How We Engineered Ali Abdaal’s Most Clickable Video (8.5M Views and Counting)

Hey,

Ali Abdaal’s skincare routine video has pulled in 8.5 million views. It’s now one of the top-performing videos on his channel despite being completely outside his niche.

This email isn’t about the skincare routine.

It’s about how we engineered the video to break through the noise, hook millions of viewers, and quietly become the biggest male skincare video on YouTube.

This wasn’t luck and I'll show you step by step how we did it so you can learn from it, steal from it, and apply it to your own channel (even if you don’t have Ali’s audience, resources, or editing team).

This is the full playbook, so let’s get into it.

Step 1: The Concept Had an Unfair Advantage

This idea didn’t come from researching trends or looking at outlier theory, it came from creating what our audience craved.

Ali cared about skincare. It was part of his daily routine already and he wanted to know more about it. But more importantly…

He had an unfair advantage: he’s a doctor.

That meant we could position this video with authority before the viewer even clicked.

This is something every creator should be asking:

“What gives me the right to make this video?”

For Ali, the doctor angle gave us:

• Credibility (“Evidence-Based” isn’t just a buzzword, it’s earned)
• Differentiation (Most skincare creators are influencers, not medical professionals)
• Trust (Viewers overwhelmed by skincare hype finally had someone they could believe)

We paired that with a second credibility lever: featuring Dr. Usama Syed, a board-certified dermatologist, in the video.

That combination of Ali + a dermatologist = a clear positioning wedge:

“The internet is full of skincare hype. Here’s what actually works, backed by science.”

That’s the foundation to this video that really set it apart. Everything else, the thumbnail, title, script etc. was built on top of that wedge.

Step 2: The Thumbnail That Demanded the Click

Let’s talk about the real hero here: the thumbnail.

We didn’t guess our way to a winner. We engineered it through layers of iteration. We didn’t start with Photoshop, instead we started with identity.

The concept was to make the viewer see themselves in the “before” and want to become the “after.”

I did a lot of research into the skincare niche to see what the top performing videos were and came up with some ideas:

We explored dozens of ideas and shot hundreds of photos: mirror shots, product shots, holding up creams, etc. They all sucked.

They either:

• Looked like every other video in the skincare niche
• Didn’t show transformation
• Didn’t trigger curiosity or identity

That’s when we found the winning concept:

At the time, I was doing a ton of research to find thumbnails that were working on YouTube in niches completely unrelated to us. Back in 2021 when we were working on this video, these two videos from Leon Hendrix were going viral.

I loved the high-quality, upclose photography that really jumped off the homepage at you. The thumbnail on the right was one of the key inspirations for the skincare video as I knew we could create a spin-off and make it our own.

I wanted to go down the path of a split-face transformation.

Left side = acne, grime, low clarity

Right side = clear skin, brightened, polished

It was:

• Visually striking even at 100px wide so it would work on mobile
• Identity-based (“That’s me on the left, I want to be the right”)
• Scroll-stopping in any context due to the stark shock of the thumbnail

Photoshop Breakdown

We took hundreds of photos. Then I manually composited acne textures from Google onto Ali’s face.

Yes. I downloaded pimples.

I masked, blended, added grime, spots and dirt whilst increasing the clarity on the right side to darken shadows to make it look realistic.

Elizabeth Filips who makes fantastic thumbnails of her own saw what I was working on and suggested that I flipped the image to go left-to-right to match natural eye movement.

This made sense as we tend to read top to bottom, left to right and so for a before and after thumbnail I made that switch.

After Photoshop, I exported the image and ran it through Facetune on my phone for some final touches.

This resulted in a realistic, achievable transformation that signaled massive value without looking fake.

In a few weeks I'll be launching Click Lab, the proven system I've been using to grow YouTube's biggest creators.

If you want to join, you'll follow the exact, repeatable system I’ve used working with Ali Abdaal, Simon Squibb, GrowVeg (and more) to engineer millions of views.

It's built for education-based YouTubers who are tired of guessing, stuck in the dark, and want a clear, proven path to consistent growth.

If that sounds like you, join the waitlist by clicking here.

Step 3: The Title That Built Trust Before the Click

Our launch title was: My Productive Skincare Routine

This wasn't the strongest of titles but it was a familiar format with Ali's core audience as we had used the 'My Produtive [x]' titles in a number of 1M+ videos previously.

This time, it did okay, but it capped out as we weren’t pulling in new viewers.

That’s when we tested: My Evidence-Based Skincare Routine

And everything changed.

