Transcription
here's how to make a killer YouTube
thumbnail to blow up your channel
because a single thumbnail could be the
difference between getting your big
break on YouTube and going completely
unnoticed as Mr Beast is fond of saying
people don't click they don't watch but
how exactly do you get someone to click
what do the top YouTubers know that we
don't to find out I spent the last 36
Days pouring over interviews listening
to talks and analyzing the best
performing thumbnails from the top
creators in the world 73 pages of notes
later I discovered that the best YouTube
thumbnails fall follow a four-part
formula this video will walk you through
them all the first part is the one
that's by far the most important and yet
also the most overlooked if you're
watching this video I don't have to tell
you that thumbnails are important there
is a reason why you clicked on this
video in the first place but where most
of us go wrong is in the time we
dedicate to our thumbnails you see the
top YouTubers know that YouTube is a
game of clicks and watches the success
of a video is determined in part by the
effectiveness of the packaging which
drives clicks and in part by the video
itself which drives watch time the
problem is most of us spend our time
like this we'll spend countless hours
agonizing over scripts capturing the
best shots and editing our videos to
Perfection only to come up with a
thumbnail an hour before the video goes
live if that sounds like you don't worry
you're not alone that's something I've
been working on improving myself but why
would you spend 10% of your time on
something that determines 50% of the
result that's why part one of making a
killer YouTube thumbnail to blow up your
channel is Killer time allocation the
best YouTubers in the world view
thumbnails as a priority not as an
afterthought and while most of us don't
even start thinking about thumbnails
until right before hitting publish top
YouTubers take the time to finalize
their thumbnails first before they even
start working on the video itself so
don't be afraid to spend days or even
weeks perfecting your thumbnail it's
worth taking the time to get it right
once you're prepared to give your
thumbnail the time it deserves you're
ready to move on to part two of the
formula to make a killer YouTube
thumbnail to blow up your channel killer
psychology when most of us go into
thumbnail creation our process might
look a little something like this we'll
think oh yeah I need a thumbnail um I
should probably be in it and there
should be some images or icons related
to my video topic and I should throw
some text in there too to really
emphasize the point but that is the
default we'll spend the majority of our
time finalizing the colors positioning
and text our process couldn't be more
wrong if we tried because while we're
spending most of our time on thumbnail
design the most successful YouTubers
spend the majority of their time nailing
the psychology behind the click and
recently world-renowned YouTube
consultant Patty Galloway confirmed the
exact same thing a thumbnail to me is at
least 80 maybe
90% the psychology of the click and then
maybe 10 20% the actual design of the
fil that because ultimately no matter
the formatting or color scheme of a
thumbnail the decision to click is
driven by a single psychological
mechanism here curiosity and that
curiosity is strongest we experience
what's known as a curiosity Gap this is
the gap between what we currently know
and what we want to know and is one of
the most basic drivers of human behavior
because as humans our brains are wired
to Crave closure so when we're
introduced to an unfinished story or a
question without an answer it's like
having an itch that we very much want to
scratch our brains go wow I could really
use some closure right now that pushes
us to seek out Answers by clicking on
the video to see this in action let's
take a look at this thumbnail from Kelly
wakasa design-wise this thumbnail is
relatively simple there are no crazy
Halos of light or detailed illustrations
yes the colors are great which is
something we'll get into detail later
but it's not the colors that make this
an insanely clickable thumbnail it's
Ashley in her position and her
expression and Kelly in the action he's
taking these elements work together to
evoke the questions what led up to this
very moment and what's about to happen
next these questions open a curiosity
Gap that Gap is only closed by clicking
on the video and watching it the
stronger the Curiosity Gap the more
clickable the thumbnail and the
strongest curiosity gaps on YouTube are
created using one of the same five
methods the thumbnail we just looked at
is a prime example of a moment thumbnail
these thumbnails generate curiosity by
offering a glimpse into the moment right
before a powerful reaction when the
moment captured contains enough emotion
and tension it becomes nearly irresist
resistible when we inevitably click on
the video we're clicking to find out
what happens directly before during and
after that exact moment story thumbnails
also generate curiosity by provoking the
question what happens next but instead
of focusing on a specific moment before
a reaction story thumbnails place the
