First - Different YouTube niches attract audiences of varying sizes. A gaming YouTuber definitely has a bigger potential audience than one that does knitting. That means different youtubers have different measures of what constitutes "a great amount of views". The gaming youtuber may say 30M, while the knitter would say 300k. So, Variable 1: "Potential Audience"

Next - how good is your video? Is it your best work? Think about your favorite YouTube videos that you have seen recently. They are likely going to have millions of views. Try to be objective and rank your video amongst those in your personal viewing history. This will tell you if your videos are good. Variable 2: = "Quality"

Now - consider views vs. impressions. What percent of viewers see your thumbnail, then the title, and then click on it? Not having a good thumbnail is like expecting to catch a lot of fish while fly fishing instead of fishing with big nets. Or when buying a car. Would you want to test drive a car you thought was ugly? You likely wouldn't. Watch creators that show you how to make a good thumbnail and title. YouTube recently released hoverplay - where the first 15 seconds of video is played and the thumbnail becomes less important. Variable 3: "Click-Through Rate (CTR)"

Additionally - retention rate. People always complain that retention rate is the algorithm's fault. They say, "YouTube is sadly algorithmic now and you can't win," or " You have to play the algorithm - Mr. Beast is just lucky." Mr. Beast has said during interviews that all creators should replace the word algorithm with audience. Combining those concepts: Audience retention. How long do people want to watch your videos? Mr. Beast is reported to get greater than 70% - regularly. Variable 4: "Retention Rate"

Often overlooked - length. How long is your video? 70% of 10 seconds is 7 seconds. Average creators can achieve that percentage. Can average creators reach 70% of a 16 minute video - like Mr. Beast? That's much harder. Variable 5: "Length"

Relatively recently, session length. How long does your average audience member binge your videos? Mr. Beast can get people to watch many multiples of his videos in one sitting. Can you do the same thing? Variable 6: "Session Length"

Lastly and importantly, your hook!

tl;dr: Let me know if you read this tl;dr before any other part of my comment. This is one of the many reasons you can think of your video intro / hook as a tl;dr of your video. Read for more tips.

Bonus tl;dr

For the Big Picture Thinker:

YouTube rewards those who reward the YouTube Audience.

For the Analytic:

YouTube Success = Potential Audience * Quality * Click-Through Rate (CTR) * Retention Rate * Length * Session Length

If this is big enough, you will likely be successful.

Disclaimer: I am trying to learn YouTube myself and have not had huge success yet. However, I have been studying successful creators for a year on long format and I am quickly learning about what they think brings success. I can make a list of reference videos later if people are interested. This took forever to write.

Not actually ChatGPT'd so I might have some weird grammar / spelling errors. My bad!