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In 2024, The Pivotal Role of Thumbnails in Video Success Stories
The Pivotal Role of Thumbnails in Video Success Stories
The Ultimate Guide to YouTube Thumbnails that Get Views
Richard Bennett
Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions
Search for any topic on YouTube and you’ll find thousands of videos. How do you decide which of them to watch? Thumbnails play a major role in what viewers decide to click on. They’re often more important than video titles.
Viewers click on thumbnails that both standout and feel relevant to their search. Your task when it comes to creating YouTube thumbnails is to make something that does both of those things while also maintaining your personal style.
- How to Make a YouTube Thumbnail
- How to Upload a YouTube Thumbnail
- YouTube Thumbnail Makers
- How to Make Thumbnails that Get Clicks (Without Clickbait!)
- Animated YouTube Thumbnails
Part 1: How to Make a YouTube Thumbnail
In order to create a custom video thumbnail, you’ll need a program to put it together in. You can use an image editing program like Photoshop if you have one, but if you don’t you can check out these free thumbnail makers.
Here are some examples of popular thumbnail styles.
1. The Classic Thumbnail (Photo or Screenshot)
A photo that shows what happens in your video – whether that means the finished ‘look’ from your makeup tutorial or you posing in front of the landmark you shot your travel vlog in front of – is a great way to let viewers know what to expect. While curiosity can be a big motive behind clicking on a video thumbnail (or anything online), when people have searched for a specific topic they want to be convinced that your video has what they’re looking for.
#1. Choose Your Photo
To start off, either choose a still frame from your video or take a photograph while you’re still set up from your video. A separate photograph is usually a better idea because your video editor might not be able to export a high-quality snapshot, and also because you’re able to choose your facial expression.
Aim to make this shot a close-up or medium close-up and make sure you’re either in the center of the screen or off to one side, as per the ‘rule of thirds’. Many cameras allow you to bring an optional grid up onto your viewfinder. This will divide your screen into three equal segments both vertically and horizontally. Try to make sure your eyes line up with the top line, and if you’re going to be off to one side then make sure you’re on one of the vertical lines. This will ensure your image is visually appealing.
If you want to add text later, it’s a good idea to be off to one side.
Including your face is important for most types of YouTube videos. People are attracted to eye contact and are more likely to click on thumbnails that feature a face. Gamers might choose to use a picture of a video game character instead and it will have the same effect.
Some situations where it isn’t essential to include your face include tech reviews, where viewers will be more interested in seeing the product, and cooking videos where people are looking to be tempted by a yummy food pic.
#2. Add Text and/or Images
This part isn’t essential – in some cases, a photo is enough – but a lot of the thumbnails for the videos ranked highest in YouTube’s search results include either a couple of words of text, a simple graphic (i.e. an emoji), or both.
In some cases you might use text to make it clear what type of video you’ve made, i.e. ‘review’ or ‘tutorial’. It’s best to keep any text you use brief, but you could get a bit more descriptive and write something like ‘fall makeup tutorial’. Three words is probably the most you can get away with. Remember that your text will be shrunk down with the rest of your image; you need to make it big enough to read easily once it’s shrunk, and that means you don’t have a ton of room for text.
You should also avoid fonts that are harder to read. Fonts with a lot of curves can be harder to read, and you want to make sure you choose a color that stands out from your background. Yellow might work against black, but it probably won’t work against the beige wall of your sunny bedroom. Sans serif fonts tend to be best.
Another tactic used in successful thumbnails is to add small graphics, like emojis or small images (i.e. pumpkins for a Halloween video), which are related to your video’s content. As with text, you don’t want to overload your thumbnail with images, but they’re a great way to add something eye-catching that’s a bit different from competing thumbnails.
2. The Emotional Laser (Background + Face Reacting)
One increasingly popular style of YouTube thumbnail is what we’re going to call the ‘Emotional Laser’. It’s bright (like, blindingly bright), it communicates a clear feeling, and it creates high expectations for how exciting the video’s content is going to be.
The three main elements of the Emotional Laser thumbnail are a background (usually bright), your face on the right wearing an over-pronounced expression, and either the thing your expression is in reaction to (i.e. food, a product, the topic of your video in text) or reinforcement of your emotion (i.e an emoji or question marks) on the left.
#1. Ham It Up (Take Your Reaction Photo)
Take a high-quality photograph of yourself conveying strong emotion. Generally, you want to look extremely excited, disgusted, angry, or shocked depending on the theme of the video.
If there’s an object you want to include in your thumbnail, like a product you’ll be talking about, then it’s a good idea to hold it for this photo. Hold it to one side of your head, turn towards it slightly (but not so much that the camera can only see the side of your face) and put on the expression that’s supposed to be a reaction to the object.
It can be a good idea to take this photo in front of a solid color so you can remove the background easily with chroma key.
#2. Choose Your Background
Your background might be scenery, a solid color, or even the room you filmed the video in. Light or bright colors are popular. Make sure there’s nothing that will distract from your expression. If your background is a room, or anything else where there could be things like pictures hanging, you may want to add a blur effect in the next step.
#3. Put It Together
In your thumbnail maker or a program like Photoshop, you’ll need to put your photo and your background together. This will work differently depending on what program you use. If your program has a chroma key tool and your reaction photo was taken against a solid color then you can make that solid color transparent.
What if I don’t have a separate background? If you don’t have a background you want to use, but you still want your reaction to stand out the same way it would if you did, then you can use your photo editor’s blur tool to turn the normal background of your photo into something you can pop-out from.
#4. Add Extras (Text, Emojis, etc.)
If instead of an object you plan to fill the other side of your thumbnail with text, question marks, emojis, or some other graphic element then now is the time to add it.
Part 2: How to Upload a YouTube Thumbnail
When you upload a new video to YouTube, you will see a Custom thumbnail option under Video thumbnails after your upload is complete.
If you want to add a custom thumbnail to a video that’s already up, that’s easy too.
- Go to your Video Manager in the Creator Studio.
- Find the video you want to change the thumbnail for and click Edit next to it.
- Click Custom thumbnail on the right of the preview screen.
- Upload your thumbnail and click Save changes.
Remember when you’re uploading custom thumbnails that you need to use a .JPG, .GIF, .BMP, or .PNG image with an aspect ratio of 16:9 and that your file size has to be under 2MB.
YouTube recommends that thumbnail images have a resolution of 1280x720px, and you cannot upload an image with a width of less than 640 pixels.
Make sure that all of your thumbnails adhere to YouTube’s Community guidelines. Anything sexually suggestive, violent, or otherwise graphic could result in your video being age-restricted.
Part 3: YouTube Thumbnail Makers
You don’t have to go out and buy a photo editor like Photoshop to make custom video thumbnails (although it’s a good thing to use if you already have it). Here are two free online programs you can use instead:
Canva is an intuitive option with templates for Thumbnails, Channel Art, and other social media graphics. There are stock photos and graphics provided, but not all of them are free (paid options cost $1 each). Canva’s templates do tend to include paid resources, so you may want to use them mostly for their layouts or as inspiration and replace everything they provide with your own images.
Generally, using Canva is as easy as dragging and dropping things where you want them. You’ll be able to set the dimensions for your project so the image you export is a perfect size. Adding text and changing the size, font, or color is easy too.
Adobe Spark also has templates for channel art, and it’s also very easy to use. The first time you use it helpful notes will pop up to guide you through the process. Using templates is especially simple because you just click on the elements in the pre-made thumbnail and replace them with your own photos/text.
You can make changes to the colors in your Spark thumbnail easily by selecting a new color scheme or filter. You can even toggle through layouts easily. When you choose a new layout, Spark will rearrange all the pieces of your current thumbnail to align with the new layout so you can quickly see what it looks like instead of having to rebuild.
Click to check more YouTube thumbnail makers
Part 4: How to Make Thumbnails That Get Clicks (Without Clickbait!)
Here are the top 10 best practices for creating effective YouTube thumbnails:
#1. Show What Your Video Is About
Being mysterious and clickbaity can get you views, if you’re already big. For small YouTubers, it pays off to be clear about your video’s topic. You want people to click who want to watch the actual content of your video. Even if you manage to get some clicks by being mysterious, you’ll probably end up with low viewer retention because people are clicking away when they realize your video isn’t what they were looking for. That will make YouTube’s algorithm rank your video lower, and then even fewer people will find it.
If your video is a product review, show the product in the thumbnail and maybe even write ‘review’ on it. If your video is a makeup tutorial, show your face with the finished makeup and maybe even include pictures of the products you used. People want to know what they’re clicking on before they click.
#2. Use a Consistent Layout
As you grow, you’ll want people to be able to see one of your thumbnails and instantly know it’s yours. Building a recognizable brand is about consistency. Try to stick with one basic layout for all of your videos. You can still customize every individual thumbnail by using different facial expressions and different graphics, but try to use similar backgrounds, fonts, and general layouts (i.e. you to the right of the thumbnails, text to the left) over and over.
