summarize this script with the key points and an outline:

Nate here I am
excited for you to be here because I
made this video two years ago it got
tremendously positive response was
extremely helpful to a lot of people so
this video you're watching right now is
that video but way better because I have
two more years of experience and
practice in working with thousands of
YouTube channels and I also have some
really interesting updates on what is
working right now now because of that my
full intention with this video is to go
far deeper than perhaps you have ever
gone with your YouTube thumbnail
production in breaking down exactly what
makes a clickable thumbnail and how to
produce them for your own channel now as
a result of that don't be afraid or
don't be shy to come back to this video
multiple times and re-watch the entire
thing or sections that are most valuable
to you okay so step one is to start with
Step 1
the idea for the video itself now this
may be the first time you're hearing
this this may be you've heard this
multiple times either way I'm going to
break down why that is so important
we're not even talking about the idea
for the thumbnail yet the reason we
focus on the idea for the video first is
because that form terms the Common
Thread that produces the rest of the
content and when done correctly a
significant portion of the production or
the ideation that goes into the
thumbnail itself is already done when we
start with a solid video idea so here's
how I'd go about doing it first of all I
would have the idea can I say this video
idea in a single sentence and can I also
produce a compelling title from that
single sentence idea I have for this
video in addition I'd be thinking of it
in terms of what is the single promise
that people are going to get as a result
of this video what is the single promise
I'm going to make or the single reason
why my audience your audience are going
to watch this video in fact I'm going to
show you an example of what I'm talking
about here okay I've got my tablet going
I'm going to use this to show examples
throughout this video of every single
principle we'll be covering starting
with a recent example from the channel
makers Channel actually of using a
single concept for the thumbnail itself
you'll remember this video how the
YouTube algorithm Works in 2023 my idea
going into this was look there's been
other videos about the YouTube algorithm
how am I going to make it visual so it
naturally followed that the single
promise of the thumbnail which let me
pull up the thumbnail for you here's the
thumbnail for it the single promise of
the thumbnail was visually here is the
YouTube algorithm that was exactly my
thinking behind making this thumbnail a
potential viewer Knows by seeing
visually first of all the words over
here the YouTube algorithm and then they
know from this portion right here as
well as some hints at what's going on
right here and around between these two
segments right here that they are going
to see the YouTube algorithm explained
visually and this thumbnail has
performed extremely well because of it
now with this it's important to note
that the idea for the video plays into
the title and the thumbnail of the video
and they don't always have to each of
those separate parts don't always have
to tell the entire story by themselves
in fact some of the most effective
examples are of thumbnails that force
you to look at the title of the video or
vice versa now here's where we get to
the updated portion here of things that
have been changing that I've been
observing on the YouTube platform you
see thumbnails are at a point where
they're perhaps less important than they
use to be yes you're watching a
thumbnail guide and yes Nate did just
say that
the reason I say that is because YouTube
has been leaning further and further
into the hover play feature when you're
on desktop for example and you hover
your cursor over a video what does it do
if you haven't turned the setting off it
starts playing the video with captions
below the video the same is true with
the mobile app when you're scrolling
through the mobile app and you pause at
any point it starts autoplaying that
video and this is the important part the
thumbnail doesn't show at that point so
what does that really mean for you and I
as Channel makers well for one our
thumbnail is still important yes they
absolutely are which is why you're
watching this video right now I do not
consider that YouTube thumbnails are
going away anytime soon at all but what
I am saying here is that the first 15
seconds of your video are now considered
part of the marketing of that video
where traditionally I would look at it
as primarily the title in the thumbnail
now we have title thumbnail and the
first 15 seconds of the video and the
reason I put this into this very first
step the idea for the video itself is
because in most cases the first 15
seconds of your video should be showing
the idea of the video because when
hoverplay kicks in they're scrolling
through their phone they pause and they
say oh that might be an interesting
video if they can see clearly within the
first 15 seconds that that is a video
they want to watch at that point your
audience will then choose to click or
tap your video and in fact if you want
to go to the next level with this and we
could do an entirely separate video just
on this first 15 seconds concept but the
thing I'll say here is there's a reason
