Jordan Matter, who’s got 34 million subscribers and a broad Netflix deal, told producers exactly what they need to do to replicate his success. 

Matter, the photographer who leveraged his 13 billion views into a skincare line with his daughter and fellow YouTuber, Salish, shared these practical tips for building YouTube success during a keynote presentation at Kidscreen Summit yesterday titled “Making it Matter: Building trust & scale in the creator economy by being real”. 

One of his top tips? Reject the MrBeast model of showcasing wealth and shelling out millions for big, expensive videos. Matter spends roughly US$10,000 to US$15,000 to make his videos, and that’s only “if we have to,” he says. 

Instead, he says, viewers check out his videos because he hooks them in the first 30 seconds with a promise of what they’re going to see in the video, even if that means spoiling a part that comes later. There’s so much competition on YouTube that it’s paramount that viewers get hooked right away, or they’ll quickly flip to the next video, he notes. 

And if producers can package that with an illustrative thumbnail and catchy video title, that’ll get them in the door with viewers. But it’s the aspirational relationship between father and daughter that keeps them there, he says. 

He gave an example: the video “I Gave My Daughter a Trampoline Park for Her Birthday,” where the hook is Jordan and Salish going to an elaborate park, but the heart of the video is the two of them having fun together. That resonates with families, and even encourages teens to want to build a similar relationship with their own parents, says Matter. 

Matter listening to a question during the Q&A period. Picture by Ryan Tuchow.

A lot of creators just try to emulate YouTube’s biggest star, MrBeast, flexing their money or pulling off fake stunts, but Matter says his success comes from bucking those trends. And that’s where legacy media producers come in. “YouTube needs a refresh. [Producers] need to come in with all of your expertise and understanding of traditional storytelling,” he says. “Because what [YouTube is now is] people who are all 20 to 25 who have no idea how to tell stories, but they’re dynamic, and they follow Jimmy’s playbook.” (MrBeast’s real name is Jimmy Donaldson.)

“Don’t look at this shiny object of what Jimmy’s doing and don’t try and get the quick hit, but really invest in two or three core relationships on the channel and find a unique way to tell those stories,” he says. His focus is more on fostering a good relationship with his daughter, and spotlighting that in the videos. That’s why he only films with Salish one day a week, and has a creative director who handles directorial decisions, so he can make sure lines aren’t blurred between being a director and a father.

“But understand, you’ve got to keep retention, you’ve got to keep reminding people [to keep viewing] while they’re watching.” He points out that it’s key to iterate and learn from analytics. You can tell from the data exactly where an audience checks out of a video, and it’s easy to avoid doing that same thing in the next vid, he says. 

Matter first met with Netflix a few months ago before signing a multi-year partnership that’s a first of its kind in the creator economy because it’s not just for one series but for multiple projects, says Matter. 

Working with Netflix is a natural extension for the YouTuber, because he sees an opportunity to grow across content and products, he says. “[Netflix has] the resources and the passion to create something really special and unique that I do not have the ability to do on my channel,” says Matter. “So it’s less of a money thing. It’s more of an opportunity to expand to better storytelling with a bigger audience.” 

Kidscreen Summit runs until February 25 in San Diego, California. For more on how to succeed on YouTube, check out these tips from Sunday’s “What You Need to Know” panel.

Picture of Jordan Matter (right) speaking, with Evan Baily moderating. Picture by Ryan Tuchow.