A creator who says his team has generated 18 million followers and 15 billion views ranks 25 content formats twice, once for getting views and once for making money, and the two scores almost never agree.
Posted
4 days ago
Duration
Format
Listicle
educational
Views
6.8K
158 likes
57 · 43
Big Idea
The argument in one line.
The easier a content format is to produce, the more creators flood social media with it, and the worse it tends to convert viewers into paying customers, even when it still racks up views.
Who This Is For
Read if. Skip if.
READ IF YOU ARE…
You post regularly on social media and pick your content format mostly by what's easy to film that day.
You want a menu of proven content formats with the pros, cons, and where each one lands on the views-vs-money tradeoff.
You're getting views but can't figure out why so little of it turns into clients or sales.
SKIP IF…
You already track format-level performance data and have your own ranked list. This is a starting menu, not new data.
You're looking for platform algorithm or distribution mechanics. This video only covers what to film, not how it gets pushed.
TL;DR
The full version, fast.
Ronny Mitchell, who says his team has generated 18 million followers and 15 billion views for clients, ranks 25 content formats on two separate 1-10 scales: how well each one gets views and how well it makes money. The pattern repeats across nearly every format: podcast clips, FaceTime rants, and B-roll-with-text are the easiest to produce, so everyone does them, so they get commoditized and rarely convert into buyers. Formats that require real effort or a genuinely scarce asset, speaking on a stage, demonstrating expertise live, running a structured Q&A, are harder to film but consistently score highest for making money, because they prove competence instead of just claiming it.
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Two people in casual conversation on camera; ranked 8-9/10 for views but only 5-6/10 for making money because a mic and a camera no longer stand out.
01:27 – 02:50
02 · FaceTime format
Talking straight into a phone camera like a FaceTime call, structured with the BEST framework; ranked around 5/10 for both views and money.
02:50 – 03:59
03 · Green screen format
Reacting to a news post or screenshot placed behind the creator; ranked 7.5/10 for views and 8/10 for making money.
03:59 – 04:58
04 · Split screen format
Teaching on the top half of the frame while b-roll of the steps plays underneath; ranked around 7/10 overall.
04:58 – 05:49
05 · Demonstration format
Filming yourself actually doing the skill, like running a real sales call, instead of describing it; ranked 8/10 for views and 10/10 for making money.
05:49 – 06:40
06 · Stage format
Clipping a moment of speaking on a real stage; ranked 7/10 for views but 10/10 for making money because it is rare and reads as authority.
06:40 – 07:57
07 · Q&A format
Answering real questions on camera, ideally paired with the stage format; ranked 9.5/10 for views and 10/10 for making money.
07:57 – 08:55
08 · Skits format
Scripted scenes acting out a customer's real problem and then solving it; ranked 7/10 for views and 6/10 for making money.
08:55 – 09:57
09 · Direct to camera format
Talking straight to camera with no visual aid or gimmick; ranked only 3/10 for views for most people, but 7/10 for making money among viewers who stick around.
09:57 – 11:11
10 · Debate format
Two people disagreeing on a real topic on camera; ranked around 8-8.5/10 for views for pulling viewers out of passive scrolling.
11:11 – 12:35
11 · Ranking/rating format
Scoring a set of items in an industry on a 1-10 scale (the format this very video uses); ranked 7.5/10 for views and 7/10 for making money.
12:35 – 14:03
12 · Bad-Good-Best format
Fast-cut comparisons of a bad, good, and best version of something; ranked 9/10 for views but only 3/10 for making money since it shares no nuance or opinion.
14:03 – 14:33
13 · Clone format
Splitting the screen with two versions of the same creator labeled bad and good; ranked 7/10 for views and 6/10 for making money.
14:33 – 15:31
14 · Listicle format
Naming a number of items up front and walking through them one by one to leverage curiosity; ranked 8/10 for views and 6/10 for making money.
15:31 – 16:17
15 · T-graph format
Sorting examples into two labeled columns live on screen; ranked 8/10 for views and 6/10 for making money.
16:17 – 17:16
16 · Motion graphics format
Custom animated visuals built around the spoken script; ranked 7/10 for views and 8/10 for making money, mostly by making the brand feel premium.
17:16 – 18:23
17 · Vlog format
Filming a day in the life and editing it into one story; ranked only 4.5/10 for views for most people but 9/10 for making money by deepening audience closeness.
18:23 – 19:48
18 · Prop format
Teaching with a physical object that visually reinforces the point; ranked up to 9/10 for views when the prop truly clicks, 8/10 for making money.
19:48 – 20:45
19 · Whiteboard format
Teaching a proven method using a whiteboard, Miro board, or notepad; ranked 7.5/10 for views and 10/10 for making money.
20:45 – 21:57
20 · B-roll + text format
Short clips with on-screen text over b-roll and music, built for pure watch time; ranked 10/10 for views but only 3/10 for making money since it builds no follower relationship.
21:57 – 22:48
21 · Voiceover format
Narrating over b-roll of your own life, often a personal story; ranked 6.5/10 for views and 8/10 for making money.
22:48 – 23:47
22 · Memes format
A genuinely funny, relatable bit built around an industry stereotype; ranked 8.5/10 for views if actually funny, but only 3/10 for making money since it drives shares over follows.
