🎯 If Thumbnails are MOST Important, then what about your analytics?
Many YouTubers will fall into the trap of SOLELY focusing on their thumbnail and title.
And yes, that may get them a lot of impressions and maybe even a lot of views - but they’re messing up BIG TIME without this…
📈 Watch Time
The bottom of the funnel is the goal of the ENTIRE funnel itself.
We don’t build a funnel to get more email address, we build a funnel to close more sales. YouTube is the same way. YouTube doesn’t care about how many clicks or views it gets on videos across the platform.
It cares about retention. Keeping your ass glued to the site for as long as possible.
The best indicator of “asses in seats” metric is watch time.
So, how do YOU increase watch time?
🐮 1. Hook ‘Em.
We cover this technique in YouTube Intro Hacks but essentially, you wanna focus your sights on the first 3-10 seconds of the video.
Startle your audience, pose a question, drop a cold opener, and an out-of-context joke - whatever your style - pack a huge punch in the 1st ten seconds.
Much like the buying process, audiences are weary if what they clicked on is going to be worth their time…
Which is why you need to…
🧨 2. Deliver The Goods
I know there are some insane thumbnails out there, but the best ones deliver on the Promise.
Your videos need to deliver this promise in the most efficient AND effective way possible.
“Here are 5 Tips to Grow Your YouTube Channel”
“Ok, you better serve these 5 tips up ASAP, and they better be good.”
Fail to deliver on Tip #1 or #2, and you’ll have viewers drop off thus slowing down your watch time accumulation. YouTube doesn’t care about your channel, it cares about the audience watching as much YouTube as possible.
If you can’t help YouTube achieve that goal, then prepare to watch your impressions fall off a cliff into obscurity.
It’s refreshingly that simple.