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How Do You Get More Views On WhatsApp, YouTube, Instagram.
Ishola4 years ago
~4.4 mins read
Firstly, as we all know, there is n’t a substitute for great content, so this is about making sure people see our great content, rather than a clickbait 101.
Secondly, the way I judged a thumbnail’s success hinged on a few assumptions:
• A successful video means that there is a disproportionately higher view count than the subscribers for the channel.
• There are no “bad†videos that are successful because of a good thumbnail and proper titling — people click off or downvote truly bad videos, and these get suppressed by YouTube.
• There are quality videos that have bad thumbnails and bad titling — the good content carries them forward, so we’re not interested in these videos either.
These assumptions are okay, but many factors contribute to the success of a YouTube video. This article is only concerned with making the thumbnail and titling components as best as possible.
Other factors that we’re not covering but also contribute to a successful video.
• Making quality content.
• Prompting the audience to like, share, and comment.
• Uploading regularly.
• Marketing the video on other platforms.
Now that all of that’s out of the way —
HOW DO YOU GET MORE VIEWS ON YOUTUBE
1. The titling and numbers
I believe that the easier we can absorb information, the more inclined we are to pay attention.
Less is more, and when every ad, political campaign, or story tries to be as digestible as possible for success, it’s hard to argue, right?
• The video title is the same as the text in the thumbnail.
• The text covers less than 20% of the image.
• There are only six words and 27 characters — it’s SEO city up in here.
2. The psychology
It’s a show stopper, and like Seth Godin says in This is Marketing — it creates tension — it makes us ask questions.
What happens when we put salt in coffee?
Do people actually do this?
Why do people do this?
Surely it can’t be better than sugar?
I don’t even put sugar in my coffee, will adding salt improve it?
How is it magical?
And now the tension is strong, and all it took was a few seconds.
The only way to release the tension is to click on the video and find out — so that’s precisely what we do.
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3. The imagery
So simple and effective. The subject is salt in the coffee; the image is a clear, crisp picture of a delicious-looking cup of coffee while the salt’s sprinkled on top.
The color palette is mostly muted and monochromatic, which isn’t distracting — though every marketer has a different stance on what colors should or shouldn’t be used.
I found no significant relationship between colors and success — as long as it looked clean and didn’t overwhelm the viewer, it had a chance at success.
These types of thumbnails are minimalist, they show us what’s happening, and hit a broad interest with a wildcard.
4. The commodity
There’s something about the core concerns of money, sex, and food that will get people clicking — that being said, it’s a commodity.
A commodity is something you can get “everywhere.â€
Out of Graham Stephan’s top ten videos, nine have dollar figures or money in the thumbnail, and this will definitely get attention but doesn’t provide any unique brand to it.
Key Takeaways and Final Notes
While reading this article, you may have started to think about a cool YouTube series that you could create, something at the intersection of X and Y.
Or maybe you’ve thought about ways to create a brand with your current content, or simply make it more enticing by exploring previously unknown areas — all this means is you’re thinking of quality > clickbait, and this is perfect.
Or maybe you discovered some content creators that piqued your interest, which is also great.
All of this is fantastic, though I’m hoping you got some practical points on choosing a thumbnail and titling — here’s the TLDR version.
There’s no all-encompassing way to pick the perfect thumbnail and title, but there are perks in the following.
• A short and concise title is excellent for SEO and readability (<60 characters & <10 Words).
• Including the brand/channel name in the title is also great for SEO.
• Having small words over big words in the title for readability works wonders.
• Text in the thumbnail should be less than 20% of the whole thumbnail.
• The title and thumbnail should create tension by leaving the viewer with unanswered questions.
• Thumbnails and titles with money, food, or sex as a primary discourse always get attention — this can be spam if the content isn’t up to scratch.
• Using brands and pop culture in titles and thumbnails piques people’s curiosity.
• Integrating brands and pop culture into your content with a twist will eventually turn your content into a culture in its own right.
Doing a combination of these gives you the highest chance of viewers clicking through — and once you’re successful enough on the platform, your audience will be there regardless of the thumbnail.
I hope you got some value out of this one, best of luck in your titling and thumbnailing endeavors.
Thanks to Say Kilic
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