#3. Use Your Face
Why should people want to watch your videos? If the answer is ‘because I can teach them to create delicious food’ or ‘because they want to learn about the latest iPhone’ then your thumbnail should include that food or that iPhone.
If part of the reason people want to watch your videos is you – your personality and your sense of humor – then you should be in your thumbnail.
Viewers who are on YouTube because they like seeing a creator’s personality like to feel the presence of that personality in the video thumbnail, and eye contact naturally draws attention and clicks.
#4. Add Small Graphics
Adding small graphics, like emojis or hearts, to your thumbnail can help you stand out in a couple different ways. First, if they’re being compared to thumbnails that are just screenshots from the video, your thumbnails will look a lot more polished. Second, they’ll add a splash of color which can draw eyes to your video in a search where other thumbnails are not using those same colors.
#5. Your Text Should Be Huge
Your thumbnail will end up being a fraction of the size it is while you’re creating it in your thumbnail maker, and that means that any text you use will end up being shrunk down. You could probably type a six-word sentence in a size 18 font and have it look fine while you’re making your thumbnail, but after you upload it there’s no way people will be able to read it at a glance.
Aim for a huge font size, and 3 words or less (so your thumbnail doesn’t end up looking crowded).
#6. Check Out The Competition
Type your video’s title or topic into the search engine on YouTube and look at the thumbnails for the videos that come up. These are your competition. You want to make a thumbnail that is similar enough to what comes up that viewers know it’s on the same topic, but different enough that it stands out.
Generally, if most of the thumbnails have the same layout, you’ll want to mimic that layout. Where you can break from the crowd is in the colors, fonts, and graphics you use.
Part 5: Animated YouTube Thumbnails
Whether or not you upload a custom thumbnail to YouTube, YouTube’s A.I will choose what it thinks are the 3 juiciest seconds of your video (you cannot choose for yourself) and play them as a GIF-like animation when people mouseover your video thumbnails.
As of now, this only works in the Google Chrome desktop browser. Videos have to be at least 30 seconds long to get moving thumbnails.
Alright, now that you know everything about YouTube thumbnails, go make one! Tell us in the comments what you’re going to do to make your video thumbnails stand out.
Touch Up YouTube Videos with Effects & Elements in Filmora
As one of the most widely used video editing software in YouTube video editing, Filmora provides lots of templates and effects with an intuitive interface. Download the free trial version and get started now.
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions
Search for any topic on YouTube and you’ll find thousands of videos. How do you decide which of them to watch? Thumbnails play a major role in what viewers decide to click on. They’re often more important than video titles.
Viewers click on thumbnails that both standout and feel relevant to their search. Your task when it comes to creating YouTube thumbnails is to make something that does both of those things while also maintaining your personal style.
- How to Make a YouTube Thumbnail
- How to Upload a YouTube Thumbnail
- YouTube Thumbnail Makers
- How to Make Thumbnails that Get Clicks (Without Clickbait!)
- Animated YouTube Thumbnails
Part 1: How to Make a YouTube Thumbnail
In order to create a custom video thumbnail, you’ll need a program to put it together in. You can use an image editing program like Photoshop if you have one, but if you don’t you can check out these free thumbnail makers.
Here are some examples of popular thumbnail styles.
1. The Classic Thumbnail (Photo or Screenshot)
A photo that shows what happens in your video – whether that means the finished ‘look’ from your makeup tutorial or you posing in front of the landmark you shot your travel vlog in front of – is a great way to let viewers know what to expect. While curiosity can be a big motive behind clicking on a video thumbnail (or anything online), when people have searched for a specific topic they want to be convinced that your video has what they’re looking for.
#1. Choose Your Photo
To start off, either choose a still frame from your video or take a photograph while you’re still set up from your video. A separate photograph is usually a better idea because your video editor might not be able to export a high-quality snapshot, and also because you’re able to choose your facial expression.
Aim to make this shot a close-up or medium close-up and make sure you’re either in the center of the screen or off to one side, as per the ‘rule of thirds’. Many cameras allow you to bring an optional grid up onto your viewfinder. This will divide your screen into three equal segments both vertically and horizontally. Try to make sure your eyes line up with the top line, and if you’re going to be off to one side then make sure you’re on one of the vertical lines. This will ensure your image is visually appealing.
If you want to add text later, it’s a good idea to be off to one side.
Including your face is important for most types of YouTube videos. People are attracted to eye contact and are more likely to click on thumbnails that feature a face. Gamers might choose to use a picture of a video game character instead and it will have the same effect.
Some situations where it isn’t essential to include your face include tech reviews, where viewers will be more interested in seeing the product, and cooking videos where people are looking to be tempted by a yummy food pic.
#2. Add Text and/or Images
This part isn’t essential – in some cases, a photo is enough – but a lot of the thumbnails for the videos ranked highest in YouTube’s search results include either a couple of words of text, a simple graphic (i.e. an emoji), or both.
In some cases you might use text to make it clear what type of video you’ve made, i.e. ‘review’ or ‘tutorial’. It’s best to keep any text you use brief, but you could get a bit more descriptive and write something like ‘fall makeup tutorial’. Three words is probably the most you can get away with. Remember that your text will be shrunk down with the rest of your image; you need to make it big enough to read easily once it’s shrunk, and that means you don’t have a ton of room for text.
You should also avoid fonts that are harder to read. Fonts with a lot of curves can be harder to read, and you want to make sure you choose a color that stands out from your background. Yellow might work against black, but it probably won’t work against the beige wall of your sunny bedroom. Sans serif fonts tend to be best.
Another tactic used in successful thumbnails is to add small graphics, like emojis or small images (i.e. pumpkins for a Halloween video), which are related to your video’s content. As with text, you don’t want to overload your thumbnail with images, but they’re a great way to add something eye-catching that’s a bit different from competing thumbnails.
2. The Emotional Laser (Background + Face Reacting)
One increasingly popular style of YouTube thumbnail is what we’re going to call the ‘Emotional Laser’. It’s bright (like, blindingly bright), it communicates a clear feeling, and it creates high expectations for how exciting the video’s content is going to be.
The three main elements of the Emotional Laser thumbnail are a background (usually bright), your face on the right wearing an over-pronounced expression, and either the thing your expression is in reaction to (i.e. food, a product, the topic of your video in text) or reinforcement of your emotion (i.e an emoji or question marks) on the left.
#1. Ham It Up (Take Your Reaction Photo)
Take a high-quality photograph of yourself conveying strong emotion. Generally, you want to look extremely excited, disgusted, angry, or shocked depending on the theme of the video.
If there’s an object you want to include in your thumbnail, like a product you’ll be talking about, then it’s a good idea to hold it for this photo. Hold it to one side of your head, turn towards it slightly (but not so much that the camera can only see the side of your face) and put on the expression that’s supposed to be a reaction to the object.
It can be a good idea to take this photo in front of a solid color so you can remove the background easily with chroma key.
#2. Choose Your Background
Your background might be scenery, a solid color, or even the room you filmed the video in. Light or bright colors are popular. Make sure there’s nothing that will distract from your expression. If your background is a room, or anything else where there could be things like pictures hanging, you may want to add a blur effect in the next step.
#3. Put It Together
In your thumbnail maker or a program like Photoshop, you’ll need to put your photo and your background together. This will work differently depending on what program you use. If your program has a chroma key tool and your reaction photo was taken against a solid color then you can make that solid color transparent.
What if I don’t have a separate background? If you don’t have a background you want to use, but you still want your reaction to stand out the same way it would if you did, then you can use your photo editor’s blur tool to turn the normal background of your photo into something you can pop-out from.
#4. Add Extras (Text, Emojis, etc.)
If instead of an object you plan to fill the other side of your thumbnail with text, question marks, emojis, or some other graphic element then now is the time to add it.
Part 2: How to Upload a YouTube Thumbnail
When you upload a new video to YouTube, you will see a Custom thumbnail option under Video thumbnails after your upload is complete.
If you want to add a custom thumbnail to a video that’s already up, that’s easy too.
- Go to your Video Manager in the Creator Studio.
- Find the video you want to change the thumbnail for and click Edit next to it.
- Click Custom thumbnail on the right of the preview screen.
- Upload your thumbnail and click Save changes.
Remember when you’re uploading custom thumbnails that you need to use a .JPG, .GIF, .BMP, or .PNG image with an aspect ratio of 16:9 and that your file size has to be under 2MB.
YouTube recommends that thumbnail images have a resolution of 1280x720px, and you cannot upload an image with a width of less than 640 pixels.
Make sure that all of your thumbnails adhere to YouTube’s Community guidelines. Anything sexually suggestive, violent, or otherwise graphic could result in your video being age-restricted.
