Great NFT Videos need even better thumbnails!

You can listen to this newsletter as a podcast here: Click and learn how to create NFT thumbnails on YouTube!

What type of thumbnail will immediately tell people what your video is about, get them interested, and make them want to click?

• You only had one job!
• What just happened?
• But the title said I would get rich!
• The chicken or the egg

Last week we talked about how important it is to have a YouTube Channel and NFT Videos If you missed it, read it by clicking here!

You only have ONE job!

When you are dolling out duties, (is "dolling" even a word?) the job you give to your thumbnail... that little image that shows in search results and in the right column on YouTube... has ONE JOB!

It should scream "CLICK ME!".

It needs to be compelling, controversial, generate curiosity, all of the above. And more! I heard Mr. Beast once say that it's more important than his video itself, and that he spends $50k or more to make sure it's perfect.

Your potential viewer (or BUYER in your case) is scrolling through dozens of thumbnails. Yours needs to catch their eye, stop them in their tracks, and get the click... all within the span of around 2 seconds.

I was looking for some resources to add to what I already know about this topic, and found a really nice acronym that I thought I would share. It's the "AIDA Principle". I read about it on a blog that I'll also share the link here, in case you want more info. The next few paragraphs paraphrase from the link above.

The AIDA Principle

People are persuaded to make decisions in a very specific order. That order can be described with the acronym AIDA:

• Attention: Can you get (and hold) their attention? How well does your thumbnail do this in the context of the competitive environment?
• Interest: Once you have their attention, can you get them interested? To do so, you must connect to something they already care about. A pain point, a goal, an existing interest. You must also create curiosity so they feel they will learn something new.
• Desire: After they find interest, can you make them desire, or WANT what you’re offering? Again, connect to something they already care about.
• Action: If the curiosity and desire is strong enough, your thumbnail should inspire them to take action. Basically, the click! Here's a little more:

Attention

Attention: This is your thumbnail’s first job.

What grabs your attention? Here are a few things time-tested to work. First, people are naturally drawn to human faces, so use them when you can. If you are the focus of your videos, it's a good idea to use your own face on your thumbnails.

Another thought, is choose one of your NFT characters and make that character your "spokesperson". We also tent to read left to right, so make the left side of the image where you put, or at least start your text.

The overall thumbnail needs to catch their attention BEFORE they'll read, so keep this in mind as well. Part of what will get their attention are their own interests. We know you're targeting NFT fans, but even so, a viewer’s interests are constantly changing within the niche.

A few more things to keep in mind, are don’t make your thumbnail too busy. Keep it simple enough so it can be understood without the need to evaluate too deeply. This is kind of a trick when you create curiosity.

It has to be like Goldilocks' porridge... not too hot, and not too cold!

Make sure your thumbnail stands out vs. other thumbnails by using color. also, make the elements bold. For example if you use text, make it short and stand out.

Interest

Once you stop the browsing and have a viewer’s attention, you need to snag their interest. As an example --- I can get your attention right now:

SEX!

(I bet you looked at the word "SEX" above pretty naturally, yes?)

But if I have nowhere to direct your attention, then I’ve accomplished nothing. This is a big reason why YouTube’s algorithm prioritizes a metric called "watchtime" over everything else, including clicks. If they only counted clicks, all the top creators would just be putting cleavage in their thumbnails.

I’m old enough to remember when it actually was like that, lol. Ahh, the good old days!

Dirty old men aside, this is why you have to create a path that converts their attention to their interest, or they won't bother watching the video. So how do you create interest then? Here’s the formula:

• Connect your topic to something your audience already cares about.
• Make them curious so they want to learn MORE

As an example, which of these would probably get you to click?

If I was a monkey lover, I'd click the second. Why? The second one creates curiosity. It might also connect to other things in your mind... emotions, a story, maybe a secret? It makes you more likely to be curious.

This looks basic, almost obvious... but it's obviously not. This is also where your video title comes in. Your title and thumbnail work together to build interest.

Desire

It all comes down to the question at the beginning. Did you get the click? Does your title plus thumbnail create interest and put a question into your viewer's mind that the video should answer?

Your viewer’s desire to click is in proportion to how badly they want that question answered.

Other topics are not as inherently interesting right off the bat. You have to sell them a bit to a general audience. You need to use the image and title to make them EXPECT something in the video that they desire.

Action

When it comes to clicking to watch a video, this one’s simple. If the viewer wants their burning question answered, they’re going to click. The click is the action you're rewarded with.

It's also a good idea to include what I refer to as a "C2A", or "CTA"... or use a "call to action". I use these more commonly in the video description than the thumbnail, but you need to get in the habit of telling the reader WHAT TO DO NEXT!

People are taught since childhood to follow instructions. "Listen to your mom", "do "what the teacher says", "listen to your boss!". Since this is what people are conditioned to do, you need, as a marketer, to start GIVING the directions. A call to action does this perfectly.

You can see how I use a CTA in the YouTube titles below, with phrases like "Read This", and "Click Here".

