Jenny Hoyos, an 18-year-old YouTube sensation, has cracked the code of viral success on YouTube Shorts, amassing over 600 million views in the past year alone. Averaging a staggering 10 million views per video, Hoyos has become a master of the short-form content game. But how does she do it? Through meticulous analysis of thousands of successful Shorts, including those by MrBeast and Ryan Trahan, Hoyos has identified the key ingredients that make a video go viral.
The Power of Story and Twists
Hoyos firmly believes that any topic, no matter how mundane, can be transformed into captivating content with the right approach. “It’s just adding story and a twist,” she explains. “Especially with Shorts, since no one’s actually having to click on your video, you can make a video about anything—even paint drying—and make it entertaining if there’s a story around it and if the viewer is invested.”
Investing the Viewer:
Hoyos emphasizes the importance of making content personal to connect with viewers on an emotional level. “My content is very personality-based,” she shares, citing an example of a video where she cooked for strangers to raise money to fix her broken kitchen. “It’s ironic,” she explains, “my kitchen’s broken, so in order to fix it, I have to cook to make money.” This personal element, coupled with a touch of irony, creates a compelling narrative that draws viewers in and keeps them engaged.
Demystifying the “Good Short”
While the concept of a “good short” is subjective, Hoyos outlines the characteristics she believes are essential for success:
- A Strong Hook: The first frame is crucial, acting as a visual title and thumbnail. It should be instantly understandable and visually engaging, grabbing the viewer’s attention within seconds. Hoyos even sketches potential hooks as if they were thumbnails for long-form videos, ensuring maximum impact.
- Simplicity is Key: Readability is vital. Hoyos utilizes readability checkers to ensure her scripts are comprehensible for a fifth-grade reading level or below, mirroring the style of successful Shorts creators like MrBeast.
- Rewatchability: A good Short compels viewers not only to watch until the end but also to rewatch it. This is achieved through engaging storytelling and incorporating elements of surprise.
The Data-Driven Approach
Hoyos’ success isn’t solely based on intuition; it’s rooted in meticulous analysis. She has meticulously scraped and analyzed thousands of Shorts scripts, studying their structure, readability, and retention rates. This data-driven approach allows her to understand what resonates with viewers and continually refine her content strategy.
Retention and the 34-Second Sweet Spot:
Hoyos emphasizes the importance of retention, aiming for a minimum of 90% for optimal virality. She discovered that even trimming off a single second can significantly boost retention, highlighting the importance of every moment in a Short. Through her analysis, she has identified 34 seconds as the ideal length for her content, maximizing both viewer engagement and retention.
However, content length may vary with different topics and creators, so if your format requires longer or shorter videos, it would be just fine as long as your videos are engaging enough and every second of the video is really useful for the viewer.
Structuring for Success
Hoyos’ Shorts follow a specific structure:
- Hook: A captivating first frame that instantly grabs attention.
- Foreshadowing: A brief voiceover hinting at what’s to come, creating anticipation and setting expectations.
- Smooth Transition: A seamless shift from the hook and foreshadowing to the main content, maintaining the video’s pace.
- But Therefore Storytelling: Incorporating change and twists to keep the narrative dynamic and engaging.
- Payoff and Abrupt Ending: Delivering on the foreshadowed expectation with a twist, ending the video on a high note while leaving viewers wanting more.
Short Creation Process
1. The Idea Pool:
Hoyos constantly gathers ideas, amassing a vast pool of potential video concepts. Inspiration strikes from various sources, including her own life experiences, observations, and even AI suggestions. Whether it’s a humorous anecdote from her grandma or a personal challenge like growing a garden for infinite ratatouille, Hoyos keeps a running list of ideas, currently boasting a staggering 1,000 entries.
2. Selecting the One:
With a plethora of ideas at her disposal, Hoyos employs a two-step filtering process. First, she narrows down the list based on personal interest and logistical feasibility, asking herself, “Do I actually want to make this?” This ensures her passion for the project shines through. Next, she evaluates the remaining ideas based on their potential for virality, focusing on the strength of the hook, the engagement mechanism, and rewatchability. This crucial step helps identify the concepts with the highest potential for success.
3. Crafting the Hook:
The hook, often visualized as the first frame of the video, is paramount in grabbing viewers’ attention. Hoyos approaches hook creation with a visual mindset, sketching different options on her iPad as if designing thumbnails for long-form content. She aims for simplicity and clarity, ensuring the hook is instantly understandable and visually captivating.
4. Predicting the End:
Even before filming begins, Hoyos writes the last line of her video. This helps establish a clear direction and ensures the video builds towards a satisfying conclusion. The last line typically involves a reaction or a simple statement that ties back to the hook and foreshadowing, creating a sense of closure for the viewer.
5. The Art of Foreshadowing:
Hoyos utilizes foreshadowing as a powerful tool to generate anticipation and keep viewers engaged. After crafting the hook and the last line, she develops a two-line voiceover that hints at what’s to come. This foreshadowing provides context and sets expectations, ensuring viewers stay invested throughout the video.
6. Structure and Flexibility:
Depending on the complexity of the video, Hoyos either creates a rough script or outlines key points she wants to cover during filming. This provides a basic structure while allowing for flexibility and improvisation in the moment.
7. Lights, Camera, Action!:
With the groundwork laid, Hoyos brings her vision to life through filming. Her on-screen personality and engaging delivery style add a layer of authenticity and connection that resonates with viewers.
8. Refining and Finalizing:
After filming, Hoyos revisits the script, revising and finalizing it based on the footage captured. The video then moves into the editing stage, where the magic truly happens. Through skillful editing, Hoyos ensures the pacing is perfect and the story flows seamlessly.
Knowing Your Audience
While Hoyos’ content reaches a broad audience, she creates with a specific viewer in mind: her younger self and her nieces who are still learning English. This allows her to maintain a clear focus and ensure her content resonates with her target demographic.
Mastering the Multi-Platform Puzzle
Hoyos acknowledges the nuances of different short-form platforms:
- YouTube Shorts: Favors a slower pace, mature content, and strong storytelling.
- TikTok: Thrives on fast-paced, information-dense videos under 20 seconds.
- Instagram Reels: Benefits from strong visuals and subtitles due to the mute feature, and encourages shareability.
Understanding these platform-specific preferences is crucial for tailoring content and maximizing reach.
Unverified Theories: The Power of Sharability and Viewer Satisfaction
Hoyos hypothesizes that sharability plays a crucial role in virality, although she acknowledges the need for further analysis. Additionally, she believes that viewer satisfaction goes beyond just retention, suggesting that other factors contribute to a video’s overall success.
Jenny Hoyos’ journey is a testament to the power of strategic analysis, audience understanding, and captivating storytelling. Her data-driven approach, combined with her natural creativity and engaging personality, has positioned her as a leading figure in the world of YouTube Shorts, and her future in long-form content looks equally promising.