Do you want to increase the number of people who see your videos? Do you know how to make them interesting enough for people to click on them in a split second?
Your audience’s first point of contact with your video is a thumbnail. It functions similarly to a book cover, providing a summary of your information in a single image to your audience. With so much online competition, you can’t afford to take the cover image of your film for granted. People prefer videos over any other type of material, but if your thumbnail isn’t appealing, they’ll scroll past it.
As a result, it’s critical to pay attention to the design of your video thumbnails, and this tutorial will show you how to do so to increase your video views.
What is a thumbnail of a video?
Every business requires a video marketing plan that produces high-quality videos that can be shared across several channels to raise awareness. They are normally displayed as a still shot when the videos are published, however these images are often grainy and will rarely serve you effectively.
You’ll need a unique thumbnail that catches the eye and conveys the essence of the video in a single glance. It should grab your target users’ attention right away and make them think, “I really need to watch this!”
This is usually people’s first impression of your video content and influences whether or not they will click through. Collaborate with a video marketing agency to create professional thumbnails that will draw in more visits and viewers to your video content.
Here are nine of the most helpful hints to get you started!
1- A thumbnail that reflects the video’s content as well as the title
The content of the video should be reflected in your thumbnail. If your film is intended to educate people about a particular topic, the thumbnail should reflect this. You should never use a thumbnail that has nothing to do with your video because it will deceive your visitors. You want to entice visitors to click, but you don’t want them to leave after seeing the information.
Because most viewers will depart as soon as they realize they’ve been duped, deceiving your viewers will reduce the amount of time they watch your movie. Your content will also be punished on results pages, causing you to rank lower in search results and receive less views than if you had presented an accurate thumbnail.
2- High-resolution photos
Make your video thumbnail a high-resolution image. Use a clear image instead of a blurry one, as this will make it more difficult for viewers to comprehend what the film is about. You don’t get a second chance to make a strong first impression on your audience, so utilize high-quality photographs wherever possible.
Using high-quality photos for your video thumbnails demonstrates your commitment to producing high-quality content, encouraging visitors to click and watch the entire video. The internet economy is extremely competitive, and if you want users to read your material, you must maintain excellent standards from the first customer touchpoint.
3- Something with which you can emotionally connect-
Emotions influence people’s actions and decisions. According to video marketing data, videos with emotional thumbnails receive more hits than videos without them. To attract your audience’s interest, give your video thumbnails a personal touch while making them. Show up in your videos to allow your viewers to get to know you and provide a sense of presence. These steps will improve the authenticity of your online communication and make your visitors want to watch your videos.
If your film involves humans, capture their facial expressions to show genuine emotion. People are drawn to expressive faces, especially if the expression is excessive, such as wrath or shock. To boost the possibility of people clicking on your headline, it should also be emotionally charged.
4- Maintaining Brand Consistency-
Thumbnails are no exception when it comes to branding your marketing materials. Branding, on the other hand, is more than merely slapping your logo on a thumbnail image. It’s all about maintaining a consistent style that allows visitors to easily recognize you. Use this space to showcase your logo, colors, typefaces, filters, and other brand components that demonstrate your individuality.
Making your thumbnails look consistent provides your content previews a unified look and makes your online video platforms look nice and professional. Your Facebook and YouTube playlists will have a consistent look, making it easy for people to recognize your work.
Brian Dean’s YouTube channel is an excellent example of brand consistency in video thumbnails. Brian does an outstanding job of maintaining brand consistency in his usage of fonts, images, colors, and structure.
Another benefit of having a unique design is that it will attract the attention of individuals who are familiar with your brand and prevent them from scrolling past your information when browsing. A predetermined structure also expedites the creation process because you won’t have to create new thumbnail designs for new films.
5- Effective wording-
Another wonderful design strategy for your thumbnail is text. You only have a few words to work with in your thumbnail, so make them count. The words you use should immediately tell viewers what your film is about.
Because you’re limited by space and your audience’s attention span, explain to your viewers what the video is about with a few attention-grabbing words (no more than six). The thumbnail text should not include the complete title of the video, but rather a few carefully chosen words that pique the viewers’ interest.
To make it easier to read, the text should be a different color than the background.
6- Be aware of your main point-
What is your image’s focal point?
You should establish the focal point of your thumbnail image and make it as apparent as feasible as part of your content marketing plan. It will be much easier for you to catch attention, elicit emotions, and generate interest for your video this manner. To make the focus point stand out, use the sticker effect (a line around the image that distinguishes it from the background).
7- Make it simple to comprehend-
If you want to gain more clicks and views, your thumbnail should be simple to comprehend. Use contrasting colors, typefaces, and images to make it easier for viewers to understand what’s going on. Remember that you only have a few seconds to capture your readers’ attention, therefore your video thumbnail should be made to be reader-friendly.
To improve readability, place the text on a plain and contrasting section of the image, and use bold and basic fonts. Collaborate with a growth marketing agency to generate clear thumbnail images that users can read quickly.
8- Image composition-
Take the time to examine the structure of your thumbnail to ensure that vital facts are not hidden or unavailable to viewers. Because the text on your thumbnail communicates what the movie is about, make sure it’s in the optimum place, which is normally to the left of the box.
When your video is displayed in search results pages, it will have a play button. To ensure that nothing crucial is obscured by the button, avoid placing important information in the middle of the image. You must also ensure that the image’s focus point is in the best possible place to maintain the thumbnail’s appeal at all times. To produce a more natural image, use the rule of thirds to choose where to place your thumbnail’s main features.
9- The final outcome-
If your video leads up to something fantastic, show the final product. Show the final act in the thumbnail to show viewers what they’ll get from watching the video. This approach will improve your video marketing plan because it will pique your audience’s interest, and the majority of them will click on your video to see what it’s all about.
A video thumbnail provides a preview of your video to users, and if it is well-designed, it will result in more clicks and views. Making a decent thumbnail isn’t difficult if you follow the appropriate guidelines, but making a fantastic video is.
