Breakout follow-ups

Most posts land near their channel's usual. Now and then one takes off — and the days right after are the best time to give that audience more of the same promise. ChannelForge watches every channel's posts for this, tells you within hours when one breaks out, and, where you switch it on for a channel, plans two sequels at the front of its backlog and makes follow-up episodes from them within a weekly cap.

What it does#

What counts as a breakout#

A post is a breakout when, at 24, 36, 48 or 72 hours old, all three hold:

1. its views are at least 3 × the median of its own channel's previous posts on the same platform at the same age — the last 20 of them measured at that age, posted within 60 days before it, and at least 5;
2. they beat the best of those posts at that age by a quarter;
3. they pass the platform's floor: 1,000 views (300 on Threads and LinkedIn), so ×3 of 40 views is not a breakout.

The first age at which all three hold is the one reported. A post's views at an age are read between the measurements taken around it, never extrapolated. Every number is your workspace's own — a post is only ever compared with its own channel's posts, never with another customer's.

The second rule matters for channels whose hits are routine: a channel that often reaches four times its median has not broken out when it does it again, only when it sets a clear record.

A breakout reads like this:

"Why your toaster lever won't stay down" is taking off on Instagram: 4.2× this channel's usual at 36 h

When and where it is found#

Breakouts are found at the end of each Insights analysis, from the measurements Insights takes — nothing more is asked of any platform. Today that means Facebook and Instagram posts.

What you get#

• A notification to the workspace's owners, admins and editors, in the words above.
• Breakouts on the Insights page: the latest breakouts of the last 30 days (up to 20), with the post's link, its follow-up state and two buttons — Make two follow-ups (for a breakout whose channel had follow-ups off) and Make a film on this.
• Breakouts on the channel's page: the channel's setting and its latest breakouts of the last 30 days (up to 5).
• The webhook event breakout.detected, for your own automations (see Webhooks).

Follow-ups#

A follow-up batch belongs to one episode, and an episode gets at most one, ever:

1. Two sequels are planned by the channel's topic planner — "the same promise, a new angle, never a remake", under the planner's usual originality and near-duplicate rules — and go to the front of the channel's topic backlog.
2. Extra episodes are made from them, up to the channel's weekly cap (2 a week unless you change it), on top of its usual episodes. With a cap of 0, the sequels simply wait at the front of the backlog for the channel's own schedule.
3. Each episode goes through the same checks as any other: it reserves its credits before it starts, respects the plan's queue limit and your spending caps, and is checked by the quality gates and the critic. A refusal — not enough credits, a cap reached — is noted on the batch and tried again later, never forced.

A batch that has not finished within 14 days expires: by then the moment has passed. A batch started by the channel's setting stops when the setting is switched off; one you started by hand does not.

Films are never started by themselves. For a channel that can make films, Make a film on this opens the New film form with the topic filled in ("The long story behind …"); nothing starts until you confirm its quote.

A batch's state#

Turn it on#

Breakouts are announced on every channel without any setting. Follow-ups are a per-channel choice, off by default. Editors, admins and owners can change it.

1. Open Channels, then the channel, and find Breakouts.
2. Tick When an episode takes off, make follow-ups.
3. Set Follow-up episodes a week (0 to 14).
4. Press Save.

To follow up one breakout by hand on a channel that has the setting off, press Make two follow-ups beside it on the Insights page (editors and above: it spends credits).

Settings#

Credits and plans#

Finding breakouts costs nothing. A follow-up batch spends credits like any work you start: planning the sequels is a topic-planning job, and each extra episode is an ordinary episode, each reserving its price before it starts and charged what it used. The setting shows about how many credits each step reserves. Your spending caps apply to every step.

Breakout follow-ups are on the Creator plan and above, with Insights.

Limits and good to know#

• The thresholds are deliberately strict. A post that does "well" is not a breakout; one far above its channel's record at the same age is.
• One batch per episode, ever — a second Make two follow-ups on the same episode is refused.
• Sequels are originals. The planner may not remake the episode; the originality guard checks the sequels like every topic.
• Webhooks carry our data only — the event names the episode and the platform; it never carries YouTube's numbers.

Troubleshooting#

Related#

• Insights
• The coach
• Scheduling and autopilot
• Films
• Credits and plans