8 YouTube Strategy Lessons I Wish I Knew Earlier

Hey,

Every month, I jump on a private Zoom call with my friend Marcus Jones to swap YouTube strategy notes.

Marcus originally built a name helping gaming creators grow but lately, he’s gone full steam ahead on building Velio, a tool that filters through 179+ million YouTube videos to give you proven ideas that could blow up your channel.

In our latest call, he asked me how I think about ideation, packaging, and working with clients and we ended up covering a lot of ground on what actually moves the needle on YouTube in 2025.​
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So I clipped out a short section from the chat for you to watch:

​Watch the 20-min strategy snippet here​

And if you’d rather get the highlights, here are 8 takeaways from the call that you can start thinking about right now:

8 YouTube Strategy Insights from the Call

1. Most videos flop because they’re built around what the creator wants to say, not what the audience wants to see.

Creators often show up to calls with me and say “I’ve already got the idea and hook.” But when I hear that, alarm bells go off and I hit the brakes.

Because most of the time, 9 times out of 10, the idea is built from their perspective, not the viewer’s. It’s what they want to make, not what their audience is itching to click.

My first job is to slow things down and reshape the idea into something the audience would actually click on. That often means reframing the title, shifting the angle, and identifying the real value hiding underneath the original concept.

The best example of this was a video where I took an uninspiring listicle video about different uses of plastic pots in the garden and re-engineered the packaging to hit on a deeper audience desire and that "boring" video now has over 1.8 million views.

​Next week's podcast is all about this video.
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2. Psychographics > demographics.

When I start working with new clients I ask them who their target audience is and it's always something basic like “18–35 males in the US that have a day job”.

This tells me nothing. It doesn't help me.

But, if I know their audience wants to grow a business faster, hates wasting time, and prefers step-by-step frameworks, now I can engineer idea, titles, visuals, and formats that speak directly to that mindset.

Most creators never go deep on who they're making videos for, their biggest problems, desires, daily pain points etc. and it’s why their packaging underperforms, even if the content is solid.
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3. Outlier tools don’t work if you copy blindly.

It’s not about finding the top video and remaking it. It’s about spotting the patterns behind what worked. What problem did that video solve? What packaging signals did it use? What psychographic did it speak to?

4. TAM matters but trust beats reach.

A hyper-targeted video that brings in 10k of the right viewers will outperform a viral hit that brings the wrong crowd.

You don’t always need 100,000 views, you need 10,000 of the right people to see a video and think: “This person gets me.”.

That’s how you build returning viewers, not just passing traffic and slowly convince people to buy your products/services.
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5. Returning viewers are the growth engine nobody checks.

If you’re not converting new viewers into returning ones, you don’t have an audience, you have a revolving door.

I always check the Audience tab in YouTube Analytics, specifically the new vs. returning viewer graph.

If a channel has spikes in new viewers but low return rates, it usually means the content isn’t sticky enough to bring people back.

That usually points to a deeper issue: unclear value prop, inconsistent packaging, or videos that bounce between unrelated topics.

But once you do start converting new into returning viewers, that’s when real growth kicks in.

By the way: Want me to take a look at your YouTube Channel and give you personal feedback? Grab a free channel audit and I'll review your content, titles, and thumbnails - then send you a custom strategy to grow faster.

​You can claim your FREE YouTube Channel Audit Here.​
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6. YouTube is the same as fitness.

You wouldn’t give the same workout plan to a strong powerlifter and an obese first-time gym goer. YouTube’s no different.

A creator trying to sell high-ticket services needs a totally different strategy than someone going for ad revenue/sponsorships.

When I work with a new client, I go back to square one: what’s your goal and who are you attracting? Because there isn't one-size-fits-all strategy for YouTube, despite what people will tell you.
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7. Great packaging doesn’t always look polished, it signals value.

What’s shown in the thumbnail, what’s said in the title, and what it implies matters more than design.

8. Judo-flip your ideas and titles.

Hook them with what they want, deliver what they need.

This is the fix when a client wants to cover a topic that’s too narrow or niche to get broad appeal.

Let’s say they want to talk about a grip strength tool. If we title it “Top 5 Grip Strengtheners in 2025”, no one clicks.

But if we lead with the result “How I 2x’d My Muscle Gains Without Changing My Workout”, then reveal grip strength as the hidden lever, they’re hooked and now care way more about grip strengtheners.

It’s the same topic, reframed through outcome-driven packaging.

​Watch the full 20-min strategy snippet here​

Hope you find this useful for changing how you think about content.

Jamie.

P.S... Want me to take a look at your YouTube Channel and give you personal feedback? Grab a free channel audit and I'll review your content, titles, and thumbnails - then send you a custom strategy to grow faster.

​You can claim your FREE YouTube Channel Audit Here.​

P.S.S. I'll be launching a public group coaching offer in a months time.

I privately launched this a few weeks back and we have some awesome YouTubers in there with the average amount of subscribers per channel at 70k!

If you'd be interested in having weekly calls with me and other top YouTubers, click here to join the waitlist and be the first to know when it goes live.