Part 3: YouTube Thumbnail Makers
You don’t have to go out and buy a photo editor like Photoshop to make custom video thumbnails (although it’s a good thing to use if you already have it). Here are two free online programs you can use instead:
Canva is an intuitive option with templates for Thumbnails, Channel Art, and other social media graphics. There are stock photos and graphics provided, but not all of them are free (paid options cost $1 each). Canva’s templates do tend to include paid resources, so you may want to use them mostly for their layouts or as inspiration and replace everything they provide with your own images.
Generally, using Canva is as easy as dragging and dropping things where you want them. You’ll be able to set the dimensions for your project so the image you export is a perfect size. Adding text and changing the size, font, or color is easy too.
Adobe Spark also has templates for channel art, and it’s also very easy to use. The first time you use it helpful notes will pop up to guide you through the process. Using templates is especially simple because you just click on the elements in the pre-made thumbnail and replace them with your own photos/text.
You can make changes to the colors in your Spark thumbnail easily by selecting a new color scheme or filter. You can even toggle through layouts easily. When you choose a new layout, Spark will rearrange all the pieces of your current thumbnail to align with the new layout so you can quickly see what it looks like instead of having to rebuild.
Click to check more YouTube thumbnail makers
Part 4: How to Make Thumbnails That Get Clicks (Without Clickbait!)
Here are the top 10 best practices for creating effective YouTube thumbnails:
#1. Show What Your Video Is About
Being mysterious and clickbaity can get you views, if you’re already big. For small YouTubers, it pays off to be clear about your video’s topic. You want people to click who want to watch the actual content of your video. Even if you manage to get some clicks by being mysterious, you’ll probably end up with low viewer retention because people are clicking away when they realize your video isn’t what they were looking for. That will make YouTube’s algorithm rank your video lower, and then even fewer people will find it.
If your video is a product review, show the product in the thumbnail and maybe even write ‘review’ on it. If your video is a makeup tutorial, show your face with the finished makeup and maybe even include pictures of the products you used. People want to know what they’re clicking on before they click.
#2. Use a Consistent Layout
As you grow, you’ll want people to be able to see one of your thumbnails and instantly know it’s yours. Building a recognizable brand is about consistency. Try to stick with one basic layout for all of your videos. You can still customize every individual thumbnail by using different facial expressions and different graphics, but try to use similar backgrounds, fonts, and general layouts (i.e. you to the right of the thumbnails, text to the left) over and over.
#3. Use Your Face
Why should people want to watch your videos? If the answer is ‘because I can teach them to create delicious food’ or ‘because they want to learn about the latest iPhone’ then your thumbnail should include that food or that iPhone.
If part of the reason people want to watch your videos is you – your personality and your sense of humor – then you should be in your thumbnail.
Viewers who are on YouTube because they like seeing a creator’s personality like to feel the presence of that personality in the video thumbnail, and eye contact naturally draws attention and clicks.
#4. Add Small Graphics
Adding small graphics, like emojis or hearts, to your thumbnail can help you stand out in a couple different ways. First, if they’re being compared to thumbnails that are just screenshots from the video, your thumbnails will look a lot more polished. Second, they’ll add a splash of color which can draw eyes to your video in a search where other thumbnails are not using those same colors.
#5. Your Text Should Be Huge
Your thumbnail will end up being a fraction of the size it is while you’re creating it in your thumbnail maker, and that means that any text you use will end up being shrunk down. You could probably type a six-word sentence in a size 18 font and have it look fine while you’re making your thumbnail, but after you upload it there’s no way people will be able to read it at a glance.
Aim for a huge font size, and 3 words or less (so your thumbnail doesn’t end up looking crowded).
#6. Check Out The Competition
Type your video’s title or topic into the search engine on YouTube and look at the thumbnails for the videos that come up. These are your competition. You want to make a thumbnail that is similar enough to what comes up that viewers know it’s on the same topic, but different enough that it stands out.
Generally, if most of the thumbnails have the same layout, you’ll want to mimic that layout. Where you can break from the crowd is in the colors, fonts, and graphics you use.
Part 5: Animated YouTube Thumbnails
Whether or not you upload a custom thumbnail to YouTube, YouTube’s A.I will choose what it thinks are the 3 juiciest seconds of your video (you cannot choose for yourself) and play them as a GIF-like animation when people mouseover your video thumbnails.
As of now, this only works in the Google Chrome desktop browser. Videos have to be at least 30 seconds long to get moving thumbnails.
Alright, now that you know everything about YouTube thumbnails, go make one! Tell us in the comments what you’re going to do to make your video thumbnails stand out.
Touch Up YouTube Videos with Effects & Elements in Filmora
As one of the most widely used video editing software in YouTube video editing, Filmora provides lots of templates and effects with an intuitive interface. Download the free trial version and get started now.
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions
Search for any topic on YouTube and you’ll find thousands of videos. How do you decide which of them to watch? Thumbnails play a major role in what viewers decide to click on. They’re often more important than video titles.
Viewers click on thumbnails that both standout and feel relevant to their search. Your task when it comes to creating YouTube thumbnails is to make something that does both of those things while also maintaining your personal style.
- How to Make a YouTube Thumbnail
- How to Upload a YouTube Thumbnail
- YouTube Thumbnail Makers
- How to Make Thumbnails that Get Clicks (Without Clickbait!)
- Animated YouTube Thumbnails
Part 1: How to Make a YouTube Thumbnail
In order to create a custom video thumbnail, you’ll need a program to put it together in. You can use an image editing program like Photoshop if you have one, but if you don’t you can check out these free thumbnail makers.
Here are some examples of popular thumbnail styles.
1. The Classic Thumbnail (Photo or Screenshot)
A photo that shows what happens in your video – whether that means the finished ‘look’ from your makeup tutorial or you posing in front of the landmark you shot your travel vlog in front of – is a great way to let viewers know what to expect. While curiosity can be a big motive behind clicking on a video thumbnail (or anything online), when people have searched for a specific topic they want to be convinced that your video has what they’re looking for.
#1. Choose Your Photo
To start off, either choose a still frame from your video or take a photograph while you’re still set up from your video. A separate photograph is usually a better idea because your video editor might not be able to export a high-quality snapshot, and also because you’re able to choose your facial expression.
Aim to make this shot a close-up or medium close-up and make sure you’re either in the center of the screen or off to one side, as per the ‘rule of thirds’. Many cameras allow you to bring an optional grid up onto your viewfinder. This will divide your screen into three equal segments both vertically and horizontally. Try to make sure your eyes line up with the top line, and if you’re going to be off to one side then make sure you’re on one of the vertical lines. This will ensure your image is visually appealing.
If you want to add text later, it’s a good idea to be off to one side.
Including your face is important for most types of YouTube videos. People are attracted to eye contact and are more likely to click on thumbnails that feature a face. Gamers might choose to use a picture of a video game character instead and it will have the same effect.
Some situations where it isn’t essential to include your face include tech reviews, where viewers will be more interested in seeing the product, and cooking videos where people are looking to be tempted by a yummy food pic.
#2. Add Text and/or Images
This part isn’t essential – in some cases, a photo is enough – but a lot of the thumbnails for the videos ranked highest in YouTube’s search results include either a couple of words of text, a simple graphic (i.e. an emoji), or both.
In some cases you might use text to make it clear what type of video you’ve made, i.e. ‘review’ or ‘tutorial’. It’s best to keep any text you use brief, but you could get a bit more descriptive and write something like ‘fall makeup tutorial’. Three words is probably the most you can get away with. Remember that your text will be shrunk down with the rest of your image; you need to make it big enough to read easily once it’s shrunk, and that means you don’t have a ton of room for text.
You should also avoid fonts that are harder to read. Fonts with a lot of curves can be harder to read, and you want to make sure you choose a color that stands out from your background. Yellow might work against black, but it probably won’t work against the beige wall of your sunny bedroom. Sans serif fonts tend to be best.
Another tactic used in successful thumbnails is to add small graphics, like emojis or small images (i.e. pumpkins for a Halloween video), which are related to your video’s content. As with text, you don’t want to overload your thumbnail with images, but they’re a great way to add something eye-catching that’s a bit different from competing thumbnails.
2. The Emotional Laser (Background + Face Reacting)
One increasingly popular style of YouTube thumbnail is what we’re going to call the ‘Emotional Laser’. It’s bright (like, blindingly bright), it communicates a clear feeling, and it creates high expectations for how exciting the video’s content is going to be.
The three main elements of the Emotional Laser thumbnail are a background (usually bright), your face on the right wearing an over-pronounced expression, and either the thing your expression is in reaction to (i.e. food, a product, the topic of your video in text) or reinforcement of your emotion (i.e an emoji or question marks) on the left.
#1. Ham It Up (Take Your Reaction Photo)
Take a high-quality photograph of yourself conveying strong emotion. Generally, you want to look extremely excited, disgusted, angry, or shocked depending on the theme of the video.