23:47 – 24:45
23 · Carousels format
Turning an already-proven video into a stills-plus-caption carousel; ranked 6.5/10 for views and 7/10 for making money.
24:45 – 25:08
24 · Zoom recordings format
Repurposing a recorded Zoom call with a caption explaining the context; ranked 5/10 for views and 6/10 for making money, mostly valuable for being rare.
25:08 – 26:16
25 · Reaction format
Reacting to and sharing an opinion on someone else's viral clip; ranked 8.5/10 for views and 8/10 for making money, with a warning against building a brand on tearing others down.
26:16 – 26:26
26 · Wrap-up
A format is a template, not a guarantee. Mitchell points viewers to his next video on building a personal brand that actually influences people to buy.
Atomic Insights
Lines worth screenshotting.
The podcast format scores 8-9 out of 10 for getting views but only 5-6 out of 10 for making money, because so many creators run one that a mic and a camera stop being a differentiator.
Content formats that are the easiest to produce, like FaceTime-style rants and B-roll with text, get commoditized fastest and convert into buyers the worst.
A single stage clip can work as a credibility signal a podcast clip never will, since almost nobody gets invited to actually speak on stage.
Demonstrating a skill on camera, like actually running a sales call instead of describing how to sell, scores 10 out of 10 for making money because it proves expertise instead of narrating it.
Combining a Q&A format with a stage format is one of the strongest personal-brand plays available: real audience questions, answered live, in front of people.
Real, unscripted questions from strangers who need an answer outperform staged Q&A questions, because the audience can tell the difference.
Skits that dramatize a customer's actual problem and then solve it in the same scene work as entertainment and a sales pitch at the same time.
B-roll with text on screen can rank 10 out of 10 for views and only 3 out of 10 for making money, because nothing about the format signals who is behind it.
Debate content is underrated because conflict pulls viewers out of the passive, performative mode most social content trains them into.
Carousels built from a video that already went viral, reusing the stills and the exact spoken copy as slide text, are one of the cheapest ways to reformat a proven asset.
Whiteboard and sketchpad explainers only land if the creator has actually gotten results with the method being taught, otherwise it plays like a classroom with no teacher.
A prop only helps a video if it makes the point click in the viewer's head immediately. Adding a prop for the sake of having one does not move performance.
Takeaway
Effort is the real ranking axis, not the format name.
WHAT TO LEARN
Across all 25 formats, the ones that are cheapest to produce get the most views and the least money, while the ones that require real skill, a scarce asset, or genuine risk consistently convert best.
01Podcast format
Scores 8-9/10 for views but only 5-6/10 for making money once you factor in how many creators already run one.
Works best for repeatable, scalable output: set up the camera once and cover many topics in one sitting.
02FaceTime format
Fast to shoot with the BEST framework (bait, elaborate, story, takeaway), but ease of production caps it around 5/10 for both views and money.
Its low barrier to entry is also its ceiling: high supply of the same format makes any one creator's version blend in.
03Green screen format
Scores 8/10 for making money because reacting to a real screenshot or article proves a claim instead of just stating it.
Works because it visually stimulates the viewer while talking, which keeps people watching longer than a plain talking head.
04Split screen format
Scores around 7/10 overall and is best suited to teaching a process step by step, with matching b-roll underneath.
Requires an editor who can source b-roll that follows exactly what's being said, adding production overhead beyond a solo talking head.
05Demonstration format
Scores 10/10 for making money because actually performing the skill on camera proves expertise instead of narrating it.
Requires more effort and usually a videographer, which is exactly why it converts better: fewer creators are willing to do it.
06Stage format
Scores only 7/10 for views but 10/10 for making money, because almost nobody gets invited to speak on a real stage.
Its rarity is the entire value: a stage clip reads as authority in a way a home-studio clip cannot.
07Q&A format
Scores 9.5/10 for views and 10/10 for making money, and pairing it with the stage format is one of the strongest personal-brand plays available.
Real, unscripted questions from people who actually need an answer beat staged questions, because audiences can tell the difference.
08Skits format
Works when the scene dramatizes a customer's real problem and solves it in the same beat, making it entertaining and educational at once.
Requires a script and a shot list up front, so it's more tedious to produce than most formats on this list.
09Direct to camera format
Scores only 3/10 for views for most people; it only works if you're inherently interesting, funny, or have genuinely novel information.
The friction of a plain talking head filters for a more bought-in audience, which is why it still scores 7/10 for making money.
10Debate format
Scores around 8-8.5/10 for views because conflict pulls viewers out of the passive, performative mode most social content trains them into.
It requires actually knowing the subject well enough to defend a position, which most creators avoid.
11Ranking/rating format
Scores 7.5/10 for views and 7/10 for making money, and putting one genuinely surprising item first keeps viewers watching for the rest of the list.
Forces the creator to think through a lot of variables at once, which doubles as a real test of their own expertise.
12Bad-Good-Best format
Scores 9/10 for views because it's fast and information-dense, but only 3/10 for making money since it shares no opinion or nuance.
Everyone doing the same format erases differentiation, which is one of the core ingredients of a brand with a loyal audience.
13Clone format
Works by contrasting a bad version of a behavior against a good one on a split screen with labels.
