How to make VIRAL THUMBNAILS for your faceless channel (YouTube automation 2024)
Summary
TLDRThis video explores the art of crafting irresistible thumbnails for faceless YouTube channels. After analyzing thousands of viral videos, the creator reveals a five-ingredient recipe for thumbnail success: simplicity, familiarity, bold claims, curiosity gaps, and immediate payoffs. The insights aim to boost click-through rates and potentially catapult videos to virality, offering practical tips for boosting channel visibility on YouTube's homepage and browse features.
Takeaways
- ๐ The importance of creating a thumbnail that stands out on the YouTube homepage to capture viewer attention and increase click-through rates.
- ๐ High-performing videos on YouTube often get most of their views from being recommended on the homepage or browse features due to high click-through rates.
- ๐จ The simplicity of a thumbnail design is crucial; cluttered thumbnails can increase cognitive load and cause viewers to keep scrolling past.
- ๐ค Familiarity is key in thumbnail design; viewers are more likely to click on thumbnails featuring recognizable faces or themes.
- ๐ A bold claim in the video idea and its representation in the thumbnail can make it more compelling and encourage clicks from viewers.
- ๐ค The curiosity gap in a thumbnail should pique viewer interest, making them want to click to learn more about the video's content.
- ๐ An immediate payoff upon clicking the video, such as seeing the subject or action from the thumbnail right away, can keep viewers watching.
- ๐ The script suggests a five-ingredient recipe for creating effective thumbnails: simple design, familiarity, bold claim, curiosity gap, and immediate payoff.
- ๐ค The use of an AI avatar or consistent characters can build familiarity for faceless YouTube channels over time.
- ๐ Even high-quality thumbnails with all the 'right' elements can fail if the video idea isn't strong or clickable enough.
- ๐น The video idea should be so compelling that it can be easily represented in a thumbnail, as suggested by YouTube strategy expert Patty Galloway.
Q & A
What is the main focus of the video script?
-The main focus of the video script is to provide insights on how to create an effective thumbnail for a faceless YouTube channel that can potentially go viral.
Why is the homepage important for YouTube videos?
-The homepage is important because it is where viewers are immediately presented with numerous video options, and the goal is to make them stop and click on your video thumbnail.
What are the three sources of impressions mentioned in the script that contribute to a video's virality?
-The three sources of impressions mentioned are YouTube's homepage, browse features, and watch history.
Why is having a high click-through rate on the homepage important?
-A high click-through rate on the homepage is important because YouTube assumes there's high interest in the video topic and will push it to more viewers' homepages, increasing its visibility.
What is cognitive load theory and how does it relate to thumbnail design?
-Cognitive load theory suggests that humans have a limited capacity for processing information at any given time. A cluttered thumbnail increases cognitive load, making it difficult for viewers to quickly understand and assess the thumbnail, which can lead to them scrolling past it.
What is the three-step framework for creating simple thumbnails?
-The three-step framework for creating simple thumbnails is: one clear subject, two bold text, and three strategic highlighting.
What is 'familiarity hijacking' and how can it be used in thumbnails?
-Familiarity hijacking involves using well-known personalities or recognizable elements in thumbnails to capture viewers' attention by leveraging their existing familiarity with those elements.
What is the significance of a bold claim in a video thumbnail?
-A bold claim in a video thumbnail is significant because it grabs viewers' attention and motivates them to click on the video to learn more about the claim.
What is the 'curiosity gap' and how does it affect viewers' behavior?
-The curiosity gap is the distance between what a viewer currently knows and what they are curious to learn. It motivates them to click and watch the video to fill that gap.
What does 'immediate payoff' mean in the context of video thumbnails?
-Immediate payoff refers to the gratification viewers receive when the video delivers on the promise made by the thumbnail right from the start, which encourages them to continue watching.
What are the five ingredients of the perfect thumbnail recipe mentioned in the script?
-The five ingredients of the perfect thumbnail recipe are: simple design, familiarity, bold claim, curiosity gap, and immediate payoff.
Outlines
๐ The Art of Crafting the Perfect Thumbnail
This paragraph delves into the strategy behind creating a compelling thumbnail for a faceless YouTube channel. The author studied over 1,000 viral thumbnails and analyzed analytics to understand what makes a thumbnail irresistible. The focus is on capturing viewer attention on the homepage, leveraging YouTube's recommendation algorithms to increase impressions. The importance of a high click-through rate is emphasized, as it influences YouTube's decision to promote content. The author also discusses the common pitfalls of overcomplicated thumbnails and introduces cognitive load theory, which suggests that simplicity is key to quick viewer comprehension and engagement.
