What is an outlier video?

An outlier is a post that performs far above the account's usual numbers — say a video with 200K views on a channel that normally gets 10K. Outliers are gold: they show the algorithm (and audience) found something special worth copying.

How do I find a creator's most popular video?

On YouTube, use the Shorts/Videos tab sorted by Popular. On TikTok and Instagram, scan the profile grid for the videos with view or play counts well above the rest. A tool can rank them automatically.

Why focus on outliers instead of averages?

Average posts teach you what's normal. Outliers teach you what's exceptional — the specific hook, format or topic that broke out. Copy the outlier's structure, not the average post.

How do I know if a video is a real outlier?

Compare it to the creator's own median, not an absolute number. A video doing 3×+ the account's typical views is a genuine outlier worth breaking down.

Guide · All platforms

How to find any creator's best-performing videos

The fastest way to learn what works in your niche is to study outliers — the videos that massively beat a creator's average. Here's what an outlier is, how to spot one on each platform, and the quickest way to surface them.

Quick answer

Short version: Look for outliers — posts doing far more than the account’s usual numbers. On YouTube, sort the Shorts tab by Popular; on TikTok and Reels, scan the grid for view counts well above the rest. Then break down the winner’s hook and format — that’s the part worth copying.

What counts as an outlier

An outlier is a post that performs far above the account’s own average — not just a high number in absolute terms. A 200K-view video on a channel that usually gets 10K is an outlier. A 200K-view video on a channel that always gets 500K is not.

Outliers matter because they isolate what’s exceptional: the specific hook, format or angle that broke out. That’s the thing worth copying — not the creator’s average post.

How to spot outliers on each platform

1
YouTube Shorts
Open the channel’s Shorts tab and sort by Popular. The view counts make outliers obvious instantly.
2
TikTok
On the profile grid, view counts show on every video. Scan for the ones doing several times the account’s normal range.
3
Instagram Reels
Switch to the Reels tab — play counts sit in the corner of each. The Reels far above the others are the hits.
4
Compare to their median
Eyeball the account’s typical numbers first, then flag anything doing 3×+ that. Those are the real outliers.

The fast way: surface them automatically

Scanning grids by eye is slow and easy to get wrong. Paste any handle or video link below and you’ll get the account’s top performers, the engagement on each, and a breakdown of why the best one worked — free, no login.

No login to try it · real data pulled live from public profiles

Found an outlier? Now break it down

Finding the outlier is half the job. The other half is understanding whyit broke out — the hook, the format, the structure. Creaswipe’s analyzer does exactly that, and you can sanity-check the engagement with the engagement rate calculator.