Scores only 7/10 for views and 6/10 for money because it's become a commodity now that so many creators clone themselves this way.
14Listicle format
Scores 8/10 for views by leveraging curiosity: naming a number of items up front keeps viewers watching to see the last one.
Needs something novel in the list itself, or it blends into the flood of other listicles already on social media.
15T-graph format
Scores 8/10 for views and 6/10 for money by sorting examples into two labeled columns live on screen.
Works because it shares the creator's real opinions on a subject, and rare, clearly stated opinions tend to perform well.
16Motion graphics format
Scores 8/10 for making money mostly by making a brand feel more premium and exclusive, not by making the underlying content better.
Requires a good editor to translate spoken words into visuals, which adds real production cost.
17Vlog format
Scores only 4.5/10 for views for most people since a stranger needs a reason to watch someone else's day, but 9/10 for making money.
Works best for deepening closeness with an audience that already exists, not for cold discovery.
18Prop format
Only performs when the object makes the point click immediately in the viewer's head; adding a prop for its own sake does not move the needle.
Requires scripting the prop and the words together in advance, which takes real effort even though the payoff can be huge.
19Whiteboard format
Scores 10/10 for making money, but only works if the creator has actually gotten results with the method being taught.
Mirrors how most people were taught in school, which is part of why it establishes the creator as someone who knows the subject.
20B-roll + text format
Scores 10/10 for views by maximizing watch time and retention, but only 3/10 for making money.
Nothing about the format signals who made it or why to follow them, so views rarely convert into followers or buyers.
21Voiceover format
Scores 6.5/10 for views and 8/10 for making money by narrating over b-roll of the creator's own life or story.
Works like a lighter-weight vlog: it builds a relationship with the audience without needing to be on camera as much.
22Memes format
Scores 8.5/10 for views when it's genuinely funny, but only 3/10 for making money since people share memes without following the account.
Adding humor to a brand still helps indirectly: it signals to existing followers that the creator doesn't take themselves too seriously.
23Carousels format
Scores 6.5/10 for views and 7/10 for making money, and is one of the cheapest ways to reformat a video that already proved itself.
Works best by reusing the exact stills and spoken copy from a pre-validated video rather than starting from scratch.
24Zoom recordings format
Scores only 5/10 for views and 6/10 for making money, but stays useful specifically because almost nobody else is doing it.
A format not getting millions of views doesn't mean it isn't still useful content for an existing audience.
25Reaction format
Scores 8.5/10 for views and 8/10 for making money by sharing a real opinion on a piece of content that already performed.
Building a brand purely on tearing other people down gets attention but does not build real influence over an audience.
Glossary
Terms worth knowing.
BEST framework
A four-part structure for talking-to-camera content: Bait (a hook statement), Elaborate (explain the hook), Story (what taught you to believe it), Takeaway (what the viewer should do). Used to keep unscripted direct-to-camera videos from rambling.
Clone format
An editing technique that puts two versions of the same creator on screen at once, usually labeled to contrast a 'bad' version of a behavior against a 'good' one.
T-graph format
A video built around two labeled columns, such as 'approved' and 'rejected', where the creator sorts examples into one side or the other in real time on screen.
Commoditized
What happens to a content format once so many creators are using it that no single video benefits from it anymore, because the audience has already seen the format everywhere.
Resources
Things they pointed at.
07:27channelDan Martell
Quotables
Lines you could clip.
02:21
“When things become easy, the supply of that thing goes up. And when supply is super high, it's commoditized, it's less valuable.”
self-contained thesis statement, works as a cold open for a video about content strategy→ TikTok hook↗ Tweet quote
05:37
“I think demonstrating expertise is way better than talking about it.”
short, contrarian-sounding but obviously true once said→ newsletter pull-quote↗ Tweet quote
12:36
“I hate this format so much. It works really well.”
funny self-aware admission, good pattern interrupt→ TikTok hook↗ Tweet quote
20:04
“Just because a format doesn't get millions of views doesn't mean it's not still useful for your audience.”
reframes the whole ranking system at the end, good closing line→ newsletter pull-quote↗ Tweet quote
The Script
Word for word.
Read-along
Don't just watch it. Burn it in.
See every word as it's spoken — crank it to 2× and still catch all of it. The same dual-channel trick behind Amazon's Kindle + Audible.
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metaphoranalogystory
Content format number one is the podcast format. Now, this is one of the most popular formats that we've used to generate 18 million followers and 15 billion views for clients. And today, I'm going to be ranking the 25 most popular content formats today on social media and ranking them on a scale from 1 to 10 for making money and getting views.
So the podcast format, as you can see, it just looks like you're on a podcast. To do this, you can either book a podcast, which is a lot of effort. What you can do is just have someone in your close proximity that you like and have good conversations with, and then set up a camera, not too much to the side, but just to the side, and then talk to someone.
Like, have a conversation. Have a real conversation. The purpose of this format is to seem casual, not professional.
There are a couple pros of the podcast format. A, it shows you thinking in real time, which is something that I think a lot of people forget is important when you're trying to build a brand. People want to form a relationship with the people they follow.