๐ค Harnessing Familiarity in Thumbnails
The second paragraph explores the concept of familiarity and its impact on viewer engagement. It explains how people are drawn to what they know and trust, which can be applied to thumbnails by using recognizable faces or themes. The author introduces two approaches to incorporate familiarity: 'familiarity hijacking', which uses well-known figures to grab attention, and 'familiarity building', which establishes consistent characters or styles to create a brand identity over time. Examples of successful channels using these strategies are provided, highlighting the importance of leveraging viewer familiarity to increase click-through rates.
๐ฃ The Power of Bold Claims and Curiosity Gaps
This paragraph discusses the importance of making a bold claim in video content and representing it effectively in the thumbnail. The author emphasizes that a bold claim alone isn't enough; it must be presented in a way that piques curiosity. Three video constructs that inherently contain bold claims are suggested: questioning the value of common practices, presenting the 'world's most' scenarios, and offering comprehensive knowledge on a topic of interest. The concept of the 'curiosity gap' is introduced as a tool to motivate viewers to click and watch the video to satisfy their curiosity. The author provides examples of how to transform a mundane video idea into an intriguing one by leveraging the curiosity gap in the thumbnail.
๐ป The Immediate Payoff in Video Thumbnails
The final paragraph emphasizes the importance of providing an immediate payoff in videos to retain viewer interest. It contrasts the disappointment of clicking on a thumbnail with a promising title, only to be met with unrelated or delayed content, versus the satisfaction of an immediate payoff that aligns with the thumbnail's promise. The author uses an example of a video featuring a policeman and a cow to illustrate how an immediate payoff can significantly increase viewer retention and contribute to a video's success, as evidenced by high view counts. The paragraph concludes with a summary of the perfect thumbnail recipe, combining simplicity, familiarity, bold claims, curiosity gaps, and immediate payoffs, and encourages viewers to subscribe for more insights on faceless YouTube channels.
Mindmap
Keywords
๐กViral Videos
๐กThumbnail
๐กCognitive Load Theory
๐กFamiliarity
๐กBold Claim
๐กCuriosity Gap
๐กImmediate Payoff
๐กClick-Through Rate (CTR)
๐กHomepage
๐กYouTube Strategy
๐กFaceless YouTube Channel
Highlights
The study of 1,000 viral faceless YouTube thumbnails to understand what makes a thumbnail successful.
The importance of capturing viewer attention on the YouTube homepage for high click-through rates.
Analytics reveal most views come from YouTube's homepage or browse features.
The 'perfect thumbnail recipe' consisting of five key ingredients for success.
The simplicity of thumbnail design reduces cognitive load, making it more appealing to viewers.
A three-step framework for creating simple thumbnails: clear subject, bold text, strategic highlighting.
Familiarity in thumbnails leverages viewer preference for recognizable elements.
Two approaches to incorporating familiarity: hijacking and building over time.
Bold claims in video ideas and thumbnails to grab viewer attention.
Three video constructs that naturally include bold claims for faceless channels.
The concept of the 'Curiosity Gap' to motivate viewers to click and watch the video.
Creating thumbnails that peak curiosity without giving away the entire story.
The necessity of an immediate payoff in videos to retain viewer interest from the start.
Combining all five ingredients for the most clickable faceless YouTube thumbnail.
A series of videos on faceless YouTube channels covering creation, growth, and monetization.
A call to action for viewers to subscribe for more insights on faceless YouTube channels.
