Paddy Galloway

This YouTube video with a client got 18 million views. So f**k it… I’m gonna break down the entire strategy behind it. This will be the most useful thing you read about youtube this week:

@aronhouyu Thank you for the feature :)

想运营好X，看 @matt_gray_ 想学seo ，看 @JulianGoldieSEO 想学一人公司，看 @thejustinwelsh 想研究youtube算法与增长，看 @PaddyG96 想了解AI工具与前沿资讯，看@rowancheung 想学个人IP与内容变现，看 @thedankoe 想学DTC品牌与电商营销，看 @mrsharma 想学无代码与自动化工作流，看 @bentossell 想学数字写作与受众增长，看 @dickiebush 想学AI视觉与图像生成，看 @LinusEkenstam 想学知识管理与生产力系统，看 @fortelabs 想学邮件营销与私域转化，看 @ecomchasedimond 想学实用UI/UX设计，看 @steveschoger 想了解斯多葛哲学与心智成长，看 @RyanHoliday 想学出海运营，看@aronhoyu （夹带私货，差评）

What do these four viral YouTube videos have in common?

The thumbnail on the left is: - Brighter - Has descriptive text - Higher quality Yet, it would have got 1% of the views (imo). It's paused in him talking, 'action' isn't always obvious! Follow @PaddyG96 - next I'm sharing a strat I used to generate 500m views for a client!

My team and I work across billions of views a year (we even made one of the thumbnails above!) We use this rule all the time. You story-tell through your title and thumbnail. It’s the first hook, not your intro.

@nikhilville Such a good thumbnail. People think thumbnail design is always lots of edits, fake colors, arrows. 80% of the game is the psychology, that expression from pharrell is perfect. You have to click!

@PaddyG96 your concept reminds me of this one too (Maggie Rogers showing Pharrell her song Alaska) one of my favorite videos on the internet

@Seanfrank The amount of creators making a great living on YouTube with 100k-500k subs and a small loyal audience is insane. Algorithm so refined that you can find your tribe in a few uploads.

HOT TAKE: It’s actually the best time ever to start being a content creator. The economy is figured out. Niche content is finding its audience. You won’t be Mr beast or hit 10m subs anytime soon- But if you want to make a living off content it’s easier now than ever

In the last few weeks I have talked to: - $500m/year CEO - CMO of billion dollar brand - Hall of fame athlete All of them are starting personal brand YouTube channels from scratch. And going all in. Having an organic audience is the moat.

I think there’s a lot of value here for creators in 2026. Answering tactical questions from creators in the replies with 0 subscribers all the way to 10m+ subscribers.

@skipthetweets My ABC testing strat is usually exactly that. 3 big variations, then title test, then variations of winner. I would say if performance doesn’t do better after a winner (assuming we’ve already tried titles too) I’ll often go back to drawing board and come with new concepts

@PaddyG96 What order do you prefer to do for AB testing? e.g. thumbnail only test of 3 big variations, then 3 title variations, then 3 smaller thumbnail variations of winner of test 1 Also, how often do you like to AB test after a winner is decided but performance doesn't spike?

I’m 29. I’m CEO of the world’s best YouTube growth agency. Our clients will do 10 billion+ organic views this year. Ask me anything about YouTube strategy for 2026:

So for me this is my mindset If a niche is “oversaturated” I want to go in with the philosophy that I can create something a level above the saturation. Whether it be quality, storytelling, longer videos with more depth etc You can still win in the most saturated niche on YT!

@PaddyG96 How important to serve your niche even if it's saturated. Do you serve it in an underserved way? Video length, topics, etc. And yes, this is a leading question because I'm seeing it on my end :D

@ForwardEditor ABC testing to me is the opportunity to test differentiated options. If two are the same concept, it won't hurt or choke at all like you mentioned. However it's one less spot to truly learn something. So i always push for 3 unique concepts for the first test I do.

@PaddyG96 Love you Paddy. Got a question for A/B/C testing... how important is it for the 3 to be different concepts? If two options are the same concept with different details, do they choke each other's performance?

@ChubbierSnail @AnimalCompanyVR ''Bridging videos'' What ideas bridge between what you are doing now (this game) and other games? Big picture idea, if I was a tesla review channel and i wanted to expand to more EVs... I would make a video like ''Tesla vs Porsche Taycan'' or something.

You’re the goat, I’ve been following you for years. I’m a VR Gaming YouTuber and have surged to the top as the single largest content creator for the main game I play @AnimalCompanyVR. I plan to keep working with that game for as long as I can, but also want to strategically expand into new markets so that I can hit an even larger audience. Any tips for how to pursue that?

@Samaynard99 Highly dependant on long term goal. Long form is always my focus, with a lot of clients focus is probably 80% long form 20% shorts.

@PaddyG96 Would you focus on 100% long form, shorts or both?

@GCRDesignsYT I like 3x

@PaddyG96 @PaddyG96 Paddy, do you know what is the minimum number for a outlier to be considered worth while researching into? For example is a 2x multiplier too small to be called an "outlier" or should 3x be the minimum multiplier that is worth researching?

@TheJimmyReilly Not in my experience, unless they are completely different niche to what you regularly post, don’t worry.

@PaddyG96 Can posting shorts negatively affect long form performance?