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How YouTube Works ��

-YouTube is broken up in to "traffic sources", the main ones are "search".


"suggested" and "browse" (the homepage).

-Each Traffic source has its own click through rate (CTR), and if the CTR is poor in
one traffic source, it will stop pushing the video in that location. HOWEVER, if the
CTR is low in "search" but high in "browse" it can keep pushing the video in "browse"

- You need to design your thumbnails to work in the traffic source you desire views
in.
- The homepage (where the fast views are) is a lot more competitive than "search"
so requires a lot more strategy and design skills to win big.

To conquer YouTube you must:

- Understand what makes a great thumbnail

- Understand what makes an awful thumbnail

The 3 Keys To Powerful Thumbnails

- Attention - Understand what will grab your viewers attention visually

- Relevance/Interest - Make images that are relevant to your viewer interests in


relation to your video

- Intrigue - Create curiosity using your image that makes a viewer want to click to
satisfy that curiosity
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Clickbait

- This is when you make a thumbnail and title the video is not about

- not clickbait when you show something in your image that might not feature
It is
heavily in your video

- not clickbait when you image


It is is an over exaggerated version of what happens
in the video

-To avoid clickbait, make sure you satisfy the reason your viewers clicked on your
video

Curiosity Gaps

-This is when you make a viewer want to find out what happens as a result of your
thumbnail. You make them curious and then they click to fill the information gap.

The Hero Concept

- The hero of your image is the thing you want to stick out to your viewers first so
that it gets attention and sets relevance as fast.

Frequency Bias

-People notice the things they are interested in quicker than the things they are
not which is why working out what they are interested in is so important.

The Hero Concept

- The hero of your image is the thing you want to stick out to your viewers first so
that it gets attention and sets relevance as fast.
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Frequency Bias

-People notice the things they are interested in quicker than the things they are
not which is why working out what they are interested in is so important.

THE 8 THUMBNAIL STRATEGIES - VIDEO 3

The Awe-inspirer

- Show people something they've not seen before or make them say "wow". (The
world's largest, smallest, fattest, thinnest, and most extreme can do this)
- Best used in browse + suggested.

The Story

- Show a snapshot of the story you want to tell. Ideally, the scene will have stakes to
it.

- Best used in browse + suggested.

The Curiosity

- Create a big question in your viewers' minds that they want answers to.
- Best for browse + suggested.

The Result

- Show the result the viewer wants from your video.


- Best for browse, suggested, and search.

The Comparison

- Show a before and after in your image (usually shows the result people want).
- Best for browse, suggested, and search.

The Star
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- Make a famous person, product, or brand the hero of your image.


- Best for browse, suggested, and search.

The Emotion

- Capture a raw moment in time that creates concern or intrigue.


- Best for browse, suggested, and search.

The Say What You See

- Show the thing the viewer typed into the search bar.
- Best for browse, suggested, and search.

Which one do you pick?

Research what other people have used based on your topic and see which strategy
brought in more views.

THUMBNAIL DESIGN SYSTEM - (VIDEO 4)

Step 1 - ALWAYS find videos other creators have made around the topic you want to
talk about and save the thumbnails that have picked up lots of views to a vision
board.

If you find all the thumbnails with high views suck, examine a wider niche

Step 2: Plan 3 thumbnails for the same video based on your research. (Keep this
very draft)

- What emotion/expression might you use?


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- What strategy will you use?

- What items/assets will you need?

- What will the hero be?

Step 3: Feedback

-Share your three draft concepts and ask questions that will help you work out
which one might worst best

- Keep your questions simple and ask things like "what sticks out first" or "what do
you think this video is about" or "what questions appear in your mind when you see
this"

Never go with your first thumbnail idea

Step 4: Produce the images

- Take your photos and edit your images

Step 5: Turn your 3 images in to 15

-Make very subtle tweaks and save the image. This might mean changing the
colour of the background or text or swapping an item in the image.

Step 6: Add you 15 thumbnails along with their titles in to thumbsup.tv screen shot
,

them and then place them in a vision board so you can pick your top three (but also
have some fantastic back up options too)

Step 7: Ask in the Discord which from the top three would you click on

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