You’ve heard it a million times: "Don’t judge a book by its cover."
In theory, it makes sense, but people judge books, videos, and all manner of things by their covers. That’s because covers (and thumbnails) really matter!
A great video thumbnail can make all the difference when it comes to standing out and increasing video engagement. Case in point: 90% of the best-performing videos on YouTube have custom thumbnails.
As small as they are, thumbnails are mighty marketing tools.
While creating a custom video thumbnail sounds like a simple solution to increase video clicks, there are plenty of things to keep in mind when developing your video thumbnail: What should video thumbnails include? Where do I create a custom thumbnail? What colors do I use? How do I even upload a custom thumbnail?
Luckily, we’ve put together the ultimate guide to creating the perfect thumbnail to answer these questions.
Let’s get started.
What is a video thumbnail?
A video thumbnail is a reduced-size image that previews and represents the content of a video. They act like billboards to help people decide to watch your videos – encouraging viewers to click and engage with your content. A well-designed thumbnail can make all the difference between someone choosing to engage with your content or move on to watch another video.
A great thumbnail should build anticipation while accurately evoking the emotions and narrative of your video’s content.
Video thumbnail best practices
Former Disney CEO Bob Iger once said, “There is no science to creativity.”
Creating video thumbnails is an art. There is no science to crafting a perfect video thumbnail, but there are some best practices that will greatly increase your chances of clicks and views on your videos.
1. Focus on bright colors and contrast.
When creating eye-catching thumbnails, use images with vibrant colors and high contrast that look great in multiple sizes, small and large.
The last thing you want is for viewers to scroll past your work because your thumbnail doesn’t stand out. So turn up the saturation and stick to complementary colors to increase the contrast. After all, high-contrast is key to make your thumbnail pop.
Up your contrast by adding an outer glow or drop shadow around the focal point(s) to make the subject pop.
2. Dial into drama.
Your video thumbnail doesn’t have to be the next Avengers movie poster, but you’ll need to rely on drama to create anticipation and excitement for your video.
Focus on exaggerated expressions and action shots to capture the mood of the video in the thumbnail. If you can evoke the video’s emotions through a thumbnail, you’ve achieved your goal. Good job!
That said, avoid using misleading or clickbaity thumbnails, as these will turn away viewers and hurt your chances of being recommended by the algorithm. You can rely on drama, but your thumbnails must relate to the content of your video. Don’t mislead your audience.
3. Include BOLD text.
Add daringly bold text to your thumbnail to help your viewers find your content at a glance.
Turn any video into a GIF, right in Vimeo.
Whether you include colorful text or scale-up the font size, your video title should be legible in all formats and sizes.
4. Upload a GIF.
Animated GIFs are great ways to increase views. Many platforms (including Vimeo) allow you to turn video into GIFs, and enable GIF files to be uploaded as a video thumbnail.
Compared to static images, animated thumbnails are great ways to show off a bit more of what your video has to offer. Including action shots and dramatic scenes as your thumbnail will entice your audience to click on your video.
5. Don’t forget your branding.
Why use high-resolution images as thumbnails?
Struggling to engage with your audience through video? Dress up your thumbnails with company logos or icons to visually tie your videos to your brand. Viewers are more likely to click and engage with videos from brands they already trust.
If you embed videos on your site, include brand elements like watermarks, icons, and color schemes in your thumbnail designs to better fit the overall website design. This will help with brand continuity and help with the overall website design (while making your web designer happy).
And if you are a small brand, brand continuity will help solidify brand recognition.
6. Use high resolution images.
It’s 2024; please stop uploading low-resolution images. Use dazzling images that are the highest resolution possible while keeping the file size below 2 MB (a requirement for most platforms).
Unsure about your video thumbnail? Don’t be afraid to ask for some feedback. Creating thumbnails is an art; it's okay to get creative and see what works!
How to make and upload video thumbnails
After you upload a video, creating a custom video thumbnail doesn’t have to be a difficult or time-consuming task. There are plenty of free online tools that make it easy to create thumbnails for all of your videos. Whether you’re creating videos for Vimeo, Youtube, or Instagram, these tools can help you create attention-grabbing thumbnails.