If there’s an object you want to include in your thumbnail, like a product you’ll be talking about, then it’s a good idea to hold it for this photo. Hold it to one side of your head, turn towards it slightly (but not so much that the camera can only see the side of your face) and put on the expression that’s supposed to be a reaction to the object.
It can be a good idea to take this photo in front of a solid color so you can remove the background easily with chroma key.
#2. Choose Your Background
Your background might be scenery, a solid color, or even the room you filmed the video in. Light or bright colors are popular. Make sure there’s nothing that will distract from your expression. If your background is a room, or anything else where there could be things like pictures hanging, you may want to add a blur effect in the next step.
#3. Put It Together
In your thumbnail maker or a program like Photoshop, you’ll need to put your photo and your background together. This will work differently depending on what program you use. If your program has a chroma key tool and your reaction photo was taken against a solid color then you can make that solid color transparent.
What if I don’t have a separate background? If you don’t have a background you want to use, but you still want your reaction to stand out the same way it would if you did, then you can use your photo editor’s blur tool to turn the normal background of your photo into something you can pop-out from.
#4. Add Extras (Text, Emojis, etc.)
If instead of an object you plan to fill the other side of your thumbnail with text, question marks, emojis, or some other graphic element then now is the time to add it.
Part 2: How to Upload a YouTube Thumbnail
When you upload a new video to YouTube, you will see a Custom thumbnail option under Video thumbnails after your upload is complete.
If you want to add a custom thumbnail to a video that’s already up, that’s easy too.
- Go to your Video Manager in the Creator Studio.
- Find the video you want to change the thumbnail for and click Edit next to it.
- Click Custom thumbnail on the right of the preview screen.
- Upload your thumbnail and click Save changes.
Remember when you’re uploading custom thumbnails that you need to use a .JPG, .GIF, .BMP, or .PNG image with an aspect ratio of 16:9 and that your file size has to be under 2MB.
YouTube recommends that thumbnail images have a resolution of 1280x720px, and you cannot upload an image with a width of less than 640 pixels.
Make sure that all of your thumbnails adhere to YouTube’s Community guidelines. Anything sexually suggestive, violent, or otherwise graphic could result in your video being age-restricted.
Part 3: YouTube Thumbnail Makers
You don’t have to go out and buy a photo editor like Photoshop to make custom video thumbnails (although it’s a good thing to use if you already have it). Here are two free online programs you can use instead:
Canva is an intuitive option with templates for Thumbnails, Channel Art, and other social media graphics. There are stock photos and graphics provided, but not all of them are free (paid options cost $1 each). Canva’s templates do tend to include paid resources, so you may want to use them mostly for their layouts or as inspiration and replace everything they provide with your own images.
Generally, using Canva is as easy as dragging and dropping things where you want them. You’ll be able to set the dimensions for your project so the image you export is a perfect size. Adding text and changing the size, font, or color is easy too.
Adobe Spark also has templates for channel art, and it’s also very easy to use. The first time you use it helpful notes will pop up to guide you through the process. Using templates is especially simple because you just click on the elements in the pre-made thumbnail and replace them with your own photos/text.
You can make changes to the colors in your Spark thumbnail easily by selecting a new color scheme or filter. You can even toggle through layouts easily. When you choose a new layout, Spark will rearrange all the pieces of your current thumbnail to align with the new layout so you can quickly see what it looks like instead of having to rebuild.
Click to check more YouTube thumbnail makers
Part 4: How to Make Thumbnails That Get Clicks (Without Clickbait!)
Here are the top 10 best practices for creating effective YouTube thumbnails:
#1. Show What Your Video Is About
Being mysterious and clickbaity can get you views, if you’re already big. For small YouTubers, it pays off to be clear about your video’s topic. You want people to click who want to watch the actual content of your video. Even if you manage to get some clicks by being mysterious, you’ll probably end up with low viewer retention because people are clicking away when they realize your video isn’t what they were looking for. That will make YouTube’s algorithm rank your video lower, and then even fewer people will find it.
If your video is a product review, show the product in the thumbnail and maybe even write ‘review’ on it. If your video is a makeup tutorial, show your face with the finished makeup and maybe even include pictures of the products you used. People want to know what they’re clicking on before they click.
#2. Use a Consistent Layout
As you grow, you’ll want people to be able to see one of your thumbnails and instantly know it’s yours. Building a recognizable brand is about consistency. Try to stick with one basic layout for all of your videos. You can still customize every individual thumbnail by using different facial expressions and different graphics, but try to use similar backgrounds, fonts, and general layouts (i.e. you to the right of the thumbnails, text to the left) over and over.
#3. Use Your Face
Why should people want to watch your videos? If the answer is ‘because I can teach them to create delicious food’ or ‘because they want to learn about the latest iPhone’ then your thumbnail should include that food or that iPhone.
If part of the reason people want to watch your videos is you – your personality and your sense of humor – then you should be in your thumbnail.
Viewers who are on YouTube because they like seeing a creator’s personality like to feel the presence of that personality in the video thumbnail, and eye contact naturally draws attention and clicks.
#4. Add Small Graphics
Adding small graphics, like emojis or hearts, to your thumbnail can help you stand out in a couple different ways. First, if they’re being compared to thumbnails that are just screenshots from the video, your thumbnails will look a lot more polished. Second, they’ll add a splash of color which can draw eyes to your video in a search where other thumbnails are not using those same colors.
#5. Your Text Should Be Huge
Your thumbnail will end up being a fraction of the size it is while you’re creating it in your thumbnail maker, and that means that any text you use will end up being shrunk down. You could probably type a six-word sentence in a size 18 font and have it look fine while you’re making your thumbnail, but after you upload it there’s no way people will be able to read it at a glance.
Aim for a huge font size, and 3 words or less (so your thumbnail doesn’t end up looking crowded).
#6. Check Out The Competition
Type your video’s title or topic into the search engine on YouTube and look at the thumbnails for the videos that come up. These are your competition. You want to make a thumbnail that is similar enough to what comes up that viewers know it’s on the same topic, but different enough that it stands out.
Generally, if most of the thumbnails have the same layout, you’ll want to mimic that layout. Where you can break from the crowd is in the colors, fonts, and graphics you use.
Part 5: Animated YouTube Thumbnails
Whether or not you upload a custom thumbnail to YouTube, YouTube’s A.I will choose what it thinks are the 3 juiciest seconds of your video (you cannot choose for yourself) and play them as a GIF-like animation when people mouseover your video thumbnails.
As of now, this only works in the Google Chrome desktop browser. Videos have to be at least 30 seconds long to get moving thumbnails.
Alright, now that you know everything about YouTube thumbnails, go make one! Tell us in the comments what you’re going to do to make your video thumbnails stand out.
Touch Up YouTube Videos with Effects & Elements in Filmora
As one of the most widely used video editing software in YouTube video editing, Filmora provides lots of templates and effects with an intuitive interface. Download the free trial version and get started now.
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions
Search for any topic on YouTube and you’ll find thousands of videos. How do you decide which of them to watch? Thumbnails play a major role in what viewers decide to click on. They’re often more important than video titles.
Viewers click on thumbnails that both standout and feel relevant to their search. Your task when it comes to creating YouTube thumbnails is to make something that does both of those things while also maintaining your personal style.
- How to Make a YouTube Thumbnail
- How to Upload a YouTube Thumbnail
- YouTube Thumbnail Makers
- How to Make Thumbnails that Get Clicks (Without Clickbait!)
- Animated YouTube Thumbnails
Part 1: How to Make a YouTube Thumbnail
In order to create a custom video thumbnail, you’ll need a program to put it together in. You can use an image editing program like Photoshop if you have one, but if you don’t you can check out these free thumbnail makers.
Here are some examples of popular thumbnail styles.
1. The Classic Thumbnail (Photo or Screenshot)
A photo that shows what happens in your video – whether that means the finished ‘look’ from your makeup tutorial or you posing in front of the landmark you shot your travel vlog in front of – is a great way to let viewers know what to expect. While curiosity can be a big motive behind clicking on a video thumbnail (or anything online), when people have searched for a specific topic they want to be convinced that your video has what they’re looking for.
#1. Choose Your Photo
To start off, either choose a still frame from your video or take a photograph while you’re still set up from your video. A separate photograph is usually a better idea because your video editor might not be able to export a high-quality snapshot, and also because you’re able to choose your facial expression.
Aim to make this shot a close-up or medium close-up and make sure you’re either in the center of the screen or off to one side, as per the ‘rule of thirds’. Many cameras allow you to bring an optional grid up onto your viewfinder. This will divide your screen into three equal segments both vertically and horizontally. Try to make sure your eyes line up with the top line, and if you’re going to be off to one side then make sure you’re on one of the vertical lines. This will ensure your image is visually appealing.
If you want to add text later, it’s a good idea to be off to one side.
