How to apply the MrBeast formula to your content…without the big budget
With over 500 million subscribers MrBeast has built the biggest YouTube channel in the world. His videos often involve enormous budgets, elaborate challenges and hundreds of participants. For an aspiring new creator it can be easy to conclude that the secret to his success is simply having a lot of money and resources.
But behind the huge sets, prizes and production teams there lies a simple formula. An approach to creating videos that makes people want to click on them and keep watching. The good news is that many of these principles can be applied to your content, regardless of budget.
Breaking down the MrBeast formula?
At its most basic, the MrBeast formula looks like this:
- Identify a simple idea
- give it an immediate hook
- add high stakes
- provide constant progression
- continually escalate the situation
- end with a satisfying payoff
One of the key advantages to MrBeast’s formula is his video’s are incredibly easy to understand. You don’t need any background information to know what’s happening or what is about to happen. The title and thumbnail establish the premise by presenting a clear and compelling proposition, while the opening immediately reinforces it by getting straight to the point and explaining what is at stake. As the video unfolds, the viewer is continually given new reasons to keep watching.
The enormous budgets involved in producing his content, combined with often life-changing prizes, allow him to take these relatively simple concepts and make them spectacular.
But luckily, you don’t need millions of pounds to apply the same thinking to your own content.
Think big ideas, not budgets
One of the biggest mistakes aspiring creators can make is deciding that an idea isn’t possible because of budget restraints.
Instead, ask yourself how you can make an idea work with the least amount of budget.
MrBeast might challenge 100 people to survive somewhere for a week. You could turn this into surviving somewhere more challenging for 24 hours with just your friends. He might offer $500,000 to the winner of a competition, while you could offer to be the winners personal servant for a day. (this even has the potential to be turned into an extra piece of content such as a short for your socials) Alternatively you could fully embrace the budget theme by ironically offering a shoddy handmade trophy.
The mechanic is the same. The scale is massively different.
Your budget shouldn’t therefore determine whether an idea is possible. It should merely determine how you execute it. And if you think about scaling down your ambitions creatively there’s no reason they can’t be equally effective and engaging.
Make the premise ridiculously clear
A viewer shouldn’t need three minutes of explanation to understand the premise of your video. They should grasp what it’s about within seconds. This starts with the title and thumbnail, and is then reinforced by the video’s introduction. The thumbnail and title provide the initial hook that gets someone to click through, while a snappy introduction should quickly explain what they’re about to watch and give them a reason to stay. To achieve this, the underlying idea needs to be simple and easy to grasp.
A useful test is whether you can explain your video in a single sentence. If you can’t, your idea may need simplifying.
Of course, you can introduce additional elements, twists and turns as the content unfolds, but there should always be a clear premise underpinning the narrative.
As an example, compare these two titles: “Come with me as I explore this abandoned building” and “Can I spend 24 hours inside Britain’s most abandoned hotel?” The second immediately creates curiosity, establishes a clear challenge and gives the viewer a reason to find out what happens.
Create stakes without a financial insentive
Granted a huge cash prize can create instant jeopardy and it’s a tool used in much of MrBeasts content, but there are many other ways to make viewers care about a videos outcome. Stakes can come from numerous other methods. You can use elements such time, competition, consequences, embarrassment, physical difficulty, curiosity or a deadline.
In fact you could even flip it and use a financial restriction instead as part of the challenge. For example a creator armed with just £20 could make a video about finding Britain’s best burger meal on that budget. Sometimes limitation can make the concept more interesting.
Plan content in terms of escalation
Escalation is at the centre of MrBeasts output. His content doesn’t simply move from a beginning to a middle and then to an end. To keep people engaged his videos are continually developing.
A MrBeast video often begins simply enough before becoming gradually harder. A setback might alter the plan or a new rule might be introduced that changes the narrative altogether.
A videos structure may therefore look something like this: challenge → complication → bigger challenge → setback → final attempt → payoff.
Escalation can be done on any budget as it relies mainly on the ability to think and plan creatively. You may want to make things faster, harder, longer, further away or more competitive as the video goes on.
Give every moment value
MrBeast’s videos are not short, often running for 20–30 minutes or more. Videos of this length can be excellent for generating advertising revenue, but keeping viewers engaged for that long is no mean feat. With viewer retention being an important signal in determining whether YouTube continues recommending a video, it’s vital that you too make every minute count.
