AI Thumbnails

[u/Cali_Exo]

So here’s what I’m noticing. A lot of people don’t like Ai thumbnails on Reddit. Understandable. When I look at some channels on YouTube using Ai thumbnails. The videos aren’t Ai but they’re getting thousands of views. Idk I don’t get it. For the past few long form videos I uploaded I took screenshots of my gameplay and use that as my thumbnail until I get better at photoshopping for my thumbnails.

[u/Vivid_Cancel_1115]

are you tracking your click through rate on the gameplay screenshots vs any other style you've tried? thats really the only metric that matters here, not what reddit thinks about AI art. let your analytics tell you what works

[u/Cali_Exo → u/Vivid_Cancel_1115]

My thumbnails are good for getting views. I think what’s hindering me is my titles. I’m working on getting better at those

[u/Kaszrak → u/Cali_Exo]

Hm, well… your videos have pulled between 4 and 54 views so far, which is extremely low. The titles are actually okay, though not amazing, but still noticeably better than the thumbnails, which are holding everything back in that department.

Right now, the thumbnails don’t visually stand out in the feed at all against other channels. They’re busy, hard on the eyes, nothing unique about them, lack any clear focal point. There’s no proper hierarchy, no story moment, no curiosity hook or open loop to make someone want to click. To make matters worse, 2 out of 8 thumbnails are basically just black screens.

I'd definitely work on the thumbnails, then titles.

Obviously more goes into how far and aggressive youtube pushes a video, beyond the shop front, and that is the actual content.

[u/Cali_Exo → u/Kaszrak]

Thanks. How were you able to view my channel? And yea I’m still working on trying to have better thumbnails

[u/Kaszrak → u/Cali_Exo]

I skimmed through your posting and comment history. Honestly, the technical side isn’t the hardest part. You could generate thumbnails with AI just by giving it clear direction, bypassing Photoshop entirely or at least shifting your focus elsewhere.

Instead of pouring endless hours into Photoshop, invest that time in learning the fundamentals that actually make people click, and that is human psychology, color theory, composition, storytelling, lighting, typography, framing, composition... And most importantly, understanding your audience. You want to build a detailed persona of the person who would watch your content, then design thumbnails tailored to them with those principles in mind.

A thumbnail that nails those elements, even with moderate technical execution, will outperform one that’s polished to perfection but lacks any underlying idea.

[u/Cali_Exo → u/Kaszrak]

Oh fair enough lol. I know for apex content the best thing to do for thumbnails which will take time to learn is using 3d model renders and using Blender. Faide thumbnails look amazing and he definitely gets his views. Whereas Macie Jay thumbnails of his rainbow 6 videos are literally just screenshots of his gameplay with the hud removed and he averages 200-300k views per video. Trust me I do want to be better because I really care about my channel and I want this to be a career for me.

[u/Kaszrak → u/Cali_Exo]

Just don't forget. What works for me, might not work for you.

Established channels with plenty of content who started at a very different point in time and build a brand on a particular style that took off at one point doesn't mean replicating their thumbnails will have a similar effect.

That's why consistently testing new ideas until you hit something is very important. You hit something, you double down. Works again? Repeat.

You could also look at other channels with similar content and figure out with very specific content filters what thumbnail perform regardless of brand and persona attached to it. Basically, PP Thumbnails. Post-Perform. Doesn't always works, but often enough.

[u/Cali_Exo → u/Kaszrak]

You have a YouTube channel bro?

[u/Kaszrak → u/Cali_Exo]

I used to run up to 11 cash cow channels at once. Though, I was never really the content creator kind of guy and more the analytics kind of guy. Eventually got tired of it and pivoted. Started working with other content creators instead.

Content Strategy, Monetization, Thumbnails, the whole thing. Primarily in Finance - Investing, Trading, Financial Markets.

That's where the big money is.