Including your face is important for most types of YouTube videos. People are attracted to eye contact and are more likely to click on thumbnails that feature a face. Gamers might choose to use a picture of a video game character instead and it will have the same effect.
Some situations where it isn’t essential to include your face include tech reviews, where viewers will be more interested in seeing the product, and cooking videos where people are looking to be tempted by a yummy food pic.
#2. Add Text and/or Images
This part isn’t essential – in some cases, a photo is enough – but a lot of the thumbnails for the videos ranked highest in YouTube’s search results include either a couple of words of text, a simple graphic (i.e. an emoji), or both.
In some cases you might use text to make it clear what type of video you’ve made, i.e. ‘review’ or ‘tutorial’. It’s best to keep any text you use brief, but you could get a bit more descriptive and write something like ‘fall makeup tutorial’. Three words is probably the most you can get away with. Remember that your text will be shrunk down with the rest of your image; you need to make it big enough to read easily once it’s shrunk, and that means you don’t have a ton of room for text.
You should also avoid fonts that are harder to read. Fonts with a lot of curves can be harder to read, and you want to make sure you choose a color that stands out from your background. Yellow might work against black, but it probably won’t work against the beige wall of your sunny bedroom. Sans serif fonts tend to be best.
Another tactic used in successful thumbnails is to add small graphics, like emojis or small images (i.e. pumpkins for a Halloween video), which are related to your video’s content. As with text, you don’t want to overload your thumbnail with images, but they’re a great way to add something eye-catching that’s a bit different from competing thumbnails.
2. The Emotional Laser (Background + Face Reacting)
One increasingly popular style of YouTube thumbnail is what we’re going to call the ‘Emotional Laser’. It’s bright (like, blindingly bright), it communicates a clear feeling, and it creates high expectations for how exciting the video’s content is going to be.
The three main elements of the Emotional Laser thumbnail are a background (usually bright), your face on the right wearing an over-pronounced expression, and either the thing your expression is in reaction to (i.e. food, a product, the topic of your video in text) or reinforcement of your emotion (i.e an emoji or question marks) on the left.
#1. Ham It Up (Take Your Reaction Photo)
Take a high-quality photograph of yourself conveying strong emotion. Generally, you want to look extremely excited, disgusted, angry, or shocked depending on the theme of the video.
If there’s an object you want to include in your thumbnail, like a product you’ll be talking about, then it’s a good idea to hold it for this photo. Hold it to one side of your head, turn towards it slightly (but not so much that the camera can only see the side of your face) and put on the expression that’s supposed to be a reaction to the object.
It can be a good idea to take this photo in front of a solid color so you can remove the background easily with chroma key.
#2. Choose Your Background
Your background might be scenery, a solid color, or even the room you filmed the video in. Light or bright colors are popular. Make sure there’s nothing that will distract from your expression. If your background is a room, or anything else where there could be things like pictures hanging, you may want to add a blur effect in the next step.
#3. Put It Together
In your thumbnail maker or a program like Photoshop, you’ll need to put your photo and your background together. This will work differently depending on what program you use. If your program has a chroma key tool and your reaction photo was taken against a solid color then you can make that solid color transparent.
What if I don’t have a separate background? If you don’t have a background you want to use, but you still want your reaction to stand out the same way it would if you did, then you can use your photo editor’s blur tool to turn the normal background of your photo into something you can pop-out from.
#4. Add Extras (Text, Emojis, etc.)
If instead of an object you plan to fill the other side of your thumbnail with text, question marks, emojis, or some other graphic element then now is the time to add it.
Part 2: How to Upload a YouTube Thumbnail
When you upload a new video to YouTube, you will see a Custom thumbnail option under Video thumbnails after your upload is complete.
If you want to add a custom thumbnail to a video that’s already up, that’s easy too.
- Go to your Video Manager in the Creator Studio.
- Find the video you want to change the thumbnail for and click Edit next to it.
- Click Custom thumbnail on the right of the preview screen.
- Upload your thumbnail and click Save changes.
Remember when you’re uploading custom thumbnails that you need to use a .JPG, .GIF, .BMP, or .PNG image with an aspect ratio of 16:9 and that your file size has to be under 2MB.
YouTube recommends that thumbnail images have a resolution of 1280x720px, and you cannot upload an image with a width of less than 640 pixels.
Make sure that all of your thumbnails adhere to YouTube’s Community guidelines. Anything sexually suggestive, violent, or otherwise graphic could result in your video being age-restricted.
Part 3: YouTube Thumbnail Makers
You don’t have to go out and buy a photo editor like Photoshop to make custom video thumbnails (although it’s a good thing to use if you already have it). Here are two free online programs you can use instead:
Canva is an intuitive option with templates for Thumbnails, Channel Art, and other social media graphics. There are stock photos and graphics provided, but not all of them are free (paid options cost $1 each). Canva’s templates do tend to include paid resources, so you may want to use them mostly for their layouts or as inspiration and replace everything they provide with your own images.
Generally, using Canva is as easy as dragging and dropping things where you want them. You’ll be able to set the dimensions for your project so the image you export is a perfect size. Adding text and changing the size, font, or color is easy too.
Adobe Spark also has templates for channel art, and it’s also very easy to use. The first time you use it helpful notes will pop up to guide you through the process. Using templates is especially simple because you just click on the elements in the pre-made thumbnail and replace them with your own photos/text.
You can make changes to the colors in your Spark thumbnail easily by selecting a new color scheme or filter. You can even toggle through layouts easily. When you choose a new layout, Spark will rearrange all the pieces of your current thumbnail to align with the new layout so you can quickly see what it looks like instead of having to rebuild.
Click to check more YouTube thumbnail makers
Part 4: How to Make Thumbnails That Get Clicks (Without Clickbait!)
Here are the top 10 best practices for creating effective YouTube thumbnails:
#1. Show What Your Video Is About
Being mysterious and clickbaity can get you views, if you’re already big. For small YouTubers, it pays off to be clear about your video’s topic. You want people to click who want to watch the actual content of your video. Even if you manage to get some clicks by being mysterious, you’ll probably end up with low viewer retention because people are clicking away when they realize your video isn’t what they were looking for. That will make YouTube’s algorithm rank your video lower, and then even fewer people will find it.
If your video is a product review, show the product in the thumbnail and maybe even write ‘review’ on it. If your video is a makeup tutorial, show your face with the finished makeup and maybe even include pictures of the products you used. People want to know what they’re clicking on before they click.
#2. Use a Consistent Layout
As you grow, you’ll want people to be able to see one of your thumbnails and instantly know it’s yours. Building a recognizable brand is about consistency. Try to stick with one basic layout for all of your videos. You can still customize every individual thumbnail by using different facial expressions and different graphics, but try to use similar backgrounds, fonts, and general layouts (i.e. you to the right of the thumbnails, text to the left) over and over.
#3. Use Your Face
Why should people want to watch your videos? If the answer is ‘because I can teach them to create delicious food’ or ‘because they want to learn about the latest iPhone’ then your thumbnail should include that food or that iPhone.
If part of the reason people want to watch your videos is you – your personality and your sense of humor – then you should be in your thumbnail.
Viewers who are on YouTube because they like seeing a creator’s personality like to feel the presence of that personality in the video thumbnail, and eye contact naturally draws attention and clicks.
#4. Add Small Graphics
Adding small graphics, like emojis or hearts, to your thumbnail can help you stand out in a couple different ways. First, if they’re being compared to thumbnails that are just screenshots from the video, your thumbnails will look a lot more polished. Second, they’ll add a splash of color which can draw eyes to your video in a search where other thumbnails are not using those same colors.
#5. Your Text Should Be Huge
Your thumbnail will end up being a fraction of the size it is while you’re creating it in your thumbnail maker, and that means that any text you use will end up being shrunk down. You could probably type a six-word sentence in a size 18 font and have it look fine while you’re making your thumbnail, but after you upload it there’s no way people will be able to read it at a glance.
Aim for a huge font size, and 3 words or less (so your thumbnail doesn’t end up looking crowded).
#6. Check Out The Competition
Type your video’s title or topic into the search engine on YouTube and look at the thumbnails for the videos that come up. These are your competition. You want to make a thumbnail that is similar enough to what comes up that viewers know it’s on the same topic, but different enough that it stands out.
Generally, if most of the thumbnails have the same layout, you’ll want to mimic that layout. Where you can break from the crowd is in the colors, fonts, and graphics you use.
Part 5: Animated YouTube Thumbnails
Whether or not you upload a custom thumbnail to YouTube, YouTube’s A.I will choose what it thinks are the 3 juiciest seconds of your video (you cannot choose for yourself) and play them as a GIF-like animation when people mouseover your video thumbnails.
As of now, this only works in the Google Chrome desktop browser. Videos have to be at least 30 seconds long to get moving thumbnails.
Alright, now that you know everything about YouTube thumbnails, go make one! Tell us in the comments what you’re going to do to make your video thumbnails stand out.
