Kori Sampson: more clicks from the views he was already getting

The brief

Kori Sampson is a hybrid athlete documenting his training and races on YouTube, including his Brick by Brick series, filmed with Kev. The content was strong. The goal was simple: more engagement.

So that's where we put the work: optimising uploads, research and thumbnails.

Step one: read the data

Before changing anything, we went through the channel's analytics. Three things stood out.

YouTube was already putting Kori in front of new people. Thumbnails and titles decide whether they click. That made packaging the biggest lever we had.

The data also shaped how the videos are made:

Step two: optimise every upload

Kori's audience peaks on Monday between 5pm and 8pm. So videos go live at 3pm on Monday, which gives YouTube a couple of hours to start pushing them before the rush. It also lands mid-morning on the US East Coast, his second-biggest country. If a Monday is missed, the backup is Sunday at 4pm, just ahead of his second-busiest window.

Alongside the timing, every upload gets the basics right: a title built around one clear goal, a proper description and the settings that are easy to get wrong.

Step three: thumbnails, with a system

Thumbnails got a system of their own. BrandBildr wrote the thumbnail briefs and art-directed a designer on every one: a bold one-word headline, Kori's face for emotion, and the series and episode tag in the same place every time.

George led the strategy. He got clear on the goal for each video first, then aligned the team around it, briefing the designer so the thumbnail, the title and the upload all pulled in the same direction. One goal, one direction, seamless results.

Step four: test, don't guess

We A/B test thumbnails on every upload. For EP 14, Kev loved one option and Kori preferred the other. So nobody's opinion decided it. We let the algorithm decide.

A · The BuildB · Balance

The results

EP 14 was the first upload with the full approach in place.

The top three click-through rates on the channel all belonged to videos with new thumbnails.

More clicks meant a faster start. In its first 19 hours, EP 14 out-performed every one of Kori's last ten videos over the same window:

What's next

The work compounds. Every upload is a new test, and the data now shapes what gets filmed. Next up: trend analysis on what's performing in Kori's space, and the idea of telling his February race as a doc-style series in chapters.

Not heard of Kori? Check him out: youtube.com/@korisamps