It's also good for banging out a lot of content in a short period of time. All you have to do is set up the camera once, and then you can talk about 20 topics in 90 minutes, and then you... have content and it's it's repeatable and it's scalable the cons of the podcast format is that unless you are talking about high tam universal topics something that's like highly interesting to a lot of people it's hard to make it perform now it's not impossible but there's always another guy another girl with a podcast mic and so if you don't have an x factor about you it's going to be hard to get people to watch you just talk so for getting views i would rank it eight or nine out of ten i would rank it on a a five or six out of ten for the average person to make money content format number Number two is the FaceTime format.
Now the FaceTime format is what it sounds like. You are talking to the camera like you're talking to someone on FaceTime. With this example, it's literally a girl in her car talking to the camera like she'd be talking to one of her friends on FaceTime or Snapchat.
And that's the goal of this format. To do this format, all you're gonna do is pull out your phone. and talk to the camera now to give yourself a little bit of structure so you're not just word vomiting to your phone for three minutes follow the best framework which stands for bait elaborate story takeaway do a little bit of journaling ahead of time figure out what your beliefs about your industry are and then condense those beliefs into statements and then elaborate on that statement and then share a story as to what taught you to believe that and then give people a takeaway what should they do now the pros of this format just like the podcast format is that it's so easy to do all you have to do is be in your car as you're on your way to a nail appointment and just rip out your phone and talk you can shoot five of these in 10 minutes, super easy.
The cons of this format, again, because it's so easy, when things become easy, the supply of that thing goes up. And when supply is super high, it's commoditized, it's less valuable.
And so just realize that if there isn't anything necessarily interesting, I think about your personality or the information that you're giving, it's gonna be generic and there's a dime a dozen yappers on Instagram right now. Ranking this on a scale of one to 10, for views, I would say for 70 % of people, it is a five out of 10.
And then for making money, I'd say five or six out of 10. Format number three is the green screen format. This is where there is something behind you that you are going to, edit your face over top of I think this is good because it shows while you're talking and when people can see and be visually stimulated while someone's talking it makes often the videos more interesting it's very similar to the FaceTime format the only difference is you're adding visuals to do this all you need to do is talk to your camera and then make sure that you have something that you're going to be reacting to, like a news article or even you can write something out on a piece of paper and then just take a photo of that and then put it behind you.
And then while you're shooting the FaceTime video, just like point behind yourself or over here and then in editing, you can move yourself around. The pros of this format is that you are able to visually stimulate people while you're talking, which is, I think, better than just talking. Show is better than tell.
And so it's good to keep people entertained and almost like... prove what you're talking about. Like if I'm just saying words right now, they're just words.
But if I'm proving the words by showing you something or like reacting to a piece of news that just came out, like maybe Instagram came out with an update, then oh, oh, like you can see that I'm proving what I'm talking about with this piece of news. The pros is that it's easy. The cons is that a lot of people are doing it.
And maybe if you're a business owner, you don't really know how to do it. So if that's the case, I would hire an editor. I would rank this a 7 .5 out of 10 for getting views and an eight for making money.
Content format number four is the split screen. So this is where you're going to be talking on the lower or upper half and then there's going to be something shown underneath.
I think this is very similar to the green screen because you're showing not telling. Really good if you're teaching someone how to do something in real time. So it's like do this, then this, then this.
I had a video perform pretty well on my account in the last couple months doing this. I was teaching them how to get a million views on Instagram and so I taught them exactly what they need to do and then the editor put together what they need to do so they could just follow along. To do this, just teach on camera.
Just talk about how to do something and then get an editor to go find b -roll and piece together the clips so that it follows what you say. The pros of doing this is that you can keep people visually stimulated while you're talking. of just posting a piece of content of you talking and i don't really see any constant doing this this is a great format of content no matter what niche you're in i haven't seen this video get millions and millions of views there are always exceptions but it often gets hundreds of thousands of views comparatively to other formats so i would rank it 7 out of 10 for views for money i think if you can get in front of more people by showing something interesting on screen great and then if the information you provide is good and people want to hear more of it then they will follow and then if they follow and then you keep saying good stuff then they're more likely to buy so i'd rank it 7 out of 10 as a format.
Format number five is the demonstration format. The demonstration format is where you are demonstrating something in real time. So for this lady, she's reacting to a sales call.
She could talk about how to sell or she could just capture herself selling in real time, which is way fucking stronger. I think demonstrating expertise is way better than talking about it. I'm going to be coming out with content of my own that demonstrates me doing content with people in real time because I understand the power of it.
It just does require a little bit more effort. So this is awesome. Love this.
And you can do this in any niche. Like if you're a fitness coach and you teach people how to track their macros.
Just like grab someone that doesn't know how to track their macros, show them how to track their macros, film it and post it. It's way better than you being like, and this is how you track your macros. To do it, film what you do in a day and then clip it and then post it.
Pros, really great because it shows your expertise. Cons, it's a little bit harder to do and you're probably gonna need a videographer. I'd rank it at eight out of 10 for views and a 10 out of 10 for making money.
