The 3-word framework behind every viral video
(I shared this on the Times Business podcast)
I was on the Times Business podcast recently chatting about the Sidemen, the creator economy, and how businesses should be thinking about content.
And at one point, the host asked me something along the lines of how do you make content? Like what’s the secret?
And I think it might be the most useful thing I’ve ever said on a podcast (which is a low bar, but still 😂)
Here it is:
All of social media - every platform, every format, every algorithm - comes down to three things.
Getting people to stop. Getting people to stay. And then satisfying them.
That’s it. Stop, stay, satisfy. Three words.
Every piece of content you ever make, every post, every video, every Reel, every newsletter - it either does those three things or it doesn’t. And if it doesn’t, the algorithm buries it and nobody sees it.
Let me break each one…
Stop
This is the hardest one and it’s also the one most people completely overlook.
Before anyone can enjoy your content, before they can learn from it, before they can buy from you - they have to stop scrolling. That’s the first battle. And you have about one to two seconds to win it.
On YouTube, this is all about the thumbnail and the title. I’d go as far as saying it’s probably 60% of the whole game on that platform. People massively underestimate how important packaging is. You can make the best video in the world, but if the thumbnail doesn’t make someone click, nobody will ever know.
On Instagram and TikTok, it’s your first frame. Your opening line. The visual that sits there in the feed as someone’s thumb is hovering over it.
Think about it like a shop window. You could have the best products in the world inside, but if the window display is boring, nobody walks in. Most people spend all their energy on what’s inside the shop and almost none on the window. Flip that.
And it’s not just content creators who need to think about this. If you run a business and you’re trying to grow through social, your “stop” game is everything. Your LinkedIn headline. Your email subject line. The first sentence of your post. The image you choose. All of it is packaging. All of it is trying to win that one-second battle against someone’s thumb.
Stay
Okay, so they’ve stopped. They’ve clicked. They’re watching or reading.
Now you have to keep them there.
This is retention. And this is where a lot of people fall down because they think that getting someone to click is the hard part. It’s not. Getting someone to click and then stay through your content, that’s the challenge.
On YouTube, we literally track this with retention graphs.
You can see the exact second people drop off and start to figure out why. One example I think about is from the Fellas podcast - Freezy and Chip used to talk about movies during their show. They loved it. They thought their audience loved it too. But the retention graph told a different story. Every time they started talking about films, people would skip forward. It was a negative signal. People were actively choosing to not hear that bit.
So they cut it. And the retention improved because they removed the thing that was causing people to leave.
That’s a lesson for anyone making content.
You might love talking about a certain topic. You might think it’s interesting. But if your audience is telling you - through data, through engagement, through the fact that nobody comments on those posts - that they don’t care about it, then you need to listen.
Staying power comes from making sure every section of your content is earning its place. No filler. No self-indulgent tangents that only you find interesting. Every minute should be giving the viewer or reader a reason to keep going.
Satisfy
This is the one that ties it all together and it’s probably the most misunderstood.
Satisfaction means that when someone finishes your content, they feel like it was worth their time. They feel like they got something from it. They feel like they want more.
Did they learn something? Were they entertained? Did they feel something? Did it change how they think about something? Were they inspired to take action?
If the answer to any of those is yes, you’ve satisfied them. And a satisfied viewer does the most valuable thing possible, they come back for the next one.
That’s the whole game on YouTube especially. The algorithm is trying to figure out one thing above all else: did this person enjoy that? And if yes, show them more. If no, show them something else.
Viewer satisfaction is what creates compounding growth over time. It’s what turns a casual viewer into a subscriber. A subscriber into a fan. A fan into a customer. It’s not one viral moment. It’s the consistent delivery of value that makes someone go “yeah, I trust this person, I’ll be back.”
And for business owners, this is the bit that matters most. Because satisfaction is what builds trust. And trust is what makes people buy from you.
How to use this:
Next time you’re about to post something, run it through this filter.
Will this make someone stop scrolling? If your thumbnail is mid, if your opening line is generic, if there’s nothing visually arresting - it won’t. Fix the packaging first.
Will this keep someone’s attention once they’ve stopped? If there’s a long slow intro before you get to the point, if there’s filler in the middle, if you’re rambling - they’ll leave. Tighten it up. Get to the value faster.
Will this leave someone satisfied at the end? If they finish your content and feel like they wasted their time, they’re not coming back. Make sure there’s a payoff. Give them something to take away. Leave them wanting more, not less.
Three questions. Every piece of content. That’s the framework.
It works whether you’re a YouTuber with 10 million subscribers or a bakery owner making your first Instagram Reel. The platforms are different. The audiences are different. But the principles are exactly the same.
Stop. Stay. Satisfy.
Simple to say. Hard to master. But if you can get incrementally better at each of those three things, your content will improve, your audience will grow, and your business will benefit from it.
Now go make something worth stopping for.
If you want to check out my full talk with Times Business, click below :)
Remember, the creator mindset is all you need to grow 🌱
Jordan
P.S.
When you’re ready, here’s three ways I can help out 👇️
P.P.S
If you enjoyed this, you’ll love Community Service, my co-written newsletter with Grace Andrews. Check it out using the link below.
I had a similar experience being a guest on a podcast recently and talking about the stop piece specifically at length. It’s still incredibly overlooked when making quality content. Great framework.
It’s like first principles in maths. The atoms of content. Everything else stems from this. All ideas, scripting, should fit into those three pillars. If it don’t, catch it, bin it, kill it.