why so many creators are putting
captions or large text at the very
beginning of their videos because that
is now part of the marketing for your
video so that is now included when you
are planning the title and thumbnail of
your videos and now we're on to step two
Step 2
the idea for the thumbnail itself now
I'm thinking of this perhaps differently
than you ever have or you've ever been
taught this before you see it's the idea
for the thumbnail itself but I think of
it as what is the thumbnail story what
is the story that this thumbnail I'm
working on right now is trying to
communicate with my audience and how
clear is it in fact let me show you what
I mean okay now we're talking what will
this thumbnail actually accomplish for
me what is the story of the thumbnail I
pulled up another thumbnail from a
recent Channel Maker's video so you can
see when you look at this what is the
story that comes to mind for you and in
fact if you wanted to give yourself an
extra challenge while watching this
video right now you can pause the video
for a moment and just look at this
thumbnail and write out in your own
words what you think the story of this
thumbnail is because what we're looking
to do is identify exactly what this
thumbnail is accomplishing for my video
and what story the audience is going to
pull away just from seeing this image
alone so with this thumbnail there's
arguably two locations that the audience
is going to look first either my face or
this big word expired over here and from
there their eyes are going to be drawn
either from this Arrow itself pointing
this direction or from the central focus
of this thumbnail to this right here
what is this it's a trash bag and
there's some common advice called Niche
down so the story here is this advice
has expired and therefore it needs to be
taken to the trash and it's the Clarity
of the story behind this thumbnail that
explains why this one performs
exceptionally well so now you have an
idea of a one sentence example of the
story of your thumbnail in fact another
really good recent example of what I've
just been describing I can show you in a
thread that just happened in Project 24
my YouTube system you see I started a
thread in here asking thumbnails before
and after if you had a video that you
put a thumbnail on beforehand and then
you later changed it what happened to
the video after you changed it either
positive or negative I'd be willing to
bet that a fair amount of you watching
this recognize this thumbnail you've
probably come across this video because
it's one of the highest performing
thumbnails on my channel but I also
wanted members of project 24 to share
their own examples of before and after
and I thought a really good example of
telling a story or having a clear idea a
single sentence ID for the thumbnail
came from Project 24 member PC Gus this
was the before the title was the black
slop suit is finally mine so this is a
hard to obtain item in a video game and
this was the original thumbnail and this
thumbnail is arguably really good but
then PC Gus decide I did to switch it to
it's been done dot dot dot and this was
the thumbnail at that point and they
later show because of this more
intriguing story that video performed
better than it was when it was just this
thumbnail so just like having a single
sentence to describe the overarching
idea of your video this is also a point
where you want to check yourself and say
for the thumbnail idea I'm considering
can I describe it in a single sentence
now the next thing you want to take into
consideration as you're planning out
your thumbnail story is good bait versus
bad bait okay showing those examples now
we need to discuss bad clickbait versus
good clickbait I'm going to show you
some examples here this one for example
is from the channel Scotty Kilmer
nothing against Scotty I think he has
really really entertaining content but
when you look at this thumbnail you
would think oh no I'm leaving YouTube
and the title of this video is even
here's why I left YouTube but when you
actually watch the video it's just a
general car q a so that's one version of
what I would call bad bait and you can
watch uh this video next if you want a
further more in-depth explanation of
good bait gray bait and bad bait but I
would argue that on the opposite extreme
of good bait would be this one this
video is from the channel whistling
Diesel and the title of this video is
flying a helicopter indoors and does a
helicopter actually get flown indoors in
that video yes it does therefore this is
good bait now let's talk the changes or
trends that I am seeing in telling your
thumbnail story first of all Dynamic is
not always better now what I mean by
that is typically if you are considering
doing a thumbnail you're thinking
through the thumbnail story you think
you have examples of other YouTubers
maybe that you watch on YouTube and you
look at their thumbnails and you say oh
their thumbnails are really dynamic they
have a lot of action they have a lot of
perspective a lot of these Dynamic
aspects going on with them but we don't
always stop to consider that that might
not be the best way to deliver on the
thumbnail story okay I realized the
lighting is awful on my face right here
but I had to take a moment to explain
this concept of why Dynamic isn't always
better it's very misunderstood I'm going
to show you actually a negative example
from Channel makers itself with this
thumbnail the title of the video was how
