🎥 YouTube Thumbnail Game
Here's what makes people click.
Last week I got carried away with a little thought, one that spiraled down a rabbit hole for the ultimate question, “why?”
And like the genuine 21st-century philosopher I am (I’m really not), I engaged my expertise (of which I have none) to analyze some of the most popular YouTube thumbnails and uncover how they get us to click.
And it all started with this bad boy:
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?
The only way to release the tension is to click on the video and find out — so that’s precisely what we do.
But it’s not all psychology - look how clean and readable everything looks up there.
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.
The text itself has a 100/100 Flesch-Kincaid Readability Score — it’s super easy to read.
And this was only the tip of the iceberg with figuring out the reasons why people clicked on one thumbnail over another.
I wrote a big article about it in Better Marketing, and if you’re interested in this type of thing, I highly recommend it.
What Does a Leep of Faith Look Like to You?
I’m positive you’ve heard many different takes on “the leap of faith.”
You might have met a guru preaching the “The Dark Knight Rises” route to leaping.
The one where you can’t have any fallback. The one that says, if you’ve got a safety net, you will never succeed — there’s a famous saying for it too.
Burn the boats!
Captain Hernán Cortés landed ashore to begin his conquest and ordered his men to burn the ships. The only option after that had to be success, because literal death was a fantastic motivator — and so they conquered.
The modern equivalent might be quitting your job to start a business with no savings or a plan, but now your only option is to succeed — and man, if you don’t, there are massive consequences.
Another route for “the leap of faith” is more calculated.
Richard Branson is an advocate and master of this one. Hell, the first plane he ever bought, he got with the contingency that he was able to return it if the business didn’t work out.
He took a leap of faith; he started an airline when the competition had a monopoly, and yet it wasn’t all in — it was a calculated move.
Capping the risks and then going for it, not bad. Not bad at all.
And yet there’s another way to take “the leap of faith” — the risk-averse way.
The way where you’re not putting anything you already have on the line, you’re putting the future potential on the line.
An example:
You’ve got plenty of savings, investments, and a high paying job; you’re well off, but you quit your job because you want to leap into a traveler’s lifestyle.
You’re not risking anything except future employment income and a potential mistake — you keep the investments, most of the savings, and your years of experience.
And yet, it’s still a leap of faith.
A leap into a new business, lifestyle, relationship, or another scary endeavor will look different for everyone. Still, one thing’s for sure: It’s always better to take the leap than to stay in your comfort zone.
Here are five reasons why you absolutely should - I hope they put your mind at ease and help you take a chance on yourself.
I hope you got some value out of those two pieces; you can let me know what you think @sahkilic on all the socials. If you enjoyed it, please consider sharing!
I hope you have the best week!
Thanks,
Sah