Transcripts
over the past month I studied the
thumbnails of over 1,000 viral faceless
YouTube videos that got over a 100
million views combined all of this was
in an effort to answer one question how
do you create a killer thumbnail that
can blow up your faceless YouTube
channel see when a viewer comes to
YouTube they immediately get hit with a
bajillion video options your goal is to
get them to stop immediately on the
homepage and think wow I got to watch
this video and then click your thumbnail
why the homepage you might ask well I
not only looked at 1,000 thumbnails but
I also dove into the analytics and the
most viral videos on this channel that
you're watching right now and when
looking at the top performing videos I
noticed the majority of the views came
from YouTube recommending them on the
homepage or browse features which
basically are the homepage watch History
subscriptions anything on the first page
that you land on when you go to YouTube
If a video has a high click-through rate
on these Pages YouTube assumes there's a
high interest in the video topic and
will then keep trying to get more and
more Impressions to that video by
pushing it to more viewers homepages you
can see here the percentage contribution
of Impressions all three of these videos
got from homepage versus the rest of the
sources combined without these the
remaining Impressions would mainly come
from search and notifications which are
significantly more limited so that is
why having a thumbnail that stops a
viewer on the homepage and gives them no
other option but to click is so
important so my goal by the end of this
video is to give you the perfect recipe
for creating the most irresistible
thumbnails for for your faceless YouTube
channel you would think making a
thumbnail is simple for example look at
these thumbnails they're high quality
they have contrasting colors they have a
face in the thumbnail showing em motion
they have everything we're told a
thumbnail should have so why did these
videos all get less than a, views most
advice out there would make you believe
that these thumbnails are perfect
hypothetically the views should be
pouring in right but they're not it was
this lack of depth that brought me down
this 100 plus hour Rabbit Hole of
looking at thumbnails watching
interviews of successful YouTubers
giving thumbnail tips and all of that
allowed me to come up with one perfect
thumbnail recipe the recipe is made up
of five ingredients but before we get
into the ingredients we have to talk
about the video idea itself here's what
Patty Galloway the king of YouTube
strategy has to say about video ideas
and I get this all the time you know
I've got this amazing idea it's gonna be
so funny I just can't think of way to
thumbnail that and I'm like well then
it's not a good it's not a good YouTube
idea unfortunately it needs to take that
box it needs to be a great idea it needs
to be very clickable we need to be able
to make a clear thumb that around it so
if you can't think of a thumbnail like
Patty says the video idea just is not
good enough but don't worry I created an
entire video on how you can find outlier
video ideas for your channel no matter
what your Niche is so if you haven't
watched that video already go ahead
watch that video somewhere up here and
then come back and watch this video now
the first first ingredient in our
perfect thumbnail recipe is simple
design here's two thumbnails both have
the same video idea in title don't start
a YouTube channel in 2024 the video on
the left got less than 100 views the
video on the right got over a million
views the thumbnail on the left has a
lot and I mean a lot that we're looking
at multiple layers of text with three
arrows pointing at different things so
it's unclear what we should focus on
Graphics just thrown everywhere in the
thumbnail it's confusing it's cluttered
and overall visually unappealing so
people didn't click the thumbnail on the
right is simple one subject centered in
the image holding a sign with concise
text so it's clear what the viewer
should focus on and it's clear what the
video is about so a lot of people
clicked on this thumbnail there's a
concept in Psychology called cognitive
load Theory this Theory suggests that
humans have a limited capacity for
processing information at any given time
when a thumbnail is cluttered with too
many elements it increases the cognitive
load on the viewer making it more
difficult for them to quickly understand
and assess the thumbnail so rather than
sitting there and trying to figure out
what's going on in the thumbnail the
viewer is just going to keep scrolling
combine this with the fact that you
might only have one or two seconds to
grab their attention while they're
scrolling and it becomes extremely
apparent how important Simplicity is
when it comes to thumbnail design so how
can you create simple thumbnails that
still get the point of your video across
to your viewer well a simple three-step
framework is one clear subject two bold
text three strategic highlighting let's
look at some examples clear subject bold
text strategic highlighting clear
subject bold text strategic highlighting
clear subject bold text strategic
highlighting the second ingredient in
the perfect thumbnail recipe is
familiarity as humans we tend to have a
preference for things that we're
familiar with that's why on average we
eat the same five to eight meals every
single week they're familiar we can
trust them they're comfortable it's
probably why if you see a video released
by a handful of YouTubers you will
always click no matter the video subject
you are familiar with them you know that
they create good videos and you know
that they provide value to you for those
same reasons if a person comes across a
thumbnail that has a recognizable face
like a celebrity or themes that they're
familiar with they're more likely to
click so to incorporate at familiarity
into your thumbnails for faceless
YouTube channels there are two
approaches the first approach is
familiarity hijacking this involves
using well-known personalities or
recognizable elements in your thumbnails
to capture viewers attention by