to survive a year on YouTube and I was
going for a bit more more of a Mr
beast-esque style where I was more
Dynamic I didn't actually have mud on my
face I had Cody paint that in afterwards
but I was going for a very dramatically
different look and a more Dynamic look
with this thumbnail and the video didn't
perform as well as I would hope and I
think it came down to the audience
expectations for this type of video it
looks so different than the other videos
on my channel that it did underperform
another example we could give of this is
if I wanted to do a video how to survive
a year on YouTube predicting the future
and it was me and the turban with a you
know a crystal ball and I'm ooh
predicting the future that may not work
very well for my audience simply because
this channel channel makers in general
people are here for answers they're here
for the usefulness of the information so
if I try to get too clever or too
Dynamic by putting a crystal ball me
predicting the future into my thumbnail
the joke that seems funny to myself
might not land very well with my
audience if they don't have the context
to back it up and whenever my audience
doesn't have context or is confused by a
thumbnail that is a bad thumbnail the
second thing I'm seeing here is don't be
too clever don't try to be too clever
with the story of your thumbnail if it
does not either fit your audience
expectations or Delight them in a new
way do not do it this is also a good
point for me to invite you to book the
like button on this video if it is being
useful and helpful to you thus far I use
boops on the like button to let me know
hey this video is actually helping
people so thank you for doing that all
Step 3
right let's move on to step three what
is the focal point or the main character
of your thumbnail I'm intentionally
putting different words on this than you
might have thought of your thumbnails as
before you see it's often shared that
you should have a primary focal point
for your thumbnails but what's better
from my experience is to think of it as
the main character in the story that
your thumbnail is telling in fact as I
have analyzed thousands of YouTube
thumbnails there's almost always just a
single main character a main focal point
that the entirety of the rest of the
thumbnail is directing your eyes and
your interest too occasionally there are
are what I'd call co-stars or more than
one focal point but I cannot think of
any successful thumbnail that has more
than two co-stars as the primary focus
points so as you're choosing the main
character for your thumbnail I want you
to keep in mind these things one it
should be very obvious who or what the
main character of the thumbnail is now
how do you make it obvious everything
about that thumbnail seems to be
directing to that primary main character
in fact recently we did an entire
hour-long Mastermind dedicated just to
this in project 24. and some really
interesting points were brought up about
this now let's talk the updates or the
recent trends that are working really
well that I've been seeing in this main
character aspect of your thumbnails one
is that some main characters force you
to look at the title of the video If
used effectively it will actually cause
your audience or your potential audience
to pause and have to look more into what
this video is even about and in the era
of attention being currency something
that makes your audience say hold on I
might actually be interested in this
video where previously they might have
just said nah not of interest at all to
me anything that does that is a step in
the right direction and a positive thing
for your thumbnails to accomplish okay
this is an interesting one because it's
not always obvious or easy to identify
how to force people to go from a
thumbnail to look at the title of the
video It's very effective if done well
and I pulled this one up as an example
to show you what it looks like so this
is the thumbnail and just by looking
this what would you know well probably
something about eBay and it's from this
channel but what I've do we know
anything else about it no we don't and
yet this video has a lot of views on it
because the image is so plain but it's
such that it forces you to look at the
title of the video and the title was
interesting enough that this video has
gotten almost a million views so the
title you ask what is it it's inside the
eBay stocking Scandal this thumbnail
forced people because it's so plain it
forced people to look at the title of
the video I can't understate how
effective this is when done correctly
like this next big update I've been
seeing here is the emphasis on larger
faces or objects within thumbnails so
much so that in many cases if I see a
thumbnail and the primary main character
is interesting enough it doesn't even
need the remainder of the Supporting
Cast that we're going to be talking
about later on in this video okay let's
show some of this larger faces and
objects in action I pulled a variety
these are mostly random just went to the
homepage of YouTube and just pulled up a
bunch of these thumbnails so I could
show you rapid fire this trend that I am
seeing okay so here is a couple of them
boom if you don't know who Ryan Tryon is
creates very entertaining videos but if
you look at this thumbnail for example
the primary emphasis the primary focus
of this is front and center a face so
we've got the main character being very
large here in the middle and then what
