How Ryan Trahan $0.01 Series Broke Youtube
Ryan Trahan, one of the fastest growing YouTubers, a 30-day series where Ryan is crossing America to hand MrBeast a penny while fundraising for Feeding America.
At the end of the series, his 30 daily vlogs brought in over 185 million views which brought him 2 million subscribers reaching 10 million today. The fundraising campaign has raised over $1.5 million from 14,420 individual donations from brands, audiences and fellow YouTubers.
Today we’ll cover:
Engagement by Design
Optimization / Personality Pendulum
Synergies between Creator & Non-Profits
Engagement by Design
Today, vlogs aren’t as effective as it was a few years ago - simply because they have worse retentions and there is a growing catalogue of high-budget idea-based videos. There are many strategies that Ryan beautifully designed to optimize engagement, to have their views watching from the first second to the last second.
Pre-Recorded Thumbnails
During his interview with Colin & Samir, he mentioned that he made all the thumbnails in advance to ensure the quality of the thumbnails. He also have had a variety of money-making methods in mind (food delivery, selling water, telling jokes, street portraits, selling golf balls, mowing lawns, car washes), therefore it makes the process of making thumbnails ahead of the series easier.
Ryan Trahan’s thumbnails followed the rule of 3 - there are three objects, clearly presented in the frame (see picture above), usually himself, an object and a number description to deliberately foreshadow the event happening in the video.
Habit-Forming Video Designs
Ryan Trahan released his videos daily at 10:00 am EST, in addition, Ryan Trahan repeatedly used 3 songs for his morning routine b-rolls, walking b-rolls and outros, which increased familiarity for the audience throughout the series.
(P.S. if you are interested in finding the links to the music, they are available here: Orange Marmalde, OTE-Her Name Is Edith, Sea Lion)
The GREAT RESET Technique
The Great Reset is a rule Ryan Trahan set where if there are $50,000 donations for Feeding America, Ryan Trahan will get reset to $0.01.
This technique introduced variability in his videos, where he could get reset at any moment of the series. One time he was reset by Dylan in person in Texas. The unpredictability has fueled the entertainment value throughout the series.
The Pendulum of Youtube Videos
To contextualize it, Emma Chainberlein/Casey Neistat represent strong personalities and MrBeast/Airrack represent optimizations. Ryan Trahan presents himself in the middle of the two - combining deep vulnerable personalities and ideas together.
In many of his videos, he invited strangers he met on the way to asked this question, “if you could say anything to the world, what would it be?” which provoked some of the most encouraging messages from strangers.
He manifested his relationship with Dr Mike and his fear over vegetables during his videos. In addition to interactions he have had with his wife Haley, his dad, fans and a random family who housed him on the 29th night.
The largest manifestation Ryan Trahan has been confessing over and over again was that “It is not about the destination, it is not about the journey, but is about the people, the people you have met and engaged along the way.”
Throughout his series, there are many other creators who have made videos supporting Ryan Trahan, from resetting Ryan IRL to creating him a giant penny to advocating for a donation from McDonalds.
Creators & Non-Profits Synergies
According to a Non-Profit Research Collective survey in 2019, over 39% of respondents expressed that fundraising/stakeholder management has been their biggest challenge, while 0% is related to the execution or capital deployment Today there are 1.8 million registered charitable organizations in Canada and the US competing for philanthropical capital. Most charities lack brand differentiation and here is where creators come in.
Creators excel at creating entertainment value and distribution, whereas non-profits develop and execute their mission. They are aligned on making the world a better place while growing their relationships with the audience/donors.
Partnering with creators resolves many of the pain points as it creates significant immediate organic engagement from the everyday audiences and momentum for the brand. The psychological association between a creator and a charitable is hugely beneficial for both parties. It enables both of them to cultivate a closer relationship with their target audience - as someone who is trusted and has an aligned mission.
Takeaway
Ryan Trahan is a manifestation of virality while doing good. The combination of relatability, unpredictability and humor have set a new height for how creators can grow and deliver a positive message to millions of people.
💡 This Week's News In the Creator Economy
Ryan Trahan delivered a Penny to MrBeast at North Carolina
Co-Founder of Pinterest Ben Silbermann Stepped Down as CEO
Elon Musk reached 100 million followers on Twitter
Influencer-Backed Creator Venture announced a $20 Million Fund I
Logan Paul signed a contract with WWE
Link-In-Bio app Koji launched Image Grid Profile feature
Influencer Marketing Platform Tapper Raised $15 Million Series B
✌️ That’s it until next time!
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