How to Choose A Powerful YouTube Thumbnail Image | 5 Examples of Effective Video Thumbnails

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YouTube video thumbnails act as mini marketing posters for your videos, so the more clued up you are about using them effectively, the more clicks you will attract through to your content. Here are five examples of great YouTube video thumbnails:


1. Looks great at small and large sizes

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hilahcooking's 'How to Cook a Lobster' video wasn't the first to appear in YouTube's search when I went looking, but its branded thumbnail, complete with a quality close-up image of the cooked lobster, encouraged me to click on it over a handful of others.  And whether displayed in a big or small size across the site or on the web, the image always looks great.

2. Visually compelling

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Vlogger, Louis Cole, has experimented with several different types of thumbnails - often including channel branding - but has most recently settled on choosing one powerful image to represent the video. Whether you're a One Direction fan or not, you'd be hard-pressed not to be tempted to click through and see what all that crowd-filled craziness is all about! 

3. Close up of faces

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For most social media platforms (Pinterest being a notable exception), the appeal of connecting with viewers instinctively by using a close-up image of a human face, is extremely strong. And while this example is on the extreme end of the scale - after all, Barbie isn't a real person! - for people who see this thumbnail in search results and are hunting for a particular look, the effect is extremely powerful. 

4. Foreground stands out from background

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With YouTube's background colour being white, many channels use this to their advantage with thumbnails that are a complete contrast. In this example from 'whatever', the bright orange leaps from the page to attract viewers who catch eye on this video in search results.
 

5. Accuately represents content

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This might be the most important point of all. One of the worst things any content creator on YouTube wants to do is to mislead their audience, so implementing a custom thumbnail that is a true representation of the video itself, is very important in helping to build loyalty and trust. While the above example might not make for the most exciting thumbnail image, it is a fair and true reflection of what the video is about and does its job very well.

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How to Embed A Facebook Post | Facebook Embedded Posts Tutorial

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What are embedded Facebook posts? 

Embedded posts are a way to lift publicly shared content from Facebook - either from a Page or personal profile - and place it on your website or blog. Embedded posts show any media attached to them, as well as the number of likes, shares, and comments associated with it. Even better, viewers are be able to follow or like authors or Pages on Facebook direct from the embedded content.

How to embed a Facebook post: getting the code

Before you embed a Facebook post, first you'll need to ensure that it is public. Do this by hovering over the audience selector next to the date of the post. If the post is public (signified by a globe icon), you're good to go.

Click on the 'down arrow' icon that appears in the top right corner of the post on Facebook and choose Embed Post from the drop-down menu that appears.

A pop-up window will appear along with the embed code for the post you want to use. Simply copy this code and paste it into the section of your website or blog post that you want it to appear.

Embedding Facebook posts FAQs

  • Currently, you can't customize how embeded posts are displayed on your website. The size of the post will be fixed to the same dimensions that it is displayed at on Facebook.
  • Long posts will be truncated. Viewers will be shown a "see more" link that can be clicked to view the embedded post in its enterity.
  • If an embedded post is later deleted or hidden by the original author, it will be replaced by a message that tells readers that that this is the case.

Live example of an embedded Facebook Post

Post by 500 Social Media Marketing Tips.

Andrew Macarthy is the author of the #1 Amazon Web Marketing Bestseller, 500 Social Media Marketing Tips, available for Kindle and in paperback.

Buy 500 Social Media Marketing Tips
Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007L50HE6
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007L50HE6

Follow Me:
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How to Use Vine App's Ghost Mode | Ghosting on Vine Tips

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In the last major update for Twitter's Vine app, the Ghost feature was introduced. But what is it for and how should you best use it? Here's the low down:

The primary benefit of the ghost feature on Vine is for when you are creating time-lapse or stop-motion videos. With the ghost feature switched on - just tap the little ghost icon in the bottom-right corner of the app - the end point of your last recording snippet will overlay the "live" scene, as in the pic above.

With the ghost mode on, you will much more easily be able to line up your stop-motion animation shots, without the guesswork that might ruin the finished video. 

Somewhat ironically - I was in a rush to get this video recorded! - there is a noticeable jump in the position of the camera in the resulting Vine video used to demonstrate this technique, embedded above. Of course, with a little more time, patience, and a tripod, you could make much better use of the ghost mode! 

Vine vs Instagram: Which app is the best for video and marketing?

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The introduction of video sharing to Instagram has blown the micro-video sharing market right open, dealing a hefty blow to Twitter's Vine. If you're a marketer with limited time and budget, which of the two apps should you go for?  Below, I compare the main differences between Vine and Instagram in a number of key areas.

Recording time

Vine: Maximum record time of six seconds, minimum time of about two seconds.

Instagram: Maximum record time of 15 seconds, minimum record time of three seconds.

Video editing

Vine: No editing features; once you've started to record, it's an all or nothing take.

Instagram: Each snippet of video recorded within the 15-second limit is given its own separate section on a video bar. Users can delete the previous video snippets in sequence, but can't pick and choose from them all.

Video thumbnails

Vine: Video thumbnail is the first frame of the clip.

Instagram: Users can choose a Cover Frame to show off their video in the best light in video feeds and search results.

Video filters

Vine: No video filters available. If users want to employ filters and lighting effects, they must create them themselves.

Instagram: The app is renowned for its filters, and the video feature adds over a dozen for users to utilise.

Focusing

Vine: Cannot manually re-focus during filming. Tapping the screen as if to focus causes the app to record.

Instagram: The app's separate record button leaves the screen free for you to tap to focus your depth of field between shots.

Image Stabilisation

Vine: No image stabilisation function; users can utilise tripods and dollies to generate smooth recording.

Instagram: The app features the Cinema mode, which - as best as it can - turns wobbly footage into something a lot more stable.

Social sharing

Vine: Allows instant video sharing to Twitter and Facebook.

Instagram: Allows instant video sharing to Facebook, Twitter, Email, Tumblr, Foursquare, and to a Photo Map.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Andrew Macarthy is the author of the #1 Amazon Web Marketing Bestseller, 500 Social Media Marketing Tips, available for Kindle and in paperback.

Buy 500 Social Media Marketing Tips
Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007L50HE6
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007L50HE6

Follow Me:
http://www.facebook.com/500socialmediatips/
https://pinterest.com/500socialmedia/
http://www.twitter.com/500socialmedia
http://www.youtube.com/500socialmediatips

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YouTube Subscribe Button PSD Photoshop | July 2013, New Design

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A couple of weeks back, YouTube changed the design of the 'Subscribe' button on its website for the second time in a matter of months. First it was yellow, then a mixture of red and grey, and now we're onto a bold red design. 

I like to include a clickable 'Subscribe' button at the end of my YouTube tutorials to encourage viewers to keep up to date with my content, and if you're the same, you'll be wanting a big, fat Subscribe button of your own to add into your video at the editing stage (coupled with a spotlight annotation once uploaded to make it clickable). YouTube doesn't make an official one available, so here is one that I have created that I hope will make a good substitute. 

 

  Click here to download the .psd file, or right-click and Save the image about for the PNG. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Andrew Macarthy is the author of the #1 Amazon Web Marketing Bestseller, 500 Social Media Marketing Tips, available for Kindle and in paperback.

Buy 500 Social Media Marketing Tips
Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007L50HE6
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007L50HE6

Follow Me:
http://www.facebook.com/500socialmediatips/
https://pinterest.com/andrewmacarthy/
http://www.twitter.com/500socialmedia
http://www.youtube.com/500socialmediatips

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