emphasis on building narrative they
usually do this by introducing a point
of tension or a question that sets up
the First Act of the story when we click
on the video we click both for the
resolution of the T tension on screen
and afford whatever new tension or
consequence that resolution leads to the
stronger the tension the more effective
the thumbnail result thumbnails feature
a desired result whether it's a physical
final product or a sought after skill
the Curiosity Gap Remains the Same how
did they do it and commonly how can I do
it too the more sought after the result
the stronger the Curiosity Gap and the
more effective the thumbnail
transformation thumbnails also feature a
desired result the difference is they
also show a beginning State the more
relatable this beginning State the more
effective transformation thumbnails are
for the Curiosity coming from the desire
to know the story and process behind
getting from point A to point B and last
but not least novelty thumbnails draw
their power from our natural urge to
experience something we've never seen
before novelty thumbnails typically come
in two flavors novelty that inspires awe
and Novelty that is weird or unexpected
and while nov y can be drawn from
complete absurdity it tends to be the
most effective when it's combined with
something we're already familiar with
offering a unique spin to something we
already know so before you open canva or
photoshop consider what curiosity Gap
you want to create first what questions
can you introduce that they really need
the answers to if you're having trouble
coming up with a strong curiosity Gap I
have some bad news for you your video
idea probably isn't interesting enough
in the first place I get this all the
time you know I've got this amazing idea
it's going to be so funny I just can't
think way it's a thumbnail there and I'm
like well then it's not a good it's not
a good YouTube idea unfortunately the
best YouTube thumbnails come from killer
video ideas and the topic of how to come
up with a killer video idea is big
enough to make an entire other video
about it so I will I'll put a link in
the description below when it's out but
to make sure you don't miss it now would
be a great time to well you know the
rest after you're 90% is unconfident you
have a curiosity Gap people will click
for you have the foundation for your
killer thumbnail to blow up your channel
but in order for someone to get hooked
by your killer curiosity Gap they have
to notice it in the first place because
as soon as we log on to YouTube We're
hit with a screen full of different
recommendations each one vying for
attention and as we're browsing through
our recommendations often with our
brains on autopilot we scroll past
countless thumbnails that we don't even
mentally register to avoid their
thumbnails being lost in the noise the
best YouTubers in the world are Masters
at pattern Interruption they know
exactly what to include in their
thumbnails to stop your scroll because
they know how to hack our brain's
attention system you see our brains are
constantly bombarded by stimulus if we
constantly took in everything we could
perceive at all times we'd be paralyzed
with information overload so to help us
out our brains use attention focusing on
the most relevant or useful information
while filtering out the rest but this
attention system can be hacked because
our brains are biologically primed to
pay more attention to certain things I
call these things scroll Stoppers and
top YouTubers include them in their
thumbnails to ensure that their
thumbnails catch your eye a classic
example is the use of faces you've
probably heard the advice that faces do
well in thumbnails and indeed our brains
are very good at recognizing faces
because it helps us understand other
people's emotions and intentions which
can in turn signal a Potential Threat or
opportunity the larger the face the
stronger this effect but before you go
slapping a giant picture of your face to
the left side of each of your thumbnails
hey Mr Beast keep in mind that faces are
quite a bit more effective for your
favorite YouTubers than they are for you
and no that's not a diss on your looks
it's due to something called familiarity
bias which is the idea that our brains
are naturally drawn to what we're
familiar with when we recognize the face
of a YouTuber we already know like and
Trust we're more likely to click on it
versus a thumbnail featuring a face we
don't recognize now this doesn't mean
that if you're a new or small YouTuber
you completely screwed in fact
familiarity bias is something that can
even be hacked in our favor that's the
logic behind the thumbnail style of
Charisma on command people are more
likely to stop their scroll when they
see a celebrity they recognize versus
the face of a random guy they don't know
familiarity bias is so powerful that
even well-known gaming YouTubers will
often feature a recognizable character
or element from a popular game instead
of their own face in a thumbnail and
familiarity bias extends Beyond faces as
well that's one of the reasons why
thumbnails featuring instantly
recognizable interfaces such as Discord
iMessage Yelp PayPal and others are so
eye-catching this isn't to say that you
