Packaging Your Content

No matter what video you make, and no matter how good the video is, your packaging needs to set the right expectation for the viewer to watch it.

Even if you can get the viewer to click, it doesn’t mean they’re dedicated to watch it.
That’s why we create great hooks, and ultimately great videos.

But the better expectation you set in the packaging, the more dedicated the viewer is to watching the whole video, and the less you have to struggle to keep them watching.

Our goal with the thumbnail isn’t just to get the viewer to click, because that’s only half of the equation. The other half is setting the right expectation.

A mistake many people make is to copy insane GFX thumbnails as if they’re Iman Gadzhi, but then the video is just them sitting in their room talking to the camera.

The problem here isn’t the video, it’s the expectation.

When you make a crazy thumbnail, people expect a crazy video.

Here’s an example.

This is one of Iman Gadzhi’s (5M Subscribers) most popular videos:

And this is the first frame of the video: He’s sitting in the exact studio shown in the thumbnail.

It also has the animations and editing people expect from a high quality thumbnail like that.

A high production thumbnail sets the expectation for a high production video.

So if you want to deliver a high production video, make a crazy thumbnail, and have fun with that.

But if you want to do what I recommend most educational creators to do, then create clickable, low production thumbnails to set the expectations low.

That way, you’ll be able to have a high-performing video, without having to do crazy production.

The great thing is that your target audience just wants to learn and improve.

They want education, not entertainment.

They want some kind of result. They have a desire. They want their problems solved.

So you just need to set the expectation that your viewer will get what they want.

That’s what makes a clickable thumbnail, actually good.

Good Example:

Packaging:

• Thumbnail: Low production, but looks legit
• Title: All lowercase, make me think he’ll actually deliver
• Expectation: This dude will actually deliver the title

Bad Example:

• Thumbnail: Fire, money, supercar, explosions. Very eye-catchy.
• Title: All uppercase. Big claim. Not trustworthy at all.
• Expectation: Wtf is this.

What also matters is the packaging compared to the words you say in the intro.

Example:

If your target audience is guitar players who want to improve, then this is great packaging.
But if you start the video off with:

“Hey guys, welcome back to the channel! My name is Dave. Sorry about my hair I haven’t showered today. I was going to but anyway… let me tell you a story about how I first started playing guitar.”

**everyone clicks off**

If you’re trying to grow your audience, then don’t say “welcome back to the channel.”

They don’t care about who you are, or about your hair, or if you showered.

And they surely did not click on the video to hear about you and your story.

You can introduce yourself to give proof.
For example, “My name’s Dave, I’ve been playing guitar for 25 years, I got to play with The Beetles back in 1965, and today I’m gonna teach you how…”

As this gives them more reason to watch the video and have more trust in you that you will deliver the promise in title.

We’ll talk more about hooks soon, but the point here is that people click for a reason, and you need to quickly make them feel like they’ll get what they clicked for.