Differences between entertainment education and edutainment content

From: alexhormozi

Over 40 months, one content creator’s media presence grew exponentially, including YouTube subscribers from zero to 2.23 million, Instagram followers from 7,000 to 2.5 million, and podcast downloads from 3,000 to 25 million, totaling two billion impressions and 7.8 million new subscribers across platforms [00:00:03]. This growth is presented as proof that a brand can be built without relying on “babes, stunts, or kittens” [00:01:17], rejecting “sucky fluff” [00:01:30].

Initially, the strategy involved three steps: making good content, posting it everywhere, and continuously learning [00:01:54]. After investing $4millioninteam,equipment,andsoftware,andcreating35,000piecesofcontent,sixkeychangesemergedthatconsistentlydroverevenueandbrandgrowth<aclass="yt-timestamp"data-t="00:02:06">[00:02:06]</a>.Thesechangesaredesignedtosaveothersthethreeandahalfyearsand$4 million spent on learning “what not to do” [00:02:27].

Content Categorization

Content can be broadly categorized into three buckets [00:03:33]:

• Entertainment [00:03:39]: The sole purpose is to get people to watch and consume it [00:03:44]. If it achieves viewership, it has succeeded [00:03:50]. For example, most viewers watch MrBeast’s videos for entertainment, even if some creators might incidentally learn about video production [00:05:10].
• Education [00:03:55]: The goal is to change what someone does or their behavior [00:03:57]. If a video helps someone change their actions in a specific situation, it has successfully educated them [00:04:09]. Walla, for instance, is a top YouTube educator, primarily educating students, though some enthusiasts might find his content entertaining [00:05:18].
• Edutainment [00:04:17]: Aims to both teach and entertain simultaneously [00:04:20]. It’s important to note that while creators produce content with an intent, the audience ultimately determines if they are entertained or educated [00:04:32]. For the purpose of analysis, the content category is defined by its most common outcome [00:04:58].

Strategic Shifts in Content Creation

The core strategy shifted from “edutainment to education” [00:03:02] [00:06:00]. This decision was based on three main reasons:

1. All Views Are Not Created Equal [00:06:05]: The common marketing “funnel” theory suggests that entertaining content leads people to educational content [00:06:30]. However, data showed that entertainment viewers prefer more entertainment, and education viewers prefer more education [00:07:07]. Entertainment audiences did not significantly convert into book sales, email opt-ins, or business applications [00:07:27].
2. Personal Enjoyment [00:06:08]: The creator genuinely prefers making educational videos, aligning passion with strategic goals [00:07:47].
3. Audience Preference [00:06:11]: The desired audience—business owners and business-interested individuals—also prefers educational content [00:08:05]. Although some viewers expressed preference for entertaining content, they were not the target audience for business-focused content [00:08:43]. The focus is on serving those who want to educate themselves rather than just consume for consumption’s sake [00:09:06].

Tactical Implementations for Educational Content

The shift to education-focused content led to five tactical changes, emphasizing content “for you” (the audience) rather than “for us” (the media creators) [00:09:24]:

1. Different Packaging (Vague to Clear) [00:10:33]: Thumbnails and headlines moved from vague to clear, explicitly stating what the content is about [00:10:51]. Directly telling the audience what they will get increases the likelihood of them finding desired content [00:12:06].
2. Different Introductions (Confirming Thumbnail to Proof) [00:12:15]: Instead of just confirming the headline (common in entertainment to show a sensational act), educational content should lead with proof to establish credibility [00:12:25]. The goal is to increase the audience’s perceived likelihood of being well-taught [00:14:27]. This is encapsulated in the “Proof, Promise, Plan” framework [00:15:33]:
   • Proof: Prove expertise and give reasons to believe the creator [00:16:25].
   • Promise: Tell the audience what they will get or learn [00:16:31].
   • Plan: Set expectations for what will happen next in the content [00:16:35].
3. Different Meat (Be Real/Vlog to Lists/Steps/Stories) [00:17:47]: Content shifted from raw, “be real” vlog-style videos to structured lists, steps, and stories [00:17:56]. Analysis of top-performing content showed that emphasizing clear language and message (75% of best videos) was more effective than high production “razzle” (75% of bottom videos) [00:18:45].
4. Different Visuals (Over-production to Effective Production) [00:20:06]: Visuals moved from distracting over-production to effective production that enhances learning [00:20:08]. Excessive visual effects and changing backgrounds (e.g., “whizbangs and popups”) can detract from the educational objective [00:20:33]. Instead, visuals should clarify information, such as using charts to visualize data and show changes over time [00:20:57].
5. Different Pre-work (Post-production to Pre-search) [00:21:34]: The emphasis moved from fixing content in post-production to extensive pre-research [00:21:37]. Spending a quarter of the time on pre-work can eliminate 90-95% of post-editing work, leading to increased output and higher quality content for the target audience [00:22:05]. An “ounce of pre-work is worth a pound of post” [00:22:54].

Narrowing and Audience Qualification

The content strategy also involved a shift from “wide to narrow” [00:03:10] [00:23:33]. This meant focusing solely on business-related topics (business models, leverage, selling) rather than broader subjects like relationships, college, food, or lifestyle [00:23:41]. This further reinforced the idea that different content types attract different audiences, and viewers of niche topics want more of that specific content [00:24:22].

The metric for success also changed from “views to revenue” [00:03:14] [00:25:16]. While views were initially tracked, the long deal cycle for business acquisitions (6-12 months) necessitated a faster feedback metric [00:26:00]. Ad revenue was found to be the fastest and most measurable leading performance indicator [00:26:56]. Ad revenue (views x revenue per thousand views) incorporates both quantity (views) and quality (audience spending power) [00:27:51]. Months with higher ad revenue correlated with more book sales, opt-ins, and business applications, even if overall views were lower [00:29:07]. This demonstrates the importance of qualifying customers in online education by optimizing for the right audience rather than just large numbers.

Another significant shift was from “shorts to longs” [00:03:17] [00:30:42]. The prevailing notion that short-form content drives viewers to long-form content, which then converts to customers, was not supported by data [00:30:48]. Instead, shorts viewers largely watch more shorts, and long-form viewers watch more long-form content [00:31:13]. For the business objective, long-form content drove significantly more conversions (book sales, opt-ins, applications) than shorts [00:31:52]. The strategy now emphasizes more long-form business content, while maintaining short-form volume with a business focus [00:32:08].

Finally, the strategy moved from “assume more to assume nothing” [00:03:20] [00:32:46], directly addressing the importance of creating content that considers new audience members. This means:

• Introducing yourself every time [00:33:51].
• Telling people why they should listen [00:34:52].
• Fully explaining references and avoiding inside jokes, as those can exclude new viewers [00:34:58].
• Acting as though you’re always talking to a stranger [00:35:24].

This approach ensures that new audience members can easily understand and engage with the content, while existing fans appreciate the consistent reminders and positive associations [00:36:01]. Regularly re-posting top-performing content also serves new audience members who haven’t seen it before [00:36:43]. This reflects a broader approach to branding and audience engagement.

Core Principles for Content Creation

The speaker emphasizes three foundational principles for content creation:

1. Anything works better than nothing [00:42:30].
2. Some things work better than others [00:42:45].
3. Nothing works forever [00:42:52].

The entrepreneur’s role is to start creating, identify what performs best, scale that approach, and then adapt when performance slows down [00:42:54]. The ultimate goal is to maximize the number of the “right people” discovering the content, given limited resources [00:42:20].