Format number six. the stage format to do this all you got to do is be good enough for other people to watch on a stage i actually my best clip of all time it's 800k views and it's me talking on a stage you just talk on stage clip it and then post it like this is like the podcast format on steroids because a podcast like anyone can get on a podcast but not anyone can get on a stage and so if you can demonstrate to people that you are someone that was able to speak on stage it's just it's just max authority i think it's great the pro is that because not anyone can get on a stage it's less commoditized it's harder to do and so it's just rarer and the cons is that it's hard for most people to do like most people aren't going to be able to get on stage but if you can i would definitely use that for content i think it's a 7 out of 10 for getting views because people are just more likely to listen to someone talking on stage and then a 10 out of 10 for making money because it makes me think that you're legit and if you're more legit then i'm more likely to pay you money format
Number seven is the Q &A format. In order to do this format, you need someone to ask you a question. You don't have to be on stage like this clip says, but if you can be even better, like if you can combine stage and Q &A format even better, like that's probably one of the best things that you could do if you're trying to build a personal brand that has a cult like audience and makes money is combine.
Q &A format and a stage format. But like I said, you don't need to be on stage. You can just get anyone to ask you a question.
Like if you have a spouse, get your spouse to ask you questions on camera. If you have kids, get your kids to ask you questions about your industry. Dan Martell grew from like 400K followers or something to over a million in less than six months when he started doing this Q &A format.
He started doing an event in his hometown called King's Club, which is where he would teach business to a bunch of kids and they would go ask him questions outside of a supercar. And it just printed views. Like how many other people are able to get kids to ask?
someone business questions it's just like so rare I want to add a caveat that real questions are better than staged ones so if you can get in an environment where real people that need to solve a problem or asking questions it's gonna be way better because they're asking real questions that they need answers to pros you're capturing yourself in real time respond to a question that people need solved so really good for solving real problems and a personal brand that solves problems for people makes money and the cons is that it's harder to get people to ask you questions so it's just the effort required to do this is just a required I would rank this a 9 .5 out of 10 for getting views and a 10 out of 10 for making money.
Format number eight is skits. This is where you are enacting a situation that would happen in real life. The first person I ever worked with on social media actually grew from 4 ,000 followers to 800 ,000 followers in like four or five months.
And the only content we did was skits. He had videos get over 10 million views. And what he did is he enacted out the problems that his customers experience in real time.
then he solved that problem for them in the skit. So it was both entertaining and educational at the same time. The pros is that it makes oftentimes boring educational content fun.
Like the funnier this format is, the better. The cons is that you have to make sure you have a script and a shot list. So it's very tedious and requires a lot of effort.
And a lot of people were doing it a couple of years ago, but I would definitely do it again. I would rank this a seven out of 10 for getting views and I'd rank it a six out of 10 for making money. Format number nine is direct to camera.
I think that unless you are inherently interesting, funny, or attractive, or have novel things to say like you're almost like a scientist of your domain then you should not do this format the pros of this format is because it's boring the type of person that's going to watch it is probably more bought into the message and bought into you whenever something's boring when people do it i almost like respect it and so it's a sign that they respect you and you're sharing education interesting enough for them to keep watching like it's not entertaining for them.
They're strictly there for what you're saying. I think it's good if you're trying to add a little bit of friction to the viewing process to kind of qualify the views that you're getting. But the cons is that it's probably not going to perform well.
unless like I mentioned, you're attractive, funny, or you have novel education to share. I would rank this for most people, a three out of 10 for getting views and a seven out of 10 for making money. Format number 10 is the debate format.
This is where two people are debating a subject. In order to do a debate format, all you gotta do is have someone that disagrees with you on something and then just have a topic of discussion and then just disagree. I think this format of content is so underrated.
I think not enough people do this format because it triggers you out of performative brain, which is what most content is. the internet it's like so performative and it makes you react to this real person in real time and you have to prove your point this is a format that i completely forgot about i think it's one of the most goaded formats that you could do right now i'm going to start doing this content format more who do i disagree with that i can do this with this would be great anyone who disagrees with me on content let's let's talk the pros of this format is i think conflict is interesting and it's also educational at the same time because You're able to see both sides of an argument and then you're able to see the nuances at play, especially if two people are subject matter experts.
I think it's so entertaining as well. So it's both educational and entertaining at the same time. The cons is that you're going to need to know your shit well enough to be able to debate it.
And most content creators don't really know what they're talking about enough. And they also are afraid to have conflict because they know that they're not actually competent at what they do. So love this format of content.
It's just harder to do like huge pros. I would highly recommend doing this format of content more. Yeah, I'd say eight out of 10 for getting.
Remember, I know I'm talking about ranking these for getting views and making money. What really matters for getting views is the topic. If you create a piece of content on a topic that is just not interesting, there's only so many bells and whistles that you can add to a video, it's not gonna perform.
That being said, I think that this format is definitely an eight or nine out of 10, an 8 .5 out of 10. If you get your ass handed to you, you're fucked. So just win.
That's it. Format number 11, rating slash ranking format. To do this format, you need to just find a bunch of vectors in your industry and rate them or rank them on a scale from one to 10.
There are people that are doing like the S tier, A tier, and then there's also people that just rank things one out of 10. Whatever you do, it's same shit. Just like test both of them to see what works better.
But I think it's really good. I think it's good if you can especially rate. something novel as the first point for example i was working with a guy and he was ranking protein sources and we threw in breast milk in there and i think that's just more interesting than saying like pinto beans that's the first one so if you can throw something interesting in there and kind of like um no one saw it coming then better because then they're more likely to watch the rest of the video yeah i think it's really good for sharing you thinking in real time plus it challenges you even just doing this video right now this video in and of itself is a ranking video in a youtube video and it's super challenging because you have to think about so many variables and so it's a good challenge for your own expertise.
