Eckhart Tolle is a globally renowned spiritual teacher and #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of The Power of Now and A New Earth. His teachings, centered on mindfulness and the power of presence, have touched millions of people, helping individuals transcend ego and find inner peace.
Eckhart’s YouTube channel serves as a digital sanctuary for his global audience, sharing transformative insights and fostering a deeper connection to his timeless wisdom.
Since partnering with Eckhart Tolle’s team in 2018, Vireo Video has helped drive remarkable growth for his YouTube channel, achieving over 250 million views, 34.5 million hours of watch time, and 1.6 million new subscribers.
Through strategic video optimization, thumbnail design and split testing, and rigorous content management, we transformed his channel into a thriving hub of spiritual teachings that continues to inspire millions globally.
The Challenge
Vireo Video began working with Eckhart Tolle’s team in 2018 to manage and grow his YouTube channel, which had become stagnant. The primary challenge was refreshing a large, copyrighted content library without cannibalizing paid offerings. We needed to strategically repurpose content, track usage to avoid redundancy, and align videos with current events and audience needs—all while preserving Eckhart’s brand and message.
The Goal
Our mission was clear. We set out to grow the channel, boost engagement, and drive more revenue through YouTube ad monetization. By making the channel the go-to destination for his content, we aimed to strengthen community connection and keep his message thriving, even with new content production having slowed down.
The Execution
Video & Channel Optimization
A core focus of our strategy was making Eckhart Tolle’s vast content library more discoverable and continuing to attract new viewers. We wanted his content to reach a wider audience while keeping the channel fresh and relevant.
To make this happen, we optimized channel and video metadata, improved thumbnail designs, updated the channel banner, created playlists to better organize content, and applied strategic video SEO to every new upload.
We also systematically went back through a decade of published content to identify videos that underperformed but had the potential for better results. We then updated those videos with strategic SEO and added new, engaging thumbnails designs.
By increasing the discoverability and clickability of Eckhart Tolle's content, we started to attract more viewers and sparked new growth on the channel.
Video Editing
With new content production slowing down, repurposing existing videos became key to keeping the channel active and maintaining audience interest. To do this, we worked with Eckhart’s vast video content library, carefully curating and editing videos that we knew had potential to resonate with viewers.
We created a mix of compilation videos around high-interest topics like manifestation and mindfulness, as well as standalone videos from Eckhart’s most impactful talks and lessons. We tracked what we used as we went to avoid topic redundancy.
This approach not only helped keep the content feeling fresh and interesting, but also gave us the opportunity to align content themes with Eckhart’s paid offerings, helping reinforce the value of his digital products and events.
Here are a few of the most popular videos we edited:
Thumbnail Split Testing
To boost engagement and improve click-through rates (CTR), we implemented a thumbnail split testing process using TubeBuddy. We tested a wide range of thumbnail elements, including copy, background images, facial expressions, framing, and color schemes. Once we identified winning patterns, we honed in on language testing to find the most effective wording.
As we continued refining our approach, we introduced a new thumbnail style that consistently outperformed the originals. These improvements drove higher CTR, increased views, and boosted channel watch time.
Community Management
To boost engagement and improve click-through rates (CTR), we implemented a thumbnail split testing process using TubeBuddy. We tested a wide range of thumbnail elements, including copy, background images, facial expressions, framing, and color schemes. Once we identified winning patterns, we honed in on language testing to find the most effective wording.
The Results
Top-Level Results
This is a period-over-period comparison, looking at performance before Vireo Video (May 8th, 2012 to August 19th, 2018) against performance with Vireo Video (August 20th, 2018 to November 30th, 2024).
Views
From 31.2M to 250M
Subscribers
From 773 to 6.6K
Watch Time
From 5.1K to 16.7K
Impressions
From 520K to 2M
Suggested video views
From 5.1K to 16.7K
browse features views
From 520K to 2M
YouTube Search views
From 5.1K to 16.7K
Playlist Views
From 520K to 2M
Vireo Video started working with Eckhart Tolle’s team in 2018. We were hired to manage and grow Eckhart’s YouTube Channel, which included both our organic and advertising services.
The key challenges surrounding this project were to refresh a YouTube channel that had become stagnant, as well as to manage a large library of copyrighted content.
Through both organic and paid strategies, we were able to help the Eckhart Tolle channel attract new viewers and subscribers, while also increasing watch time and impressions.
This service offering includes metadata optimization, thumbnail design, comment engagement, and video SEO optimization for all video uploads on their YouTube channel.
We also went back and optimized their video library spanning the past ten years of content. This, and adjusting the ad formats and placements of the content, was a major contributor to the viewership and revenue increases.
Along with our library management services, the Eckhart Tolle team also looked to Vireo Video for assistance in stopping content copiers prevalent on YouTube.
We review content uploaded by third parties that are monetizing Eckhart Tolle's content without permission, and then choose to either monetize those videos for Eckhart or have them removed from the platform.
To supplement the content provided by their publishers, our team would also go through the archived footage to edit new content for release. This could include a fresh take on an older video, or a compilation of Eckhart Tolle's best videos surrounding a specific topic, such as manifestation, for example.
In addition to video editing, our team also helps improve channel branding such as banners, end cards and thumbnail design to keep the channel looking professional and current.
Prior to working with Vireo Video, the client had run their own paid YouTube campaigns, but never saw a great return on investment. They didn't see the value of YouTube Advertising.
We took on YouTube Ads for their team using video content we created from their uncut footage and pre-recorded testimonials.
While we can not share revenue details publicly, we've generated tens of thousands of email leads and course signups. Over the time of our four years working together, revenue has increased just over 4,000%! The return on investment has been significant, and so we've continued to help their team with this service offering.
We started performing A/B testing for thumbnails using TubeBuddy in January, 2021. First, we tested each video by experimenting with different copy, background images, facial expressions, Eckhart’s framing, and color schemes.
Secondly, when we identified a visual pattern in the success of certain thumbnails, we adjusted our testing format to focus on just the effect our copy was having. This helped us really pinpoint what language was driving viewers.
Lastly, in order to improve our CTR even further, and to freshen up the channel in general, we started using these A/B tests to try a new format for thumbnails. Since starting these tests, almost every variant thumbnail has outperformed the original. We can confidently say that the new style of thumbnails is working well for the channel thanks to split testing.
Project Contributors
Vireo Video
Ella Lindau
Senior Account Manager
Kenzie White
Senior Strategist
Rohit Gangwani
Marketing Assistant
Archie Lemel
Video Editor
Eckhart Tolle
Sibyl Chavis
CEO
Marisa Molina
Head of Marketing
Dean Hurtt
Marketing Manager
Julie Gunnarson
Senior Account Manager