But the title said I would get rich

We've all fallen for it if we spend any time on YouTube. I've clicked plenty of times on a YouTube thumbnail, watched the video then though "what the hell?". They didn't even talk AT ALL about what was in the picture. (or title)

Clickbait in a YouTube thumbnail refers to using somewhat deceptive or misleading pictures or text to get viewers to click on the video. The intention behind clickbait is to generate higher click-through rates (CTR) and, in turn, more views.

But it comes with a warning... remember I said above that how long people watch is more important to YouTube than how many click? Keep this in mind.

It often involves exaggeration, sensationalism, or in some cases, outright false information. This can negatively impact the viewer's trust and overall user experience on YouTube. Lose your people's trust, and "dey gone".

Here are some common clickbait tactics seen in YouTube thumbnails:

1. Misleading Images: Using images that are unrelated to the video's actual content or taking elements out of context to create a false impression.
2. Exaggerated Text: Using sensationalized or misleading text in the thumbnail, such as "You won't believe what happens!" or "Shocking revelation!"
3. False Claims: Making false claims or promises in the thumbnail that aren't fulfilled in the video.
4. Fake Giveaways: Promising giveaways, prizes, or rewards in the thumbnail as a means to lure viewers, but not delivering on those promises.

Too much clickbait can lead to a poor viewer experience, low audience trust, and even penalties from the YouTube platform. YouTube's policies and community guidelines are designed to promote transparent, honest, and responsible content creation and marketing... so if you use clickbait, be careful.

Personally, I use it a bit in my images, but I tend to prefer (usually, lol) to use accurate keywords in my titles that tell the viewer what's actually in the video.

If you go too far, maybe you get called out by a couple of people in the comments. I kind of use that as a litmus test. If people start to comment, in MY opinion, it's too much.

However though, if you don’t go far enough, no one clicks... so "you do you". Test a bit, watch your community comments carefully, and go from there.

The chicken or the egg!

Should you make your video first, or your thumbnail? Me, I make my videos first, but it's partially because I write the newsletter first, and then create the video and podcast from the newsletter article. My main concern is a newsletter with content and "how to's" you can use to propel your game of NFT collection forward.

Some creators however, feel making the video and then the thumbnail is backwards. They suggest that some people invest dozens of hours into writing, shooting, and editing the video, – then realize that the video they’ve made locks them into a certain kind of thumbnail.

They spend the time coming up with a great thumbnail idea, then realize it won't work with the video. It's like the chicken and the egg... more people will watch the video if there's a great thumbnail... but sometimes it's hard to form a great thumbnail around some video topics.

They suggest you come up with at least one great thumbnail before you even start scripting your video.

Be consistent!

It's also important that you try and be consistent when you create multiple thumbnails. Creating a consistent look across all your channel’s thumbnails can help to build familiarity with your audience, and enhance your brand. We use the same frames around all of ours, as seen in the images on this post.

To be honest, I don't "love" the orange and blue backgrounds we use, lol... but it is better than them all looking different. (I'm sure I'll change it some day, got any ideas?)

By using a template or consistent colors and designs, you can build a familiar look for your channel and speed up your thumbnail creation process at the same time.

I have a template in "Canva", the graphics program we use here to make our thumbnails. For the most part, we find an image we want to use, add it and some text, then screenshot and use it.

In addition, there's a great free tool at thumbsup dot tv. It will show you exactly how your thumb and title will look in a whole bunch of different formats and websites. It's worth taking a look, to fine-tune your efforts.

Also FYI, the images we use in the newsletter are not always the same types of images we use as a thumbnail. We make them differently, because when someone is readings this, they have already clicked. We do, however, make at least one image specifically for the thumbnail.

Remember, your thumbnail has one main job, to grab attention... and then your title and thumbnail combined has the job of generating the interest.

A few more thumbnail goodies!

• Thumbnails are are usually viewed at a really tiny size, make sure everything is simple, clear, and easily recognizable.
• Stick to what they're familiar with, use things they will relate to.
• Faces work really well, if they make sense. Use good looking people, FTW.
• Don’t use the same text in the thumbnail AND the title. It's wasted real estate.
• Keep the text on your thumbnails at 5-6 words or less. People need to understand it all in one view, almost even subconsciously.
• Stay consistent, so people can tell it's your video simply from the design of the thumbnail, the text type or font, the layout, etc..

So there you have it! Like anything in marketing, you can find more elsewhere, but this will get your motor running!

Each newsletter is recorded as a video podcast a few days after publication. You can watch all of our past podcasts and videos by clicking here:https://www.youtube.com/@arisingfloor/videos

Until next week: if you need help ask for it, if you don’t, prove it!

Deacon Z

PS – If you have any questions, please jump into the Discord and ask. It's my honor and pleasure to help. You'll find some other fun surprises and great people as well.

A Rising Floor is a weekly newsletter and Discord Mastermind created for NFT and ordinal collection owners, staff, and founders, as well as NFT industry gig workers and anyone who wants to promote their NFTs. It’s a free source of news, NFT marketing help, and a place to communicate with peers for the advancement of the industry.

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