I would say the pros of doing this format is that it's interesting. It's entertaining and it's also educational at the same time because it shows the hierarchy of information and it shares with people the most important thing that they could do and then the things that aren't that important. And then the cons is that a lot of people are doing it on social media right now.
I reckon it will reach a point where it is no longer performing as well because there's so much of it. It's such a commodity. I would rank it, if we're getting views right now, like depending on how you do it, 7 .5 out of 10 still gets millions of views for a lot of the creators we work with.
That's today. And then for making money, I would say a 7 out of 10. Format number 12, bad, good.
best i hate this format so much it works really well and i think the reason why it works is because it fits so much information in such a short period of time so your videos could be like 15 seconds and you could just plow through information everyone's doing it and it it shares no nuance and it shares no extra context i think the more time people spend with you the better because you have so many more opportunities to reinforce their thinking and then they're more likely to trust you the more time they spend with you and so short content is very likely to get views but people don't spend much time with you so it's harder to build a cult -like audience with people.
And you're not sharing any of your opinions on the subject matter. And opinion does matter. I'd say the pros is that it's very easy to get views because of how short it is and how much information it just gives the viewer immediately.
So if your page is dying right now, then I would just throw in a Hail Mary and just start doing this. If you don't care about looking like everyone else, the cons is that you will look like everyone else because everyone else is doing it. I think one of the elements of a brand that has a cult -like audience is differentiation.
It's being different than everyone else. And you can't really be different than everyone else if you're doing the same thing that everyone else is. doing.
And for that reason, for getting views, I would rank it a nine out of 10 for getting views and probably a three out of 10 for making money. Format number 13 is the clone format. This is where there are two of you on screen at the same time with different labels over each person.
So in this example, you can see what a bad husband does versus what a good husband does. The pros is that it's entertaining and there's a little bit of debate involved. So it's like, this is good, this is bad.
And you can give a little bit of an explanation. No one wants to be bad. Everyone wants to be good.
And so if you can share your opinion on what a good person does in this context versus a bad person, I think it's very interesting for people to watch. So pros, entertaining, interesting.
Cons is that so many people are doing it. It's such a commodity on social media. Everyone's cloning themselves.
And so like, what do we know about doing what everyone else does? You'll probably get the same results as everyone else. And everyone else does not have the results that you want.
I would rank this as a seven out of 10 for getting views and a six out of 10 for making money. Format number 14 is a good old listicle. This is where you're listing things that people need do or you're listing reasons that they should do something for this video it is giving five reasons why adhd will make you more successful and then he's just listing them out i think this is good because if the viewer is interested in the topic of the video and then they see that there are five things that are going to come then if they're interested they're going to wait to see the very last one to do this format just take a topic you want to talk about and list out x number of things that you want to talk about and then talk about them one by one the pros of doing this format is you are leveraging curiosity you're showing that there's five things that you're going to go through and they have to stay to the end to see them.
And when people watch more of a video, that video is more likely to get pushed to more people. The cons is that a lot of people are doing it. So if you don't have anything novel to share, then it's not likely that you're going to get great results.
I would rank this an 8 out of 10 for getting views and a 6 out of 10 for making money. Format number 15, a T -graph format. This is where there's two opposing forces and then you're getting asked questions or you're just naming vectors and then you're putting them in one of the columns.
So for this, it's like approved, rejected. And then they're asking her, oh, is coffee approved or is it? rejected.
There was a video that we were doing for a creator in a B2B space and the two columns were train and fire. And then we would list things that would make someone worth training versus making them worth firing. And it performed really well.
And I think it's great because it's dopaminergic. So it's interesting to watch. It's entertaining, but it also shares your opinions on the subject and your opinions are rare.
Whenever you can share something rare about yourself in a way that's interesting for people, that's often a recipe for success on social media. The pros is that it leverages you. reacting to things in real time but then it shows people what they should do versus not do the cons is that it's super commoditized i would rank this an 8 out of 10 for getting views and a 6 out of 10 for making money format number 16 motion graphics and animations this is where there are visual edits that demonstrate what you're talking about as you're talking To do this, you need a good editor that is able to take the words that you're saying and then come up with visual animations to put on screen that help the viewer understand what you're saying better.
The pros of this format is that it demonstrates what you're talking about. It puts something that people can see with what they hear. And that's always like, if you watch the video up until this point, you know that anytime you can show, it's better than just telling.
And this is just my opinion as well, but I think this makes your content look more premium and people associate premium with expensive. Now, this doesn't mean that just because you start creating animations, and your content, you're gonna all of a sudden start making more money.
But I do think that if you're trying to build a premium personal brand, then this is one of those things that you can do to make it feel more exclusive. The cons is that you're gonna need a good editor and you're probably gonna have to pay them off. I would rank this a seven out of 10 for getting views and an eight out of 10 for making money.
Reason why is I think you can share something that's a little bit more niche, but you can help people understand it better by adding visuals on screen, which keep people engaged through the whole video versus you just talking to the camera. that same topic. Format number 17, vlogs.
