How This Video Got 2 Million Views In 24 Hours

Shane Dawson is undoubtedly a YouTube icon. After building a successful career with comedy sketches and music videos, he shifted to a more laid-back, conversational content style. His daily videos get hundreds of thousands of views, with many of them breaking a million. However, Shane’s latest video managed to get more than two million views within the first day of its release.

Here’s how Shane Dawson’s latest video got two million views in 24 hours.

1. He teased the video thumbnail beforehand.

At the beginning of every week, Shane tweets out the thumbnails of his upcoming videos without their titles attached. When concerned viewers asked about the thumbnail featuring a burning image of Shane’s friend Garrett, Shane only offered a cryptic reply.

we aren't friends anymore. the video will explain it. https://t.co/GA3iMsTPMr

— Shane Dawson (@shanedawson) September 9, 2017

2. He drew in viewers with clickbait.

Shane continued to keep up the ruse of YouTube drama with the video title “Why We Aren’t Friends Anymore.” He started the video out sadly so that more viewers would keep watching. However, what appeared to be a video addressing drama turned out to be a much more exciting surprise.

finally talking about me and garrett in 50 minutes. ???? https://t.co/ONjqlSUGRI pic.twitter.com/c9nSngiGxS

— Shane Dawson (@shanedawson) September 14, 2017

3. He made an important announcement.

Shane’s video revealed that he and Garrett weren’t ending their friendship. Rather, he announced that they were starting a production company together as business partners. Shane was careful to reassure the viewers he’d worried that there was no bad blood between him and his good friend.

Today is the birthday of one of the most thoughtful, genuine friends I've ever known. I have a lot of love for this guy. Happy birthday Shane, and here's to many more years of very drunken photos in Japanese photo-booths that make us look like creepily smooth digital angel babies.

A post shared by Garrett Watts (@garrett_watts) on Jul 19, 2017 at 1:41pm PDT

Shane Dawson got more than two million views in 24 hours by using clickbait to make an important announcement. Shocking your subscribers gets views, but you also have to make sure that the video is worth their time.

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Kristen Harris enjoys listening to a wide range of music, from Taylor Swift to, on occasion, Celtic instrumental. She also spends her time writing, reading, and baking.