Touch Up YouTube Videos with Effects & Elements in Filmora
As one of the most widely used video editing software in YouTube video editing, Filmora provides lots of templates and effects with an intuitive interface. Download the free trial version and get started now.
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Recruitment Powerhouses - Top Ten Shorts
Get Inspired from Top 10 Recruitment Videos
Liza Brown
Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions
“In recruiting, there are no bad or good experiences, just learning experiences!” – Anonymous
Nowadays, videos are the engaging and most preferred method not to tell, but to show. Yes, we are talking about those awesome recruitment videos. It would be super smart, easy, and memorable to attract new talent via videos. Check any of the recruitment videos, and you can admire how beautiful, informative, and attractive those videos are. A sense of authenticity shows by presenting a genuine understanding of the workplace, the company’s culture, and employees’ perspectives. Even if you want to flaunt employees, there’s no best choice than recruiting videos. Fortunately, all such videos find their posting place on YouTube, the most viewed social media. It is excellent for effective targeting.
Want to know more about recruitment videos? Dive into the article until the end, as we have discussed various other interesting aspects related to the concept. Let’s start by discussing the essential elements of 10 inspiring recruiting videos!
- Part 1: Best 10 Recruitment Videos
- Part 2: Tips for Creating Awesome Recruitment Videos after Covid-19
Best 10 Recruitment Videos
Here’s a rundown of our shortlisted ones in no particular order.
1. GrubHub
As we all know that food is the only way to live! Well, creative cooking is more of a thing, especially when combined with the company’s mission. The company asks, “What do you bring to the table?” as the most critical question in the employees’ interview. It opens up the company and employees’ opportunity to share their team contribution and fulfill the company’s goals.
2. Bluecore
The solution to a successful career is a better team collaboration and the ability to own projects independently. It’s a recruitment video with a super-attractive intro line that says, ‘Bluecore is the twistiest, trendiest, the best ride you will take in your career.’ Then, it covers all the required information that a candidate looks for in a company. It beautifully shows all the values and mission backed by employee testimonials.
3. HubSpot
HubSpot is a developer and marketer of high-quality software products for ultimate sale and inbound marketing. Their so-called ‘Culture Code’ is represented in the recruitment video. The dominant cultural and organizational environment is what they want to show, no matter what. There is a ‘no-door’ policy where nobody, even the executives, has no office. They have also stated the employees’ perks and unlimited vacation days.
4. Listrak
Listrak is a retail digital marketing automation platform for various DM services. They made a kind of cool recruitment video showing the busy, creative, and desired work environment. The video itself shows the company values and overall work environment, from feeling to eating as well. After watching the footage, everyone would love to feel refreshed. It looks like more of a next-level experience to work at Listrak.
5. Hillsboro Police
Would you love to see entertaining and quirky videos? Here’s a fascinating recruiting video by Hillsboro Police. It works well because it is an over-the-top and incredible video from a police department. The funny and downright element helps to check the insights of the police force more closely. Well, Hillsboro is one of the best among unique companies located in Hillsboro, Oregon.
6. Enova
Enova’s recruitment video presents all those candidates who would love to hear from a company. It further encourages employees to explore various support systems and interests in the evolving career path. The testimonials also shared for employees are with multiple roles and benefits in the company. The so-called team integration and collaborative work environment are well visible through Enova.
7. HomeAway
Life at HomeAway presents a series of recruitment videos while also showing their boomerang employees. The advantage taken is via sharing their stories and also documenting special events. They have stated their special events such as Movember celebrations, annual Battle of the Bands competition, and Bring your Kids to Work Day, etc. It’s an international company with various branches across the globe. It is the reason they have to make separate interview videos for each office.
8. Outcome Health
The motto ‘Activate Good’ indicates in the “Outcome Health’s” recruitment video. It shares a unique story of a passionate employee about giving back and providing opportunities to excel in their career path. No matter what your interest is, the Outcome Health will let you know how to achieve those dreams by positively incorporating a health factor into life. It is one of the many stories to help local non-profits and employees’ partners give something valuable to the community.
9. Trendkite
The video title is quite refreshing that says, ‘Inside Look at Trendkite’s Culture.’ It boasts a lot of enticing and funny benefits such as free food, hoverboards, and energetic, passionate, and initiative takers as a hiring team. They effectively balance the work environment and fun with colleagues in the workspace. They have also stated their core value as ‘One-Team,’ celebrating both team and individual wins no matter how versatile.
10. Quirky
The interns at Quirky have many other responsibilities than just filing papers and getting coffee out from there. The video specifies all the departmental kind of information and internship candidates you should hire. This recruitment video also encourages submitting video interview and further provides specific instructions on application submission. It shows the most lovely internship environment every intern would ever want.
Tips for Creating Awesome Recruitment Videos after Covid-19
It looks like that Covid-19 has changed the face of recruitment overnight. Due to uncertainty in every industry, the effect on recruitment would be no different. The pandemic has shifted a significant workforce in the specific ways that we haven’t anticipated. The recommended solution to social distancing places every work environment either at home or in a remote area. Companies are being encouraged to make recruitment videos and post them online. It also speeds up the hiring time while also giving the option of video interviewing.
Let’s learn some useful tips by which your recruitment videos stand out.
Include only the right people
Showing just the CEO or Founder of the company will not be helpful to make an awesome recruitment video. That’s not the ideal presentation of experience for the candidates. Show them what they want to see, including the employees and overall work environment.
Make multiple videos and keep them brief
You must make small video shots and then combine them with competent video editing software . It would be great to make little videos targeting various kinds of audiences. The next tip is to keep the overall recruitment video short between 2 to 4 minutes only.
Use an excellent video editor
Simply creating a video is not enough unless you know to edit it correctly. We recommend Wondershare Fimora9 video editor for beautiful editing features. It consists of lots of new functions, including advanced editing options as well. None of the recruitment videos is posted online without editing.
Include a CTA (Call to Action)
Don’t make a video like a lost opportunity. Instead, you should make it a grabbing chance. Have some call-to-action directing a viewer to somewhere valuable. You can even put a link to a landing page on the career site of the company.
Extensively promote
Use various kinds of promotion tools and platforms to publish your videos. You can post them on Facebook, YouTube, and well-recognized promotion platforms and attract talented clients. Include the link of those videos in each of your job descriptions. Additionally, you can share such videos with Linkedin and Glassdoor.
Include the necessary information
Apart from presenting just the physical environment, you must also share the necessary information for the company. Sometimes, the creator forgets to state the required information in the desire for complicated info. But that’s not the solution if you have missed the basics.
Conclusion
So, this is all about inspiring recruitment videos! We have included all the required information on the concept and the best ten recruiting videos. Reading the post would also help you make amazing recruiting videos that stand out and prove to be action-oriented.
Liza Brown
Liza Brown is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Liza Brown
Liza Brown
Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions
“In recruiting, there are no bad or good experiences, just learning experiences!” – Anonymous
Nowadays, videos are the engaging and most preferred method not to tell, but to show. Yes, we are talking about those awesome recruitment videos. It would be super smart, easy, and memorable to attract new talent via videos. Check any of the recruitment videos, and you can admire how beautiful, informative, and attractive those videos are. A sense of authenticity shows by presenting a genuine understanding of the workplace, the company’s culture, and employees’ perspectives. Even if you want to flaunt employees, there’s no best choice than recruiting videos. Fortunately, all such videos find their posting place on YouTube, the most viewed social media. It is excellent for effective targeting.
Want to know more about recruitment videos? Dive into the article until the end, as we have discussed various other interesting aspects related to the concept. Let’s start by discussing the essential elements of 10 inspiring recruiting videos!
- Part 1: Best 10 Recruitment Videos
- Part 2: Tips for Creating Awesome Recruitment Videos after Covid-19
Best 10 Recruitment Videos
Here’s a rundown of our shortlisted ones in no particular order.
1. GrubHub
As we all know that food is the only way to live! Well, creative cooking is more of a thing, especially when combined with the company’s mission. The company asks, “What do you bring to the table?” as the most critical question in the employees’ interview. It opens up the company and employees’ opportunity to share their team contribution and fulfill the company’s goals.
2. Bluecore
The solution to a successful career is a better team collaboration and the ability to own projects independently. It’s a recruitment video with a super-attractive intro line that says, ‘Bluecore is the twistiest, trendiest, the best ride you will take in your career.’ Then, it covers all the required information that a candidate looks for in a company. It beautifully shows all the values and mission backed by employee testimonials.
3. HubSpot
HubSpot is a developer and marketer of high-quality software products for ultimate sale and inbound marketing. Their so-called ‘Culture Code’ is represented in the recruitment video. The dominant cultural and organizational environment is what they want to show, no matter what. There is a ‘no-door’ policy where nobody, even the executives, has no office. They have also stated the employees’ perks and unlimited vacation days.