Why it worked:

• “Evidence-Based” = instant scientific credibility
• Aligns with Ali’s unfair advantage (he’s a doctor)​
• Feeds into audience pain of overwhelm and confusion of hypey products.
• Matches the transformation promise from the thumbnail

It didn’t just say the video was useful, it proved it before the first second played.

This title could only work because of the thumbnail. Together, they built a visual + verbal promise that was undeniable. Now in 2025 with this video having 8.5M views, that also is helping with the credibility as there's social proof from millions of others that have clicked.

We had so many different titles that we brainstormed for this video. Please consider pushing yourself to create at least 15-20 titles and use AI (something we didn't have at the time) to help you.

Step 4: The Script That Fixed Our Retention Problem

Ali used to riff his videos as he was good at it and it allowed him to grow to a certain point where we hit a bottleneck with our retention.

I spent time as his YouTube Producer studying his analytics and I started to see a pattern:

• Lower AVD (average view duration)
• Higher rates of people skipping ahead or clicking off the video whenever Ali gave old stories about being a junior doctor (as his audience grew, his audience no longer were doctors so these stories resonated less)
• Ali's riffs would sometimes be pure waffle that was hard to edit cleanly and not useful to listen to

My hypothesis was that we needed tighter scripting. So we tried a new approach, we scripted it word for word.

I know that sounds restrictive as Ali read it off a teleprompter but the results were immediate:

• Higher retention across the board
• More space for pre-planned B-roll, studies, and visual storytelling
• Clear transitions between ideas
• No wasted seconds or fluff

Funnily enough, we scripted word-for-word for two other videos around this time and they've all gone on to hit multi-million views and had higher retention. So keep that teleprompter handy if you're a waffler!

We treated the video like a product:

• One problem: “Skincare is overwhelming and full of BS”
• One viewer: Someone struggling with skin and decision fatigue
• One promise: “Here’s a routine that actually works”

We even scripted the intro hook:

“Skincare is actually pretty simple. You just need 3 products…”

Yes, we gave away the answer in the first 10 seconds.

Conventional wisdom says don’t do that. But we wanted to build trust fast, then go deeper.

That’s what hooked viewers and kept them watching.

Gwilym (our scriptwriter) also layered in 3 versions of Ali:

1. Ali as the Researcher – backed by studies, borrowing credibility (“Here’s what I found through studies and expert interviews”)
2. Ali as the Viewer – empathizing with overwhelm (“I used to feel confused too”)
3. Ali as the Advanced User – sharing his exact routine with practical detail (“Here’s exactly what I use and how”)

That’s what made the content relatable, credible, and applicable.

Step 5: Iteration, Feedback, and Relentless Standards

We didn’t make this in isolation.

This was a loop:

• Me (YouTube producer + title/thumbnail strategist)
• Gwilym (scriptwriter)
• Ali (on-camera + insight + authority)

We had multiple script versions, we brainstormed a dozen title variations and shot hundreds of thumbnail photos.

This is the boring stuff that makes great videos.

Ali liked the early thumbnails, but I didn't and wanted to keep going because a lot of times, the first good idea isn’t the best idea.

The best creators raise the bar after they think they’ve cleared it.

Final Takeaways (Read This If You Skimmed)

You don’t need Ali’s team, a big budget or fancy editing.

You need a system.

Here’s what made this video work:

1. Start with a Positioning Wedge Use your unfair advantage. Medical degree. Personal experience. Study. Something.

2. Package Around Identity Show the transformation your viewer craves. Before/after visuals + aspirational title.

3. Build Trust Pre-Click Use power phrases like “evidence-based” or “backed by data.” Establish credibility early.

4. Script for Retention Don’t wing it. Use tight scripting, especially for intros, transitions, and key points.

5. Iterate Past “Good Enough” Your first idea is rarely your best. Keep going.

P.S. Want This System to Grow Your Channel?

I teach this exact framework inside Click Lab, my private group coaching program.

It’s for YouTubers who are:

• Getting 5k–500k views per video but struggling to grow consistently
• Posting regularly but not seeing the momentum they know is possible​
• Tired of guessing what will work and ready for a proven system

Inside, we walk through:

• How to craft high-leverage video ideas that attract the right viewers
• How to identify and speak directly to the people you want watching your channel
• How to engineer titles and thumbnails that actually get clicked
• How to package videos for discoverability before you ever hit record
• How to reverse-engineer viral content while staying true to your niche

And every week, we run live breakdowns like this one.

Want in? Join the Click Lab waitlist here and I’ll send you the details when doors open in a few weeks.

Hope you found this week's newsletter useful for changing how you think about content.

Jamie.

P.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.​