As you can see, this guy is just taking you through a day in his life and he's showing you how he lives. If you want to do this, All you got to do is talk to your camera and film yourself as you're going through your day -to -day life and then edit it together so that it shares one story from the start to the end.
The pros of this format is that I think it's really good for building a relationship with your audience. You're showing them how you live your life and you're sharing maybe more intimate parts of your life and you only really share intimate parts of your life with people that you're close with and so it makes your audience feel closer with you.
The cons is that a lot of people want to be able to just do a day in the life of vlog and blow up. They watch vlogs from creators and they just want to be that creator but unless you already have an audience it's going to be hard for people to watch this because you're just another random person why would they watch you living a day in your life if there's something exclusive about you there's you're living a life that people wish they had then i think it's a great format to do regardless of who you are i think a vlog is a great format to build a deeper relationship with your audience for most people i'd rank it a 4 .5 out of 10 for getting views but a 9 out of 10 for making money format number 18 is the prop format the prop format is where you are visually demonstrating and teaching using props in front of you.
The pros of this format is that if you can pair what you're talking about with a visual that actually makes sense in the viewer's brain immediately, then I think you can get so many views and really teach people something in a way that they've never heard it before. So here he's showing people different protein sources, which is the message.
And so those pair very easily. The caveat is that the visual has to actually make sense in the viewer's brain. Just adding props for the sake of props isn't going to make the video perform.
It needs to make people go, ah, I've never thought about it in that way. Or, oh, this is such an interesting way of looking at this.
The cons is that you're gonna have to script your videos and put a lot of effort into making sure the prop and the script go together. So it takes a lot of time as someone who has gotten probably billions of views in this exact format. It requires so much effort on the front end and it doesn't always result into views and followers on the back end.
Like I mentioned, if you're able to do it right, it's a nine out of 10 for getting views. Like this video got 12 million views. This video, which is also a prop video.
got 6 million views. And then this one got 5 million views. It's like, it's worked for me because I know how to script.
But for people that don't know how to script and they don't know how to make the props and the script pair well together, I would rank it a 4 out of 10, 5 out of 10 for getting views. For making money, I think it's exclusive content, especially if the props you're using no one has ever used before to illustrate that point.
So I would rank it a 8 out of 10 for making money. Format number 19 is the whiteboard slash Miro board slash sketch pad format. This is where you have something written out on on a TV or a whiteboard or a notepad like this, and you're teaching people using what you draw.
To do this, all you need is a notepad, a whiteboard, and some sort of methodology that you have used to get other people results. The reason I say that is because if you haven't gotten results doing something, then it's gonna be hard for you to teach, kind of like you're in a classroom. But if you do have a lot of methods and lessons that you can teach and you can make them visual too, then even better.
I think this is a great format for that purpose. The pros is that it's great for educating. I think it's like being in class.
Like I think a lot of us learn school on a whiteboard or on a chalkboard. So it's very native to how we have been educated in the past. Really good for teaching and establishing yourself as someone who knows what they're talking about.
And I don't really see any concept doing this format. I think this is an evergreen format of content that has worked in the past and will work in the future. And if you know what you're talking about, you should absolutely be doing this.
I would rank this 7 .5 out of 10 for getting views and 10 out of 10 for making money. I've paid. people in the past strictly because the visuals that they drew out made so much sense in my brain that I was like, you have to know everything.
So like take my money and teach me. Format number 20, B -roll with text on screen. Oftentimes these videos are like five to seven seconds.
As you can see, there's text on screen and there's like B -roll in the back with some music. The pros of this format is if it's like five to seven seconds and then it takes more than five to seven seconds to read. what's on screen, the watch time on that video and the retention on that video is just so high.
And when watch time and retention are high, Instagram sends that video to so many people. So if you've ever done this format of content in the past, you've probably noticed that it's very easy to get views. But if you've also ever done this format of content in the past, you've also noticed that you didn't get a lot of follower conversion on this format of content.
And that's the con. I think it's easy to get views, but you don't really convert many of those views into followers. Like that video got millions of views.
and it has 5 ,000 followers. And I think that's because when people are scrolling and then they see one of these, nothing about this video makes me want to follow this person. It's just like, oh, that was relatable.
I'll share it. So I would rank it a 10 out of 10 for getting views. If you want to get views right now because you just like views and the bad idea metrics that come with that, then do this.
But if you want to make money, then you need to have people follow you and then trust you and then see you as someone that can teach them something that. they want to learn and so i'd rank it a 3 out of 10 for making money format number 21 is the voiceover format this is where there's b -roll on screen visually illustrating something while you are talking over top of that.
I think this is a great format for pacifying your audience. It's like you're kind of putting a pacifier in their mouth and entertaining them while you're teaching them something. Especially if you're like sharing a life story, kind of like what this video is.
It makes me more likely to keep listening to you while I'm watching you literally live your life. I think that's so cool. So it's kind of like the vlog format.
I think this format's really good and not enough people do it. The pros is that this is really good for building a relationship with your audience and people are just inherently interested in stories. I don't see a whole lot of cons with doing this format.
Maybe it won't get millions of views. but I think it can still get more views than an average video. And for that reason, I'm gonna rank it a 6 .5 out of 10 for getting views and an eight out of 10 for making money.