should never include your face in a
thumbnail if you're a lesser known
YouTuber our natural attraction faces is
powerful even if they're unfamiliar but
if if you a smaller YouTuber hoping to
attract a larger audience you shouldn't
rely on your face alone to stop a scroll
instead consider using one or more of
these other scroll Stoppers in general
we're attracted to nice large round
numbers these clickable numbers become
even more clickable when money is
attached to it something Finance
channels tend to use to their advantage
in fact money in any form tends to stop
our scroll we're also naturally wired to
detect danger and movement as they can
often signal a new threat or opportunity
in our environment in a similar vein
we're drawn to displays of emotion
because an emotional reaction in others
can signal a threat we haven't detected
ourselves yet we are biologically
attracted to bright colors which in the
early days of human existence could help
us identify everything from ripening
fruit to Fresh blood and we're also
drawn to things that are aesthetically
pleasing because frankly they feel
really nice to look at and our brains
want more of that pleasurable feeling
but while it may be tempting to J amam
as many scroll Stoppers as possible into
your thumbnail that could end up hurting
rather than helping you because the more
scroll Stoppers your thumbnail has and
the more click ba your thumbnail becomes
the more diluted your brand gets that's
one of the reasons why Ryan tryan opts
for more realistic looking faces in his
thumbnails and I found that realistic
thumbnails just feel like me it feels
like yeah if my face is not like then I
feel more connected to the to the
thumbnail if I'm just making a very
subtle face that's like because it's
realistic and I'm like oh that's that's
legit so before you get lost in the
sauce of throwing in big numbers bright
colors and giant emotional faces in each
of your thumbnails consider the brand
you want to build and the story you want
to tell not every scroll stopper will
fit with every Creator and every
audience and every curiosity Gap and
that's okay just choose the one or two
that enhances rather than dilutes or
distracts from your chosen curiosity Gap
and your brand after you have a killer
curiosity Gap in one or more killer
scroll Stoppers you've nailed the
psychology of the click but how can we
turn that wellth thought out psychology
into a physical thumbnail that brings us
to part three in making a killer
thumbnail to blow up your channel killer
design we tend to think of design as
adding things but great design is
actually about getting the main point
across as quickly as possible which is
good news for us because if it takes
more than 2 seconds for a viewer to
fully understand what's happening in
your thumbnail they're already scroll R
in past leaving your video unnoticed and
unwatched to avoid this top YouTubers
obsess over making their thumbnails
extremely obvious to see and Incredibly
easy to process and to do that they
perfect the three C's of thumbnail
design contents composition and contrast
the contents of your thumbnail are all
of the visual elements that make up your
thumbnail including people icons
Graphics backgrounds and text
essentially it's the what of your your
thumbnail but how do you decide what to
include in your thumbnail it's simple
you include whatever you need to create
your curiosity Gap typically these
elements are broken into two categories
main characters and supporting
characters the main character is the
single element that best contributes to
the Curiosity Gap this is the hero or
focal point of the thumbnail for a
novelty thumbnail It's the weird new or
unexpected thing for a result thumbnail
it's the result for a story thumbnail
it's the main character or driver of the
story and so on and so forth and while
in some rare cases there can be more
than one main character in the vast
majority of thumbnails every other
element exists to support the main
character and creating the Curiosity Gap
either by providing necessary context
drawing attention or adding additional
curiosity in this story thumbnail from
Mr Beast the Curiosity Gap comes from
wanting to know what happened while he
was stranded at Sea what challenges he
came across and how he dealt with with
those challenges the story is about Mr
Beast so he's the main character the
rest of the elements are supporting
characters there's a wraft to indicate
that the main character is stranded the
water to indicate that he's at sea
sharks to add the scroll stopper of
danger and the words day7 to indicate
the scope and depth of the video there's
nothing extraneous here every single
element has a purpose and every element
is positioned in a way that guides the
eye directly to the main character which
brings us to the second SE of thumbnail
design composition starting with layout
most high performing thumbnails follow
one of two alignments symmetrical
thumbnails Place their main character in
the center with the left side of the
thumbnail closely resembling the right
side asymmetrical thumbnails follow the
rule of thirds placing their main
character on the left or right third of
the thumbnail but it's not just the