If nothing consequential happens or changes for 30 seconds, you may have given the viewer an opportunity to click away. This is why MrBeast is constantly introducing new information, setbacks, location changes, revelations, characters to keep the story moving. Even something as simple as a glimpse of the countdown clock can be enough to keep your audience engaged.
When planning your own videos, continually look for opportunities to change the situation or direction of the story. A new twist might be introduced, followed by a reaction, which then leads to an interesting or unexpected action. This creates a chain of events that keeps the viewer wondering what will happen next.
MrBeast also famously combines this constantly shifting narrative with a fast-paced editing style, using cuts, punch-ins, graphics and transitions to maintain momentum. It’s certainly worth studying how he edits his videos and considering which techniques could work for your own content.
However, don’t fall into the trap of thinking that faster always means better. Your goal isn’t to make every video frantic or cram something into every second. It’s to ensure that something meaningful is always happening. This is what gives the viewer a reason to keep watching.
Spend money where viewers will actually notice it
When working with a tight budget, don’t try to make your production look expensive or lavish simply for the sake of it. If you’re going to spend money, put it towards things that genuinely improve the viewer’s experience.
A capable camera, well-recorded audio, decent lighting and, where necessary, hiring additional camera or production help will generally do more for a small creator than an elaborate set or expensive props. And while MrBeast is in a position to offer enormous cash prizes, creators with an established audience may be able to secure sponsorships and use a brand’s products or services as part of the incentive. Just make sure any sponsored involvement is clearly disclosed to your audience.
The key principle is simple: don’t spend money trying to look expensive. Spend money making the video better.
Use music and sound FX to make your videos feel bigger
The right music is a fantastic way to add scale to your videos without adding a huge production budget. Sound effects can also be invaluable, particularly when used to enhance transitions or emphasise key moments on screen.
By carefully selecting and deploying the right track at the right moment, you can create anticipation, tension, excitement, comedy or emotional impact. A simple challenge filmed in an ordinary location can suddenly feel far more epic when the soundtrack works in harmony with the storytelling and editing.
Study how music and sound effects are used in a MrBeast video and you’ll notice they don’t simply fill moments of silence. They are carefully chosen to support what the viewer is supposed to feel at each stage of the story, helping to build momentum and make key moments feel more significant.
And while we’re on the subject, RouteNote Licensing offers creators a cost-effective way to access unlimited royalty-free music and sound effects, providing serious bang for your buck when you’re working with a limited production budget.
Think about the title and thumbnail before filming
Your thumbnail shouldn’t be a last minute consideration once your video is finished. The most successful creators plan their title and thumbnail at the same time as the rest of the video. A good thumbnail and title idea can even come first, inspiring the entire theme of a piece of content.As these elements are the first thing a potential viewer will see, they carry a lot of responsibility. They can be thought of in a similar vein to a movie trailer.
MrBeast has developed a distinctive and instantly recognisable approach to titles and thumbnails. His thumbnails typically feature a close-up of his face with very little, if any, text, while the title communicates the basic premise of the video in as few words as possible.
Titles such as “Last to Take Their Hand Off a Jet, Keeps It” and “7 Days Stranded at Sea” give you just enough information to understand the concept while leaving plenty of room for curiosity. In fact, the lack of detail is part of what makes them effective. You understand the basic premise, but are left wanting to know what happens next.
Visually, the MrBeast formula is similarly consistent. He frequently features himself, often in a head-and-shoulders shot, placed within a dramatic, exaggerated or unusual situation. This creates a recognisable visual identity across his channel and helps viewers immediately associate the thumbnail with his content.
This consistency is something worth adapting to your own channel. Developing a recognisable thumbnail style, including regularly featuring yourself if appropriate, can help build familiarity with your audience and make your videos easier to recognise in a crowded YouTube feed.
Summary
The beauty of MrBeast’s success is that under the big prizes and extream productions there is always a pure idea. So, whatever your budget, there are ideas, choices and ways of thinking in his content that any creator can adopt.
Take what works, make it your own and experiment relentlessly. Your first videos may be small, but that doesn’t mean your ambitions have to be. Start with what you have available, focus on making content that people will find intriguing, and keep pushing yourself to make the next video better.
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