is The Supporting Cast it's happening
over here
and over here all right here's another
random one I pulled this one's
interesting because what is the main
character obviously this and this is
front and center Forefront of everything
else happening these are supporting
characters here and here and as well as
these background elements okay here's
another one where's the primary
character it's a very large face or
object right here happening and then the
supporting characters are these beams of
light this barcode on the forehead as
well as this background going on here's
an example of co-stars we've got the
main character going on over right here
with the face and then the co-star is
right here the Mr Beast and it seems to
be a message from Mr Beast now you
notice with this example it could have
been done differently with her being a
little bit further away from the camera
and this being maybe a small image on a
phone or something like that and that
can work but what I'm seeing work right
now is larger faces and larger objects
in the frame and one more example of
this from a gaming channel I'm going to
pull up the writing Implement here when
you look at this what have we got going
on here we've got the face very large
over here but I would argue that this is
isn't necessarily a main character or if
it is it's a co-star to what's going on
right here because the main purpose of
this face over here it's larger in the
frame is to set the tone of the emotion
of the thumbnail but the focus is over
Step 4
here and on to step four here we are
talking about The Supporting Cast for
your main character or co-stars of your
thumbnail and like I mentioned earlier
I'm intentionally talking about this as
main character and Supporting Cast
because again your thumbnail is telling
a story for your audience and it's a
story that needs to be communicated in a
microsecond so with step four we're
looking at what is going on around the
main character what is the background
what colors are going on what text
elements are on the thumbnail are there
textures or arrows pointing people's
interest to a specific part of that
thumbnail because at this point it Bears
answering the question well why do
people decide to click or tap on a
thumbnail in the first place I've broken
it down to a few things that you'll
incorporate into your own thumbnails
first of all story a movement action
interest in an object or event or some
emotion portrayed by that thumbnail so
your purpose with your main character
and Supporting Cast is to tell a story
that evokes one of those reasons and
gives people a reason to you guessed it
click or tap on your video versus all
the other videos and the point here in
step four is that showing is almost
always better than telling almost always
if you can show with an image with as
few extraneous or unnecessary elements
in your thumbnail as possible that is
almost always better than otherwise okay
now it's time to show some more examples
from the wild I took these thumbnails I
pulled them from the wild I was
scrolling through YouTube and I found
these and I do want to acknowledge that
I did take screenshots of these
thumbnails in order to make it easier
for me to draw on them Etc like this and
this and this okay when you look at this
thumbnail you don't necessarily know
what is going on here what you do know
is that right here in the center there
is something that looks very unique it
does look like a real photograph you'll
notice that out here and especially the
presence of this socket up here makes it
look like it wasn't photoshopped it's
not some special image in fact part of
the appeal of this thumbnail is because
it looks like a real photograph with a
central main character that is
interesting enough for you to want to
watch the video to figure out what is
going on right here okay next example
we've got another case of a large
Central Focus going on right here but
then again there's no text there's no
text over here no text over here now I
promise this wasn't intentional but the
very fact again that this looks like a
screenshot from a movie could make it
more intriguing when combined with the
title of the video to say what is going
on and who is this person right here
alright another example now this one
seems to break that trend of large face
or object in the thumbnail nothing
happening down here and or up here or
over here or over here appears to be a
single large focus of the thumbnail and
yet it still works for this reason what
this thumbnail is doing is as a frame
the entirety of this Frame it is setting
an Ambiance this is an experience that
he is having so arguably and I realize
this might sound like it's breaking my
earlier rules about having a main
character in this one the character is
the story of what is happening right
here and as before does this thumbnail
need text on it in order to be
interesting no it doesn't but could it
have text yes it could it for example it
had some writing up here that said how
much this food weighed or how many
calories it had with an arrow pointing
uh downward at what he's about to
consume then yeah that would be just
fine the point here is that if you can
have an image that doesn't require text
to explain it that is even better for
thumbnails and then we have one more
example here of no text no text is
present on this thumbnail anywhere but
we've got this Central interesting
object going on right here and then the
interesting thing is because there's a