placement of the main character that
matters supporting characters and
backgrounds can also be used to direct
attention when placed properly natural
lines in the background can become
leading lines subtly drawing our eyes to
the main character and of course the
classic red arrow or Circle helps to
quite literally point out what we should
be looking at in some cases though top
YouTubers will intentionally direct some
attention away from the main character
instead choosing to emphasize a
supporting character this is usually in
cases where the supporting character is
used as a reference point to establish
some unique defining characteristic of
the main character such as size in those
cases top YouTubers are very careful to
ensure their thumbnails maintain the
proper hierarchy preventing the main
character from being overshadowed by any
supporting characters this hierarchy can
be established using scale where the
main character is significantly larger
than any other element blur where the
main character is in Focus while the
other elements are blurred and depth
where the main character is the element
closest to the camera this hierarchy is
especially critical to keep in mind when
considering thumbnail text text in
thumbnails is tricky in some thumbnails
text is an integral supporting character
adding critical context Clarity or
curiosity in others text only serves to
add clutter so if you're tripping over
your words here are some pointers text
should only be used if it's additive to
the story the thumbnail is trying to
tell what do I mean by additive well
there are a number of ways in which text
can help create curiosity it can be used
to show scope or intensity in thumbnail
such as 41 minutes in or stake number 46
which gives viewers a sense of scale it
can add context giving viewers insight
to things they may not know it can add
Clarity to things that might not be
obvious and can even be a source of
curiosity acting like a subheading if
you do elect to use text in your
thumbnails here are some things to keep
in mind while the human brain can
process an image in as little as 13
milliseconds it takes us much much
longer to process text so unless the
text you use is a big flat cashy number
with a dollar sign in front of it don't
count on text to be what draws in
viewers in the first place your text
should never just repeat your title
remember we're going for additive not
repetitive and you should optimize your
text for legibility this means keeping
it to a maximum of five words avoiding
it looking like a block of text using
language your audience can easily
understand and selecting a font that is
easy to read typically this means sanser
fonts with outlines and shadows unless
you're going for a specific brand or
Vibe and make sure your text is never
higher in the element hierarchy than
your main character take this lovely
binging with babish thumbnail it's a
clear compelling result thumbnail and it
looks delicious now let's make the most
common thumbnail text mistake no more
eye-catching result instead just a block
of text you won't bother reading as you
scroll past to avoid ruining a good
thumbnail with poor text choices ensure
your main character always remains the
dominant element but position iing alone
isn't enough to do that and even the
most beautifully structured thumbnail
can be ruined if it doesn't apply one
critical concept this concept contrast
and no not this type of contrast when we
say that a thumbnail really pops what
we're really saying is that it has good
contrast and when applied properly
contrast can not only instantly capture
attention but also guide the viewer's
eye directly to the most important part
of the thumbnail how do we do that with
color colors have three values Hue
saturation and lightness or luminosity
and contrast can be created using each
of these values contrast using
luminosity comes from mixing lights and
darks Luminosity contrast is the driver
behind the success of this thumbnail
from Mr who's the boss this is a novelty
thumbnail the Curiosity generated from a
strange crystal structure we've never
seen before the main character of the
crystal structure and the critical
supporting character of the contextual
text in the arrow are the complete
opposite Luminosity from the rest of the
background and from Mr who the boss
himself if Mr who's the boss's
background was lighter our attention
wouldn't be drawn to the Curiosity
generators anymore they'd completely
blend in instead we'd instantly be drawn
to Mr who's the boss's face which isn't
strong enough alone to drive curiosity
and get the click contrast using
saturation comes from mixing areas of
high saturation with areas of low
saturation the best example of this is
Ryan tryan's iconic world's quietest
room thumbnail which was so effective it
started a whole Trend the main character
in Ryan's thumbnail is Ryan himself and
his reaction to being within the world's
quietest room by dropping the saturation
to just grayscale for the rest of the
thumbnail but keeping Ryan in full
saturation that saturation being
emphasized even more by using a rich
bright color Ryan instantly stands out
from everything else and our eyes
immediately find him saturation contrast
can also be combined with Luminosity