How to create and upload a thumbnail on Vimeo
Vimeo offers a few ways to create and upload your thumbnails — making your thumbnail creation process as easy as possible.
- Choose an auto-generated thumbnail. After uploading your video in Vimeo, click the “Edit thumbnail” button under the Description box in the General tab. Select Random in the drop-down list to generate recommended thumbnails to use for your video.
- Select a specific video frame. After uploading your video, click on “Edit thumbnail” under the Description box in the General tab. Select, Select from video to select a specific frame from the video as a thumbnail.
- Create your own. Log in to Vimeo's Video Creator from your Vimeo account. Browse and select from over 1100 pre-designed free templates to use for your video thumbnail. Edit and add images and text directly in Vimeo Create. Once the video is saved and converted, click on the Embed tab, then select Email. Convert the video to a GIF, then copy and paste the link to an empty email draft to save the GIF to your computer. Go back to your Vimeo video editor, click on “Edit Thumbnail,” then upload your custom GIF or static thumbnail.
How to create and upload a video thumbnail for YouTube
With Youtube, there are two ways to create and upload thumbnails.
To quickly create a thumbnail, choose one of the three thumbnail options generated by Youtube. Automated video thumbnails are generated once the video has been fully uploaded, and a thumbnail is selected to be a thumbnail. Although selecting one of the automatically generated thumbnails is quick and easy, since the thumbnails can not be edited nor customized, this method is not recommended.
The second option is to upload your own custom thumbnail. To do this, instead of selecting one of the generated thumbnails, click on “upload” instead. Youtube accepts .PNG, .GIF, .BMP, or .JPG files that are 1280 x 720 pixels as long as the file size is at or below 2 MB.
How to optimize video thumbnails for Instagram
In 2020, Instagram was the second most popular social media network worldwide. So If you’re not sharing your videos on Instagram, you’re missing out on an incredible opportunity to engage your audience.
While Instagram is a great platform for brands and creators to connect with their customers, competing with the algorithm is a huge pain. Therefore creating striking video thumbnails becomes important to combat low engagement and views.
Instagram has three platforms for uploading video – including Posts, IGTV, and Reels. Before creating Instagram video thumbnails, you’ll want to decide on a platform to share your video. Here is a brief breakdown of each video format:
- Posts – The original video platform! Supports video length between 2 seconds to 60 seconds and video aspect ratios of 1:1 (square), 4:5 (vertical), and 5:4 (horizontal).
- IGTV – A long-length video platform, between 1 to 15 minutes (up to 60 minutes for larger accounts). Supports vertical videos (9:16 aspect ratio) or horizontal video (16:9 aspect ratio) with a minimum resolution of 720 pixels.
- Reels – A short-length video platform for a length of up to 30 seconds. Only supports vertical videos (9:16 aspect ratio).
Based on which Instagram’s video platform you choose to upload your content, the video thumbnail should be optimized based on the required aspect ratio and resolution.
If you decide to opt-out of a custom thumbnail, you can select a frame from the uploaded video for your thumbnail. Since Instagram’s algorithm is complicated to compete with, instead of selecting a frame from the video as a thumbnail, uploading a custom thumbnail is highly recommended to encourage clicks and views. After all, Instagram’s algorithm is dependent on how many people engage with your content.
4 Fabulous thumbnail examples on Vimeo
Here are some amazing video thumbnails created by brands and creators on Vimeo:
UCB Comedy
Known for their comedy, Upright Citizens Brigade accurately illustrates the video’s theme – in this case, comedy – by focusing on a dramatic action shot with the video’s title, Divorce Complex. UCB builds trust with their audience by including the logo of their organization. Any UCB fan will be quick to watch this incredibly hilarious video skit.
GoPro
Any outdoor enthusiast will be eager to click on this thrilling thumbnail image! GoPro relies on dramatic action shots to captivate the viewers to engage with the video. They’ve also included the brand’s logo to ensure the audience that this is an official GoPro video. Trust = Clicks.
REI
REI builds anticipation for their film by centering its thumbnail around the protagonist and creative title. And let’s be honest, any video thumbnail featuring a fabulous drag queen will draw lots of attention.
Xero
Xero combines bright, bold colors with an action shot to create an eye-catching thumbnail.