to rate, review, and subscribe! Go to https://www.marketingschool.io to learn more! Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Steven Bartlett's YouTube Leave Some Feedback: What should we talk about next? Please let us know in the comments below Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave a short review. Connect with Us:  Single Grain << Eric’s ad agency NP Digital << Neil’s ad agency X @neilpatel  X @ericosiu Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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