4. Listrak
Listrak is a retail digital marketing automation platform for various DM services. They made a kind of cool recruitment video showing the busy, creative, and desired work environment. The video itself shows the company values and overall work environment, from feeling to eating as well. After watching the footage, everyone would love to feel refreshed. It looks like more of a next-level experience to work at Listrak.
5. Hillsboro Police
Would you love to see entertaining and quirky videos? Here’s a fascinating recruiting video by Hillsboro Police. It works well because it is an over-the-top and incredible video from a police department. The funny and downright element helps to check the insights of the police force more closely. Well, Hillsboro is one of the best among unique companies located in Hillsboro, Oregon.
6. Enova
Enova’s recruitment video presents all those candidates who would love to hear from a company. It further encourages employees to explore various support systems and interests in the evolving career path. The testimonials also shared for employees are with multiple roles and benefits in the company. The so-called team integration and collaborative work environment are well visible through Enova.
7. HomeAway
Life at HomeAway presents a series of recruitment videos while also showing their boomerang employees. The advantage taken is via sharing their stories and also documenting special events. They have stated their special events such as Movember celebrations, annual Battle of the Bands competition, and Bring your Kids to Work Day, etc. It’s an international company with various branches across the globe. It is the reason they have to make separate interview videos for each office.
8. Outcome Health
The motto ‘Activate Good’ indicates in the “Outcome Health’s” recruitment video. It shares a unique story of a passionate employee about giving back and providing opportunities to excel in their career path. No matter what your interest is, the Outcome Health will let you know how to achieve those dreams by positively incorporating a health factor into life. It is one of the many stories to help local non-profits and employees’ partners give something valuable to the community.
9. Trendkite
The video title is quite refreshing that says, ‘Inside Look at Trendkite’s Culture.’ It boasts a lot of enticing and funny benefits such as free food, hoverboards, and energetic, passionate, and initiative takers as a hiring team. They effectively balance the work environment and fun with colleagues in the workspace. They have also stated their core value as ‘One-Team,’ celebrating both team and individual wins no matter how versatile.
10. Quirky
The interns at Quirky have many other responsibilities than just filing papers and getting coffee out from there. The video specifies all the departmental kind of information and internship candidates you should hire. This recruitment video also encourages submitting video interview and further provides specific instructions on application submission. It shows the most lovely internship environment every intern would ever want.
Tips for Creating Awesome Recruitment Videos after Covid-19
It looks like that Covid-19 has changed the face of recruitment overnight. Due to uncertainty in every industry, the effect on recruitment would be no different. The pandemic has shifted a significant workforce in the specific ways that we haven’t anticipated. The recommended solution to social distancing places every work environment either at home or in a remote area. Companies are being encouraged to make recruitment videos and post them online. It also speeds up the hiring time while also giving the option of video interviewing.
Let’s learn some useful tips by which your recruitment videos stand out.
Include only the right people
Showing just the CEO or Founder of the company will not be helpful to make an awesome recruitment video. That’s not the ideal presentation of experience for the candidates. Show them what they want to see, including the employees and overall work environment.
Make multiple videos and keep them brief
You must make small video shots and then combine them with competent video editing software . It would be great to make little videos targeting various kinds of audiences. The next tip is to keep the overall recruitment video short between 2 to 4 minutes only.
Use an excellent video editor
Simply creating a video is not enough unless you know to edit it correctly. We recommend Wondershare Fimora9 video editor for beautiful editing features. It consists of lots of new functions, including advanced editing options as well. None of the recruitment videos is posted online without editing.
Include a CTA (Call to Action)
Don’t make a video like a lost opportunity. Instead, you should make it a grabbing chance. Have some call-to-action directing a viewer to somewhere valuable. You can even put a link to a landing page on the career site of the company.
Extensively promote
Use various kinds of promotion tools and platforms to publish your videos. You can post them on Facebook, YouTube, and well-recognized promotion platforms and attract talented clients. Include the link of those videos in each of your job descriptions. Additionally, you can share such videos with Linkedin and Glassdoor.
Include the necessary information
Apart from presenting just the physical environment, you must also share the necessary information for the company. Sometimes, the creator forgets to state the required information in the desire for complicated info. But that’s not the solution if you have missed the basics.
Conclusion
So, this is all about inspiring recruitment videos! We have included all the required information on the concept and the best ten recruiting videos. Reading the post would also help you make amazing recruiting videos that stand out and prove to be action-oriented.
Liza Brown
Liza Brown is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Liza Brown
Liza Brown
Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions
“In recruiting, there are no bad or good experiences, just learning experiences!” – Anonymous
Nowadays, videos are the engaging and most preferred method not to tell, but to show. Yes, we are talking about those awesome recruitment videos. It would be super smart, easy, and memorable to attract new talent via videos. Check any of the recruitment videos, and you can admire how beautiful, informative, and attractive those videos are. A sense of authenticity shows by presenting a genuine understanding of the workplace, the company’s culture, and employees’ perspectives. Even if you want to flaunt employees, there’s no best choice than recruiting videos. Fortunately, all such videos find their posting place on YouTube, the most viewed social media. It is excellent for effective targeting.
Want to know more about recruitment videos? Dive into the article until the end, as we have discussed various other interesting aspects related to the concept. Let’s start by discussing the essential elements of 10 inspiring recruiting videos!
- Part 1: Best 10 Recruitment Videos
- Part 2: Tips for Creating Awesome Recruitment Videos after Covid-19
Best 10 Recruitment Videos
Here’s a rundown of our shortlisted ones in no particular order.
1. GrubHub
As we all know that food is the only way to live! Well, creative cooking is more of a thing, especially when combined with the company’s mission. The company asks, “What do you bring to the table?” as the most critical question in the employees’ interview. It opens up the company and employees’ opportunity to share their team contribution and fulfill the company’s goals.
2. Bluecore
The solution to a successful career is a better team collaboration and the ability to own projects independently. It’s a recruitment video with a super-attractive intro line that says, ‘Bluecore is the twistiest, trendiest, the best ride you will take in your career.’ Then, it covers all the required information that a candidate looks for in a company. It beautifully shows all the values and mission backed by employee testimonials.
3. HubSpot
HubSpot is a developer and marketer of high-quality software products for ultimate sale and inbound marketing. Their so-called ‘Culture Code’ is represented in the recruitment video. The dominant cultural and organizational environment is what they want to show, no matter what. There is a ‘no-door’ policy where nobody, even the executives, has no office. They have also stated the employees’ perks and unlimited vacation days.
4. Listrak
Listrak is a retail digital marketing automation platform for various DM services. They made a kind of cool recruitment video showing the busy, creative, and desired work environment. The video itself shows the company values and overall work environment, from feeling to eating as well. After watching the footage, everyone would love to feel refreshed. It looks like more of a next-level experience to work at Listrak.
5. Hillsboro Police
Would you love to see entertaining and quirky videos? Here’s a fascinating recruiting video by Hillsboro Police. It works well because it is an over-the-top and incredible video from a police department. The funny and downright element helps to check the insights of the police force more closely. Well, Hillsboro is one of the best among unique companies located in Hillsboro, Oregon.
6. Enova
Enova’s recruitment video presents all those candidates who would love to hear from a company. It further encourages employees to explore various support systems and interests in the evolving career path. The testimonials also shared for employees are with multiple roles and benefits in the company. The so-called team integration and collaborative work environment are well visible through Enova.
7. HomeAway
Life at HomeAway presents a series of recruitment videos while also showing their boomerang employees. The advantage taken is via sharing their stories and also documenting special events. They have stated their special events such as Movember celebrations, annual Battle of the Bands competition, and Bring your Kids to Work Day, etc. It’s an international company with various branches across the globe. It is the reason they have to make separate interview videos for each office.
8. Outcome Health
The motto ‘Activate Good’ indicates in the “Outcome Health’s” recruitment video. It shares a unique story of a passionate employee about giving back and providing opportunities to excel in their career path. No matter what your interest is, the Outcome Health will let you know how to achieve those dreams by positively incorporating a health factor into life. It is one of the many stories to help local non-profits and employees’ partners give something valuable to the community.
9. Trendkite
The video title is quite refreshing that says, ‘Inside Look at Trendkite’s Culture.’ It boasts a lot of enticing and funny benefits such as free food, hoverboards, and energetic, passionate, and initiative takers as a hiring team. They effectively balance the work environment and fun with colleagues in the workspace. They have also stated their core value as ‘One-Team,’ celebrating both team and individual wins no matter how versatile.
10. Quirky
The interns at Quirky have many other responsibilities than just filing papers and getting coffee out from there. The video specifies all the departmental kind of information and internship candidates you should hire. This recruitment video also encourages submitting video interview and further provides specific instructions on application submission. It shows the most lovely internship environment every intern would ever want.