Format number 22 are memes. Now a meme has to actually be funny. And I think one of the best ways to make something funny if you're not just an inherently a funny person, is if you were a stereotype, if your life were a stereotype, what would you do?
Or maybe look at the stereotypes in your industry and then ask yourself, how can I demonstrate this in a funny way? We had a client do one of these and she's a wellness coach. And she spent the last several years throwing out all synthetic cleaners and synthetic clothing, trying to make her life more holistic and healthier.
And so the meme was her husband using Dawn dish soap and then her running in and grabbing the Dawn dish soap and throwing it across the house and then giving him some natural based cleaning product to use. dead and then there was a caption over top which is like what it's like when you're trying to become healthy or something but you've got millions of views so the pros are that it's funny and it's relatable the cons are that it's not very likely that people are going to follow you because it's just relatable i'm going to send this to my homies and i'm going to keep scrolling but if you can add an element of humor into your brand i think that's so positive because the people that already follow you are going to be like oh this guy's not so serious they have a sense of humor too and people just like following funny people i would rate this an 8 .5 out of 10 for getting views if you're actually funny and a 3 out of 10 for making money.
Format number 23 are carousels. A lot of emphasis has been put on video content in the last couple of years to grow on social media, but carousels can get millions of views. Like this carousel for one of my clients got, I think over 4 million views.
What we did to make this is we took a video that got 10 million views for him. And then we took stills of that video. And then we put one on top, one on the bottom.
And then we just took the copy of the video, the word said, and then we put them on each slide. If you can take a pre -validated video, pre -validated basically means it's worked in the past and then reformat that. a carousel there's a high likelihood that it performs well the pros are that it's super easy you can just take a lot of the things that you've already said and then reformat them into carousels and then you can even design visuals to go hand in hand with the message to teach the cons is that it's not visual content and people aren't watching you think in real time i would rank this a 6 .5 out of 10 for getting views and a 7 out of 10 for making money format number 24 zoom recordings this is where you just take a zoom recording and then you put a context caption over top which is what you see here how to plan your youtube vlog so they go viral and then you can something.
The pros to doing this is that not a lot of people are doing it. I think it's unique and it's original. The cons of this format is I haven't seen many of these perform super well, but just because a format doesn't get millions of views doesn't mean it's not still useful for your audience.
I would rank this a 5 out of 10 for getting views and a 6 out of 10 for making money. Format number 25 are reaction videos. This is where you take a video that has performed on social media and you react to it and you share your opinion on it.
I think this is good because oftentimes people react to videos that they disagree with. And so I'm just inherently waiting for this guy to disagree with her, which is kind of leveraging the elements of the debate. format.
Now it's a very lazy way to create content and I don't think that you should build a brand that reacts to videos and tears them down. I would never want to be known as the guy who just disagrees with everyone because I don't think that's a very positive brand. I think it's a brand that is able to get attention but just because you're able to get attention doesn't mean you're building a good personal brand.
I think a good personal brand is one that has influence over people and if you are able to get a lot of views by tearing other people down that doesn't mean that you're going to be able to influence people to do anything. The pros is that it's very easy to do. All you have to do is go find viral pieces of content and then share your opinions on them.
The cons is that a lot of people do reaction videos and so it's pretty commoditized. But if you have interesting nuanced opinions on a piece of content that performed and that piece of content is in your industry, then I think it's a great format for you to do. I would rank this format an 8 .5 out of 10 for getting views and an 8 out of 10 for making money.
These are the 25 content formats that are most popular on social media right now. A format is a template that you can use to create content, but just because you create content with a good template doesn't mean that you're going to build a personal brand that has influence over people.
So if you wanna learn how to build a personal brand that influences people to buy from you, watch this video next.
The Hook
The bait, then the rug-pull.
A creator who says his team has generated 18 million followers and 15 billion views for clients ranks 25 content formats twice, once for getting views and once for making money. The two scores almost never agree.
Frameworks
Named ideas worth stealing.
01:46acronym
BEST framework
Bait
Elaborate
Story
Takeaway
A four-part structure for unscripted direct-to-camera content: state a belief as a hook (bait), explain it, tell the story that taught you to believe it, then give the viewer a takeaway.
Steal forStructuring FaceTime-style or direct-to-camera talking points so they don't ramble.
CTA Breakdown
How they asked for the click.
VERBAL ASK
26:26next-video
“So if you wanna learn how to build a personal brand that influences people to buy from you, watch this video next.”
Soft, single-sentence pointer to a follow-up video at the very end, no link or on-screen graphic shown in the sampled frames.
Add Modern Creator as a preferred source and Google shows you more of our breakdowns in Search, Top Stories, and AI Overviews. It only changes what you see, and you can undo it in your Google settings anytime.
Add to Preferred SourcesOpens your Google source preferences with us pre-loaded. Tick the box and you're done.
Eleven repeatable rules — from reprogramming the Instagram algorithm in ninety seconds to a five-question interview script — for building a personal brand without guessing.
A 16-minute single-take talking-head tutorial where Ronny Mitchell teaches the 6 principles of building an audience that would notice if you disappeared — using vivid analogies, named concepts, and client micro-stories to do all the heavy teaching.
A creator with 8 million followers and 5.5 years of daily posting breaks his whole content system into two teachable parts: how to stop niching down, and how to build hooks that stop the scroll.
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