contrast for eye-catching results in
this thumbnail from Elizabeth Phillips
the main curiosity generators are
Elizabeth herself in the supporting text
Elizabeth's turtleneck and the
supporting text are the opposite
Luminosity from the rest of the
background creating Luminosity contrast
but to take things one step further she
adds a bright pop of red for saturation
contrast instantly drawing attention to
her face and the most important word on
the thumbnail less common but still
worth me mentioning we have Hue contrast
contrast using Hue comes from using
what's known as complimentary colors
these are colors that sit opposite to
each other on the color wheel they're
the colors that create the most pop when
placed side by side in this thumbnail
from Mr Beast the color of the raft is
neatly complimentary to the color of the
water if his raft were a different color
it wouldn't stand out as much and take a
look at this thumbnail from Nick de
Giovani he could have chosen any color
as his background but this bright blue
is the one that best comp complements
the vibrant orange of the Prime bottle
allowing it to pop but contrasting Hue
isn't reserved for just two colors
remember when I said the colors in this
Kelly wakasa thumbnail were great it's a
great example of split complimentary
colors the main colors of Ashley's skin
tone her blue coat and Kelly's yellow
coat are nearly perfectly split
complimentary resulting in each color
standing out without anyone overpowering
the others other complimentary color
schemes include Triads and even tetrads
and while using complimentary colors is
by no means necessary for a killer
thumbnail trust me the vast majority of
successful thumbnails don't follow a
perfectly complimentary color scheme
it's a great place to start if you
typically struggle with picking out
thumbnail colors but the concept of
contrast isn't reserved for color values
within a thumbnail itself contrast is
also incredibly powerful when applied in
relation to other thumbnails your
viewers might often see in a second I'm
going to show you a screen of thumbnails
I want you to notice which ones your
eyes are instantly drawn to ready go
which thumbnail does your attention keep
snagging on for most people it's this
one which is wild because looking at it
there's nearly nothing on it it doesn't
seem like particularly brilliant
thumbnail but it stands out to us
because it's different while every other
Minecraft thumbnail is bursting with
numerous brightly colored elements this
thumbnail just has one big color block
as a result it's remark able it
contrasts with every thumbnail around it
making it pop so while it may be
tempting to follow the thumbnail meta of
your Niche consider going against the
grain if most thumbnails are maximalist
try something minimalist if most
thumbnails use red try using blue or
green try being remarkable it might just
be your breakout thumbnail it was for me
but whether you choose to think outside
the rectangle or Draw your inspiration
from what already works it's safe to say
that by now a lot of work has been
poured into your thumbnail there are
curiosity gaps and scroll Stoppers and
contents and composition and contrast
it's a lot to keep track of so as you're
making your final thumbnail adjustments
how do you know when you're done how do
you know that you have a killer
thumbnail that's good enough to blow up
your channel to evaluate the quality of
their thumbnails the best YouTubers in
the world run their finished thumbnails
through a series of three tests which
brings us to the fourth and final step
in our formula to make a killer
thumbnail to blow up your Channel killer
analysis the first test top YouTubers
run on their thumbnails is the clarity
test because when we make our thumbnails
they're usually taking up our entire
screen on Photoshop canva or in my case
figma they look brilliant Bold and
Beautiful the perfect thumbnail a
masterpiece but your viewers don't see
your thumbnail on Photoshop your viewers
see your thumbnail on YouTube and
thumbnails can look very different in
full screen than when they're teeny tiny
on a suggested panel so to make sure
your thumbnail makes sense at any size
popped into a preview tool like click
pilot the smallest your thumbnail will
ever show up on YouTube is in the
suggested panel so to pass the clarity
test you must be able to make out every
element of your thumbnail in the sidebar
view without straining can you clearly
read every word can you easily identify
every element if the answer is no your
thumbnail still needs some work once
you've pass the clarity test you can
advance the contrast test this is where
top YouTubers verify their thumb nail
stands out in a crowd add a few channels
that your viewers are also watching does
your thumbnail interrupt the pattern can
your thumbnail stop the scroll if not go
back and make some changes if yes you're
ready to move on to the third and final
test the glance test if you've made it
all the way to this test it's safe to
say that you've spent a lot of time
staring at your thumbnail which means
that you're more than a little biased so
for the ultimate test of whether or not
they have a killer thumbnail nail the
best YouTubers in the world show their