person right here is the person the
largest thing in the frame no they
aren't but the person is there providing
context to show the sense of scale for
the object behind them the other thing
doing that is the presence of the V
vehicle back here to show again a sense
of scale of how large this object is now
this is no joke the space on YouTube is
quite competitive it's also quite fun if
you do it well and you want to get into
the game of figuring out how to produce
effective storytelling thumbnails which
is why I wanted to include here that
project 24 Mastermind or Workshop
because if you're in a position where
you would benefit from additional real
specific targeted help on your content
project 24 and especially those
masterminds might be exactly what you're
looking for because drawing back the
curtain here a little bit what often
happens in those masterminds is first of
all there's my YouTube system which is
my verify tested system for predictably
growing a YouTube channel you following
in that system but there's going to be
questions along the way and so what we
do in these masterminds is we come
together in wobba theme like thumbnails
and we'll say okay let's talk thumbnails
let's talk main characters share your
thumbnails and let's as a group and I'm
there also we'll look at the thumbnail
and say okay what's the main character
how could we reposition this main
character how can we support The
Supporting Cast to actually draw your
audience eyes to the primary focus
you're trying to accomplish and and tell
that story more effectively and also
that's one of the best places to get
roasted by me personally if you come
there with a thumbnail for example and
you say Nate roast this up I'll I'm take
the filter off here on here on channel
makers I have to be a little bit more
tactful with what I say most the time
but within the masterminds in Project 24
I can take that filter off and I can
speak directly and very clearly I know
this probably isn't the first time
you've heard me talking about project
24. I do it because I keep seeing it
working and really helping people get
radical strategy and knowing exactly
what to do with their Channel and real
Clarity on their next steps so if that's
you you can check it out at
channelmakers.com forward slash project
Tools for Thumbnails
24. now let's talk about what I would
actually use to produce your thumbnails
there are two programs that I have had
the most experience with first of all is
Photoshop now Adobe Photoshop is perhaps
the most well-known program for doing
this and in most cases I do recommend it
because it has a lot of flexibility and
there are many many many many tutorials
anything you possibly want to do you can
look it up online and find find out
exactly how to do it the main issues
people might have with it is there is a
steep learning curve and also the cost
is an ongoing monthly price in order to
use the software which is why if you're
in that boat I often recommend the
secondary which is canva it has both a
free option and a paid option the free
option is very robust and able to
accomplish a lot of what people want to
do with their thumbnails so you can also
check that out in fact if you want a
full list of the tools that I recommend
for producing YouTube thumbnails and
producing YouTube videos in general you
can go to channelmakers.com forward
slash tools and that'll show you my
broken down list of what I've tested and
what I found to be the best now we're on
to the updates and interesting things in
this step four that you want to take
note of first of all let's talk framing
here very briefly you usually want to
avoid putting objects on the right side
of the frame or at least very important
objects on this side of the frame
because of the possibility they might be
obscured by the YouTube UI and also of
course this bottom corner of your
thumbnail you want to avoid putting
anything of importance there because the
timestamp goes right here now for the
secret ninja tip here consider producing
the thumbnails in such a way that it
leads your audience eyes in the way that
your audience typically reads word so
for example if your audience is English
speaking most of the time they read left
to right and the other big update and
Trend difference I am seeing right now
is the emphasis on using less text in
your thumbnails in most cases if you can
avoid putting text into your thumbnail
as the primary or the main character
then I would definitely do that because
in most cases text is best used as
Supporting Cast for the main character
okay in order to explain this a bit more
you'll recall I had that thread in
Project 24 where I was inviting members
of project 24 to share their before and
after thumbnails right what you said
before and then what did you change it
to and what changed about the analytics
of that video did it actually perform
better so we could see a side-by-side
comparison and as we were having this
discussion there were a few project 24
members that shared in here that I
wanted to highlight the first one's from
Project 24 member Baldi and they shared
this was the before thumbnail the title
was unboxing and review of the meccano a
955
that was the title so and then this was
the thumbnail and then they shared that
they changed the title to McConnell
haven't made a better set in the last 50
years and then change the thumbnail to
be this now you can see some differences
here one the image seemed to be brought
