How does someone keep a YouTube campaign profitable for four years?
In this episode, Ryan Hood shares the not-so-glamorous, hyper-specific (but game-changing) stuff no one tells you about running a profitable YouTube campaign, from being banned a hundred times to building a ClickBank bestseller.
He breaks down how he filters winners from duds, how many hooks he tests, and why paying attention to YouTube as a platform, not just an ad dashboard, makes or breaks your performance.
In this episode:
[01:21] The random convo on a flight that got Ryan into Gabe’s course
[06:10] From a philosophy degree to 700 solar clients and agency burnout
[08:03] His first $2K VSL made $4K… and then came the bans
[9:40] “One of our campaigns has been running for four years”
[11:57] Co-owning a top ClickBank offer and why that changed everything
[13:54] What it actually takes to launch an offer (HINT: way more testing than you think)
[17:02] The perks of being a vendor and a top affiliate
[20:15] Writing VSL-style YouTube ads: hooks, offers, and why congruency matters
[26:24] How many hooks should you test and why the first 5 seconds are EVERYTHING
[31:09] What most people completely overlook on YouTube
[38:43] AOV insights: why $45 wasn’t enough and how they aim for $55–$60
[43:34] Treating top affiliates like partners (and why you might need your own “affiliate manager”)
[45:33] “It’s like a video game” – why Ryan’s addicted to marketing and doesn’t want to retire
[51:18] How to spy on YouTube ads using Google’s Transparency Library
Key Takeaway
Winning ads come from systems, not guesswork. Ryan doesn’t rely on “gut feel”; he tests angles, hooks, and scenes like a scientist running experiments. If you’re not tracking what actually works, you’re just guessing.
The first 5 seconds are your ad’s make-or-break moment. The hook and opening scene carry double the weight of everything else.
If you want to win on YouTube, don’t just sit in your ad dashboard. Pay attention to the platform thumbnails, titles, retention, and where your audience bounces. That’s where the real edge is.
About Ryan Hood
Ryan Hood is a behind-the-scenes performance marketer who’s made his mark in the survival niche.
Part creative, part data nerd, part funnel guy, he’s now both an affiliate and a vendor on ClickBank, proving you can build both traffic and the offers that convert it.
Connect with Ryan Hood
Telegram: @ryanhoodie
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