thumbnails to someone else even
sometimes I'll just take take a
thumbnail on my phone and show it to
someone really quickly and just say what
did you see put your thumbnail on your
phone and Flash it to a friend family
member or willing stranger for 2 seconds
and then ask them what they saw if those
2 seconds aren't enough for someone
seeing your thumbnail for the first time
to fully understand what's going on your
thumbnail isn't clear enough but if you
pass the clarity test and the contrast
test and the glance test congratulations
you have your killer
thumbnail you'd think that would be the
end right but no despite being so
intentional about every component of
their thumbnail the best YouTubers in
the world still have one final secret
they apply to every thumbnail they make
because even the best YouTubers in the
world are wrong sometimes so top
YouTubers don't just make one killer
thumbnail they make three the one that
they hit publish with and two variations
they're ready to swap it in a moment's
notice as soon as they see a video start
to flop these variations aren't as
simple as just changing the T-shirt
color and calling in a day because of a
thumbnail is underperforming a t-shirt
color change isn't going to be enough to
save it instead top YouTubers will go
all the way back to the beginning
considering different curiosity gaps
scroll Stoppers elements compositions
and types of contrast will come up with
10 to 15 entirely different concepts
don't worry these concepts are not fully
fleshed out they're just sketched out
and take from Patty Galloway these
sketches don't even have to be that good
they are the worst sketches ever known
to mankind the sketches just serve as a
proof of concept to get a general gist
of what the final product could look
like from there they'll select the three
best Concepts to take to full thumbnails
those are their thumbnail variations and
those are the backups they have ready to
swap in just in case their initial guess
was wrong how do you know when it's time
to swap in the first few hours after you
hit publish closely monitor your videos
views Impressions and clickthrough rate
or CTR if your views Impressions and CTR
are all above average then
congratulations you did it you made your
killer thumbnail no swapping needed if
your views and impressions are both high
but your CTR is low that's also a good
sign this usually happens because
YouTube decided to push your video out
to people outside of your core audience
and a lower than average CTR is natural
and expected no swapping needed but if
your views Impressions and CT PR are all
below average it's worth swapping to a
different thumbnail variation to see if
it's a problem with your thumbnail if
you're crunch for time and can't
vigilantly monitor your analytics hours
after each upload that's okay all is not
lost YouTube is rolling out their own
native AB testing feature and if you're
a pleb like me and don't have access to
it yet or if you want deeper more
customizable testing thumbnail test is a
great alternative some top YouTubers
wait a few hours before swapping
thumbnails and some top YouTubers wait a
few days either way it always pays off
to have a few variations on standby
because sometimes the only thing holding
a video back from reaching its full
potential is the right thumbnail I know
we've covered a lot in this video and
for good reason thumbnails are
simultaneously incredibly important and
Incredibly complex and although I threw
a lot at you today if there's anything
to remember when making a killer
thumbnail to blow up your channel it's
give your viewers a reason to click make
your thumbnails OB obious to see and
easy to understand and pass your tests
to help you out you can even save this
guide to reference every time you make a
thumbnail I'll put a link to download it
for free in the video description below
and here's the thing the next thumbnail
you make may not be perfect or the one
after that or the one after that but
guess what there is no such thing as the
perfect thumbnail thumbnails are an art
form not an exact science and all of the
guidelines I introduce in this video are
just that guidelin
for every Point I've brought up there
are dozens of examples of killer counter
points but sometimes you just need to
understand the best practices in order
to know which ones to bend or break and
as long as you implement the principles
covered in this video with every
thumbnail you make you're going to get
better and better YouTube channels tend
to grow a little bit at a time and then
all at once and while I might not be
able to guarantee that your next video
will go viral I am sure of one thing if
you keep going and if you keep improving
you will get there it might be tomorrow
it might be quite a few tomorrows but if
you keep with it your big break will
come after all you're just one killer
video away but a killer thumbnail alone
isn't enough to make a killer video
because after someone clicks on your
video they need to actually watch it and
for that to happen they need to make it
through your intro so to learn how to
make a killer YouTube intro click here
otherwise keep creating like And
subscribe if you can and I will see you
in the next
[Music]
video