forward and made less blurry than in the
other one we've also got the face
getting larger in the thumbnail and we
do need to acknowledge the change of the
title to make it more intriguing
sounding but the interesting thing is
they shared uh the the views over time
on this video and I get it 1.1 000 views
but the point is we're learning along
the way which is exactly why project 24
exactly why we do threads like this so
we can actually drill down into what's
working and what's not working but if
you look at this the first thumbnail was
present on this video for 380 days
before they switched it to the secondary
thumbnail remember this is the first one
this is a secondary and after 380 days
you can see a difference there was an
uptick in the number of views it's
directly traceable to switching the
thumbnail and the title and I thought
that was really cool to see so clearly
visible from a channel that's not one
that I own personally the other example
I wanted to show you is from the project
24 member ADI craft I hope I'm
pronouncing that right here uh they
shared this was the before thumbnail
right here oh oh there we go that's the
before thumbnail
and then they switched it to the after
thumbnail and in terms of change they
showed that their click-through rate
went from 2.5 with this to 4.5 with this
second one and I love that they shared
the Insight of including the colors and
the imagery that is familiar made all
the difference between this and this
because the point with measuring and
changing your thumbnails after the fact
is so that you can have these
incremental improvements you could look
at that and say oh click-through rate
went from 2.5 to 4.5 percent you might
look at that and say well dang that's
not that big of a difference but that's
the point when you track these things
when you go okay this is what I did
before this is what I did after and you
see an actual change you're on to
something and you make enough of those
incremental changes and that my friend
is how you build a successful YouTube
channel and that is how you make really
effective thumbnails and on to step five
Step 5
up to this point we've been building out
the layers and the idea behind the story
why your audience will even click it in
the first place what's the story you're
telling in a single sentence at this
point we produced a thumbnail but we're
not not done yet because this step is
all about testing and evaluating in fact
in most cases I would rarely ever
recommend that you just publish a
thumbnail and just leave it be the
number of times that I personally have
pivoted in the thumbnail and seen an
increase in views points to the fact
that in many cases pivots can be
extremely helpful or useful in
increasing the reach of your videos
alright so let's talk how to evaluate
the actual performance of your
thumbnails aside from the common one out
of 10 metric that we all look at and we
all want that glorious confetti when it
is a one out of ten these are the
notable analytics I'd be looking at for
my thumbnails first of all click-through
rate in the first 48 Hours what this is
telling me is how well that video does
with my core audience or your audience
that are most likely to be on YouTube
and most likely to watch your video as
soon as they see it recommended to them
so that's measuring how well it's doing
with your core audience now the next
metric is the click-through rate for the
first seven days this metric I see
measuring the effectiveness of a
standard what I call a published cycle
if for example you publish every week
then for the first seven days you're
seeing both with your core audience and
the broader audience that may not be as
dedicated to you but they're still going
to watch within the first week and with
each of those metrics we're measuring
them against what's the standard honor
Channel and if something seems to be
performing abnormally low that is a good
indicator that we might want to Pivot
next metric I'm looking at is the
overall views for the video this is one
that I call kind of the ultimate metric
in that it tends to be the one that
combines all of the other YouTube
metrics into a single number and what
that tells me is how well that video was
marketed and delivered on the promise of
the video the next metric I'm looking at
kind of as a secondary to thumbnails but
is still important is the key moments
for audience retention graph because
this is telling me how well I delivered
on the promise the reason why the
audience clicked in the first place in
fact I recently did a thread in the
project 24 Community where I asked
people for before and after what their
thumbnail looked like before and then
after they changed it what changed about
it so also if you're at the point where
you need additional help with growing
your YouTube channel or particularly
thumbnails consider checking out project
24's YouTube business growth strategy is
my specialty in fact back to the number
of times I've had people come to me in
fact this very week I had a conversation
with someone who said that just one
section of the YouTube system was worth
the entire price because of the clarity
of their next strategy the direction
they were taking their Channel it was
worth the entire price of project 24. so
I keep seeing it work for people so you
can check it out at channelmakers.com
project 24 to see the whole hullabaloo
and the the tour behind the scenes
everything that's included in it and
we'll see you there