How to create Captivating Video Thumbnails
Video Thumbnails
Are you hoping to entice scores of audiences for your videos? We know how online video marketing is trending since some time now. It has gained popularity far and wide because of its fast access, massive outreach and quick engagement.
Businesses and brands now rely heavily on online video marketing for promoting their products and services. But one can only earn success on their video if they manage to captivate the target audience with attention-grabbing thumbnails.
Regardless of how engaging your explainer video is, if the thumbnail doesn’t make a significant first impression, you’ll not get many views on it. The thumbnail is the lure that attracts the target audience with promises of concrete information inside. If the thumbnail fails to draw people in, what good is your video?
If you’re here to learn the best tips for creating captivating video thumbnails, we’ve got some good ones to share with you. Let’s take a look at those below:
Keep your video thumbnail clean and simple
Many marketers tend to overload their thumbnail till it gets confusing. Due to this, most viewers cannot even figure what the marketing video is about and hence move forward. Please remember that your thumbnail is only a tiny thing and it is best to include only vital, clear and precise information.
The best approach includes taking a screenshot or a custom image (the better option) adding an impressive title and some text. Let your text be as short, on point and relevant as can be. If you jam-pack lots of info and other stuff, the viewers will barely be able to make out the image.
Use a custom made thumbnail instead of auto-select
When we talk about a thumbnail, the marketers have the honor of choosing one themselves. When you have such liberty, why would you want the video channel, let’s suppose YouTube, to pick a thumbnail for you? After all, the video is your baby, your genius creation.
You would know best what thumbnail will be the best for it. If you do not make sure you’re choosing the absolute best thumbnail, the viewers will not take the time to click on a video that does not make a major impression. Overall, this affects the performance of your marketing efforts.
So if you want everyone to watch your video, make sure you maximize your resources. You must ensure that your thumbnail highlights your company and brand. Your thumbnail must tell people that the video contains just what they’ve been searching for.
Use video thumbnails that show faces and emotions
One tends to think emotions have no play in thumbnail, but really, there couldn’t be a greater misconception. Thumbnails that focus on facial expressions give a glimpse to the emotions the videos will evoke in them.
If the video content will drastically alter the viewer’s perceptions or shock them, and the thumbnail delivers that, you are at an advantage. Thumbnails that deliver 100% accurate and truthful emotions about the YouTube video earn massive views. Also, choosing a friendly face makes a huge impact. If your thumbnail features a dull, boring and unappealing face, viewers likely won’t want to watch the video. However, a friendly, engaging and compelling visual will breathe life into your thumbnail and instantly attract attention.
If you want your amazing marketing video to earn successful play rates, remember to prioritize a happy and friendly face with expressive emotions. Viewers will relate much more this way.
Use animated video thumbnails where possible
We know including motion graphics animation into a thumbnail is quite tricky but it is also super effective. Static images truly look flat and frankly, uninteresting.
But any motion in the shots tends to capture attention. Animation is the art of captivating the masses and thanks to the advancements in video marketing tools, you can use several techniques.
For beginners at video making, it can be somewhat difficult to find the right image. However, if you wish to create a custom thumbnail of your own, you can use some free tools for that. Animation software such as Adobe Spark, Canva, and others is a great place to start.
Check out the most viewed content on YouTube, and make them part of your video content strategy. You can also find other video sites like YouTube where you can post your video content.
Test various thumbnail options first
If you have more than one thumbnail idea for a promotional video, it’s a wonderful thing. This way, you test run each of them on your video and see which suits best. There is also the A/B technique for this to help verify which thumbnail gets the highest attention.
If you see one thumbnail getting seven views while your other option scores a hundred, the choice is clear to you.
Add an eye-catching headline for your thumbnail
The rule for success in thumbnails is that the more obvious it is, the more successful it will be. The entire success depends highly on how informative the text is. At the same time, you must also maintain an element of mystery. So how do you do that?
The fact is that marketers need a deft hand and a smart tactic with words. They must know how to condense the headline and reduce it to a readable length. Getting the headline right will take you some time but keep going. Your end result must be a precise but snappy title. If you’re making a YouTube video, you have a recommended length of seventy characters with spaces. If you exceed this length, see what other options you have.
A good way of curbing the length is by abbreviating something that does not lose its meaning yet reduces the character-size.
Stamp the thumbnail as your own
It is highly important to add your brand name to the thumbnails you create. By doing so, you stamp the video content as your own and it also serves as verification of your legitimacy to the audience. It will build their trust in your brand.
Once you win over viewers with your videos, each time you post a new one, they’d be able to recognize videos as yours with your brand on the thumbnail. Viewers will easily recognize and pull your videos out of the suggested area because of your logo.
Final Thoughts
Thumbnails are the first impression for every video. For rapid success in viral video marketing, marketers must focus on creating high levels thumbnails. They’re the frames that video makers must pre-select from their video’s body content and upload it as the title frame of the video.
You can even take customized images independently to your thumbnail. Regardless of what technique you choose, remember to make a thumbnail as precise yet informative, eye-catching and impressive as possible.