leveraging their existing familiarity
this can be seen with Charisma on
command a faceless YouTube channel that
has grown to over 6.6 million
subscribers using this principle in all
of their thumbnails using the faces of
familiar celebrities and personalities
they get people to stop scrolling and
think oh I know them and then click the
video to find out more the second
approach is familiarity building which
involves starting from scratch and
consistently incorporating specific
characters or Styles into your
thumbnails to build familiarity over
time see with consistency this strategy
will allow your audience to become
familiar with your content just by
seeing your thumbnail this is the
approach that 10x income or digital
income project take there are two
faceless YouTube channels that use the
same AI Avatar in all of their
thumbnails and videos so they've built
that famili arity With Their audience
ingredient number three is a bold claim
this one has less to do with the design
of the thumbnail itself and more to do
with the video idea and how it's
represented within the thumbnail for
instance I could create a video of me
walking my dog even if I created the
most perfect thumbnail to exist on
YouTube the video would just be too
boring to get clicks that's because
there's no bold claim that's grabbing
viewers attention and so they just keep
scrolling to stop their scroll your
claim needs to be bold enough that the
viewer has no choice but to click on the
video so before even recording your
video think about the Bold claim that
you're making in the video but make sure
that it's the right kind of bold claim
for example I could come up with a video
idea of me going out and picking up a
million rocks I don't know about you but
if I saw someone release a video on them
picking up a million rocks I'm not going
to sit there and watch that it is a bold
claim though that they could actually go
out there and do it but the video idea
is awful so how can you come up with the
right kind of bold claims for your
faceless YouTube videos well here are
three video constructs that have bold
claims built into them and work well for
faceless YouTube channels number one is
something of Interest actually worth it
is college worth it in 2024 would be an
example is it worth going to University
would be another way to spin it the
second video construct is world's most
adjective object world's most amazing
skills and talent ever 15 most extreme
roads in the world would be another way
to structure it the third video
construct is topic of Interest
everything you need to know Toy Story 5
everything you need to know Friday Night
at Freddy's everything you need to know
so now you have a couple easy ways to
come up with bold claims but the claim
on its own is not good enough it needs
to be presented in your thumbnail in a
way that's going to Peak the viewer's
Curiosity this is where ingredient
number four in the perfect thumbnail
recipe comes in and that's the Curiosity
Gap the Curiosity Gap is the distance
between what your viewer currently knows
and what they are curious to learn this
Gap is what motivates them to click and
watch your video so your goal is to have
your thumbnail make them so curious that
they have absolutely no other choice but
to click using the example from before
if I make a slight change to the dog
walking video My Title might go from I
walked my dog today to I walked my dog
today and it turned into an adventure
the Bold claim my walk was interesting
enough to become an adventure the
thumbnail me walking my dog but with an
unexpected scene around us this would
cause viewers to wonder about the story
behind it they'll think what happened
how did it become an adventure and that
Curiosity Gap is what makes them click
to find the answer by successfully
incorporating a curiosity Gap you not
only get the click but you incentivize
your viewer to watch until the end to
find out what happens here's an example
of a curiosity Gap done really well so
the title is why don't we shoot nuclear
waste into space it gets the viewer
thinking and then you look at the
thumbnail which suggest suest that it's
the best idea ever but the title
suggests we're not doing it so why don't
we do it so that Curiosity Gap makes the
viewer click this brings us to the last
ingredient in the perfect thumbnail
recipe the immediate payoff so imagine
you click on a video with an incredible
thumbnail titled the funniest dog videos
of all time you click and the video
starts with hey guys it's Trevor today
was a good day I went for a walk what
are you going to do you're going to
click off the video as fast as possible
why because there was no immediate
payoff now imagine you're scrolling and
you see this video the thumbnail has the
subject a policeman and a cow and in the
first second of the video we immediately
see the subject from the thumbnail
walking a cow with a beer in his hand
this is an immediate payoff for the
audience the thumbnail first made them
curious and then when they click they
get an immediate payoff which keeps them
watching the video this is proven by the
video's 6 million views so it to put
everything together simple design plus
familiarity plus bold claim plus
curiosity Gap plus immediate payoff
equals the best possible most clickable
thumbnail for your faceless YouTube
video and by using this recipe you will
make thumbnails that have a much much
much higher potential of going viral
thank you for watching I hope you got a
lot of value out of this video this is
the fourth video of a series of videos
that we're making on faceless YouTube
channels by the end of the series you'll
know everything that there is to know
about faceless YouTube channels from
starting to Growing to monetizing and
Beyond so make sure to hit that
subscribe button so that you don't miss
out on any more uploads if you are
interested in this video and if you
haven't seen any of the videos in the
series yet I recommend you start with
this video right here why 99% of
faceless channels fail so go ahead watch
that and I'll see you in the next one
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