Tips for Creating Awesome Recruitment Videos after Covid-19
It looks like that Covid-19 has changed the face of recruitment overnight. Due to uncertainty in every industry, the effect on recruitment would be no different. The pandemic has shifted a significant workforce in the specific ways that we haven’t anticipated. The recommended solution to social distancing places every work environment either at home or in a remote area. Companies are being encouraged to make recruitment videos and post them online. It also speeds up the hiring time while also giving the option of video interviewing.
Let’s learn some useful tips by which your recruitment videos stand out.
Include only the right people
Showing just the CEO or Founder of the company will not be helpful to make an awesome recruitment video. That’s not the ideal presentation of experience for the candidates. Show them what they want to see, including the employees and overall work environment.
Make multiple videos and keep them brief
You must make small video shots and then combine them with competent video editing software . It would be great to make little videos targeting various kinds of audiences. The next tip is to keep the overall recruitment video short between 2 to 4 minutes only.
Use an excellent video editor
Simply creating a video is not enough unless you know to edit it correctly. We recommend Wondershare Fimora9 video editor for beautiful editing features. It consists of lots of new functions, including advanced editing options as well. None of the recruitment videos is posted online without editing.
Include a CTA (Call to Action)
Don’t make a video like a lost opportunity. Instead, you should make it a grabbing chance. Have some call-to-action directing a viewer to somewhere valuable. You can even put a link to a landing page on the career site of the company.
Extensively promote
Use various kinds of promotion tools and platforms to publish your videos. You can post them on Facebook, YouTube, and well-recognized promotion platforms and attract talented clients. Include the link of those videos in each of your job descriptions. Additionally, you can share such videos with Linkedin and Glassdoor.
Include the necessary information
Apart from presenting just the physical environment, you must also share the necessary information for the company. Sometimes, the creator forgets to state the required information in the desire for complicated info. But that’s not the solution if you have missed the basics.
Conclusion
So, this is all about inspiring recruitment videos! We have included all the required information on the concept and the best ten recruiting videos. Reading the post would also help you make amazing recruiting videos that stand out and prove to be action-oriented.
Liza Brown
Liza Brown is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Liza Brown
Liza Brown
Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions
“In recruiting, there are no bad or good experiences, just learning experiences!” – Anonymous
Nowadays, videos are the engaging and most preferred method not to tell, but to show. Yes, we are talking about those awesome recruitment videos. It would be super smart, easy, and memorable to attract new talent via videos. Check any of the recruitment videos, and you can admire how beautiful, informative, and attractive those videos are. A sense of authenticity shows by presenting a genuine understanding of the workplace, the company’s culture, and employees’ perspectives. Even if you want to flaunt employees, there’s no best choice than recruiting videos. Fortunately, all such videos find their posting place on YouTube, the most viewed social media. It is excellent for effective targeting.
Want to know more about recruitment videos? Dive into the article until the end, as we have discussed various other interesting aspects related to the concept. Let’s start by discussing the essential elements of 10 inspiring recruiting videos!
- Part 1: Best 10 Recruitment Videos
- Part 2: Tips for Creating Awesome Recruitment Videos after Covid-19
Best 10 Recruitment Videos
Here’s a rundown of our shortlisted ones in no particular order.
1. GrubHub
As we all know that food is the only way to live! Well, creative cooking is more of a thing, especially when combined with the company’s mission. The company asks, “What do you bring to the table?” as the most critical question in the employees’ interview. It opens up the company and employees’ opportunity to share their team contribution and fulfill the company’s goals.
2. Bluecore
The solution to a successful career is a better team collaboration and the ability to own projects independently. It’s a recruitment video with a super-attractive intro line that says, ‘Bluecore is the twistiest, trendiest, the best ride you will take in your career.’ Then, it covers all the required information that a candidate looks for in a company. It beautifully shows all the values and mission backed by employee testimonials.
3. HubSpot
HubSpot is a developer and marketer of high-quality software products for ultimate sale and inbound marketing. Their so-called ‘Culture Code’ is represented in the recruitment video. The dominant cultural and organizational environment is what they want to show, no matter what. There is a ‘no-door’ policy where nobody, even the executives, has no office. They have also stated the employees’ perks and unlimited vacation days.
4. Listrak
Listrak is a retail digital marketing automation platform for various DM services. They made a kind of cool recruitment video showing the busy, creative, and desired work environment. The video itself shows the company values and overall work environment, from feeling to eating as well. After watching the footage, everyone would love to feel refreshed. It looks like more of a next-level experience to work at Listrak.
5. Hillsboro Police
Would you love to see entertaining and quirky videos? Here’s a fascinating recruiting video by Hillsboro Police. It works well because it is an over-the-top and incredible video from a police department. The funny and downright element helps to check the insights of the police force more closely. Well, Hillsboro is one of the best among unique companies located in Hillsboro, Oregon.
6. Enova
Enova’s recruitment video presents all those candidates who would love to hear from a company. It further encourages employees to explore various support systems and interests in the evolving career path. The testimonials also shared for employees are with multiple roles and benefits in the company. The so-called team integration and collaborative work environment are well visible through Enova.
7. HomeAway
Life at HomeAway presents a series of recruitment videos while also showing their boomerang employees. The advantage taken is via sharing their stories and also documenting special events. They have stated their special events such as Movember celebrations, annual Battle of the Bands competition, and Bring your Kids to Work Day, etc. It’s an international company with various branches across the globe. It is the reason they have to make separate interview videos for each office.
8. Outcome Health
The motto ‘Activate Good’ indicates in the “Outcome Health’s” recruitment video. It shares a unique story of a passionate employee about giving back and providing opportunities to excel in their career path. No matter what your interest is, the Outcome Health will let you know how to achieve those dreams by positively incorporating a health factor into life. It is one of the many stories to help local non-profits and employees’ partners give something valuable to the community.
9. Trendkite
The video title is quite refreshing that says, ‘Inside Look at Trendkite’s Culture.’ It boasts a lot of enticing and funny benefits such as free food, hoverboards, and energetic, passionate, and initiative takers as a hiring team. They effectively balance the work environment and fun with colleagues in the workspace. They have also stated their core value as ‘One-Team,’ celebrating both team and individual wins no matter how versatile.
10. Quirky
The interns at Quirky have many other responsibilities than just filing papers and getting coffee out from there. The video specifies all the departmental kind of information and internship candidates you should hire. This recruitment video also encourages submitting video interview and further provides specific instructions on application submission. It shows the most lovely internship environment every intern would ever want.
Tips for Creating Awesome Recruitment Videos after Covid-19
It looks like that Covid-19 has changed the face of recruitment overnight. Due to uncertainty in every industry, the effect on recruitment would be no different. The pandemic has shifted a significant workforce in the specific ways that we haven’t anticipated. The recommended solution to social distancing places every work environment either at home or in a remote area. Companies are being encouraged to make recruitment videos and post them online. It also speeds up the hiring time while also giving the option of video interviewing.
Let’s learn some useful tips by which your recruitment videos stand out.
Include only the right people
Showing just the CEO or Founder of the company will not be helpful to make an awesome recruitment video. That’s not the ideal presentation of experience for the candidates. Show them what they want to see, including the employees and overall work environment.
Make multiple videos and keep them brief
You must make small video shots and then combine them with competent video editing software . It would be great to make little videos targeting various kinds of audiences. The next tip is to keep the overall recruitment video short between 2 to 4 minutes only.
Use an excellent video editor
Simply creating a video is not enough unless you know to edit it correctly. We recommend Wondershare Fimora9 video editor for beautiful editing features. It consists of lots of new functions, including advanced editing options as well. None of the recruitment videos is posted online without editing.
Include a CTA (Call to Action)
Don’t make a video like a lost opportunity. Instead, you should make it a grabbing chance. Have some call-to-action directing a viewer to somewhere valuable. You can even put a link to a landing page on the career site of the company.
Extensively promote
Use various kinds of promotion tools and platforms to publish your videos. You can post them on Facebook, YouTube, and well-recognized promotion platforms and attract talented clients. Include the link of those videos in each of your job descriptions. Additionally, you can share such videos with Linkedin and Glassdoor.
Include the necessary information
Apart from presenting just the physical environment, you must also share the necessary information for the company. Sometimes, the creator forgets to state the required information in the desire for complicated info. But that’s not the solution if you have missed the basics.
Conclusion
So, this is all about inspiring recruitment videos! We have included all the required information on the concept and the best ten recruiting videos. Reading the post would also help you make amazing recruiting videos that stand out and prove to be action-oriented.
Liza Brown
Liza Brown is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Liza Brown
- Title: In 2024, The Pivotal Role of Thumbnails in Video Success Stories
- Author: Thomas
- Created at : 2024-05-31 12:47:56
- Updated at : 2024-06-01 12:47:56
- Link: https://youtube-help.techidaily.com/in-2024-the-pivotal-role-of-thumbnails-in-video-success-stories/
- License: This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
