If you want to increase your views on YouTube, you need to master this one thing, before doing anything else.

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What if I told you that you could increase your views on YouTube, if you master this one thing?

Well if that excites you then keep reading because this guide is going to help you understand what that concept is and how you can apply it to your upcoming YouTube videos. 

As always, if you’d like to watch instead of read, click the video below. 

Use this YouTube Strategy to Increase Your Views

The concept that we’re going to be covering today is the ‘packaging’ of your video. 

‘Packaging’ can refer to many things in video creation, but today I’m referring to the ultimate Power Duo – Your Title and Thumbnail Combo. 

These two elements, when working together, make up the package that will convince someone whether or not they should click on your video. 

Why is this important?

Simply put, if no one is clicking on your video… then you aren’t getting any views. 

If you’ve been asking yourself, “Why am I not getting any views?”, the problem probably isn’t the algorithm. It’s likely because the packing on your video isn’t interesting or intriguing enough for your audience. 

What makes good video packaging?

Good video packaging happens when you can create a strong ‘curiosity gap’ with your title and thumbnail. You want the curiosity gap to be too big to ignore. 

What is a Curiosity Gap?

The term “curiosity gap” was coined by Carnegie Mellon University researcher George Loewenstein in 1994 to describe the gap between what a person knows and what they want to know.

This theory leverages the reader’s curiosity to make them click. Since our brains are wired to crave closure if you can create a curiosity gap strong enough, the viewer will have to click to get the closure their brain is craving.

Now, this isn’t a new concept that I’ve just discovered, there are hundreds of videos and interviews where thumbnail editors for famous YouTubers like Preston and MrBeeast say their best advice is to create curiosity! There are other educators who give this advice as well. My personal favorite is Aprilynn who created the most amazing thumbnail deep dive video that I have ever seen in my life. 

So now let’s look at some examples and talk about practical tips that you can start applying today. 

YouTube Title & Thumbnail Combos that Work

Ryan Trehan is one of my favorite creators of all time and his thumbnails are always simple, yet effective. Today I want to take a look specifically at this thumbnail 👆🏼. 

He starts drawing attention to the ‘Yelp Review’ that says “no hats allowed” before you take in the rest of the image. In the image, Ryan is wearing a hat – which is doing the exact opposite of what the text is telling you to do.  

Finally, you read the title which says ‘I test 1-Star Reviewed Restaurants’. All of this together creates a strong curiosity gap that fills you with questions you’ll only get answers to if you watch his video. He starts telling you the story before you even click on the video. 

Next, let’s look at this thumbnail from Haley Pham. She starts by drawing us into a screenshot of her conversation with a famous author – and she’s asking this author, “What book should I read?” Then you see those three dots which means the author is responding. 

The image of Haley pulls you in because she has a look of anticipation on her face, as though she’s literally saying to you, “Oh my gosh, she’s replying!”

Finally, you read the title of the video which says, “I asked my favorite authors to recommend me a book…”

By this point, you’re probably wondering what response Coleen Hoover is going to give, while also wondering what other authors Haley has reached out to. If you love to read – your curiosity gap is going to be huge right now. 

How can YOU Start Practicing Video Packaging?

Now that you’ve seen a couple of YouTube thumbnails and titles that start to tell a story and create that curiosity gap, I’m going to teach you how to practice video packaging yourself to increase your views on YouTube.

Tip #1: How to Narrow Down Your Video Title

Start creating a list of all the YouTube video ideas that you have. I have dozens (if not hundreds) of video ideas ready for me to grab from my ClickUp space. If you need help coming up with video ideas, I have this tutorial for you and I even have a free workshop to help you plan 4 Months of Content! 

It’s an hour-long workshop that teaches you how to come up with 4 months of content. It’s time to get off the hamster wheel of trying to come up with content ideas every day. Instead, have 4 months of content ready to go so that you can stay consistent and actually grow on the platform of your choice. 

Once you have your list of video ideas, sort through it and narrow it down to the top 5-10 videos that you think your audience would be the most interested in. Or that would bring the most value to your audience. 

Then continue to narrow down that list to just 1. 

How to pick just one? Narrow down by what you know you could create a good thumbnail for. 

For example, I knew that I wanted to make a video analyzing YouTube Shorts and seeing what made them go viral. I love deep-dive videos but it wasn’t until I had thumbnail inspiration, that I said YES to creating that video. 

Even if you have the best idea ever, if you can’t think of a good ‘clickable’ thumbnail for it, it might not be the right time for that video. 

Once you have your video idea, write out as many title variations as possible. Sometimes, I haven’t finalized my title until after filming! 

For the video where I analyzed YouTube Shorts, these were all of the title variations I made, until I landed on the title that I thought would grab the most attention. 

This is something that takes practice. Just start getting in the habit of narrowing down your ideas and it’ll become more and more natural over time. 

Tip #2: Stop Leaving Your Thumbnail as the Last Task Before Uploading

I know what you’re doing… you’re filming a video, editing it, scheduling it to YouTube, and then at the last minute you remember that ‘oh shoot!’ you need a thumbnail. So you screenshot a frame from the video, throw some text over it, and call it a day. 

YUP. Busted. 

The reason I know that you’re doing this?

Because that was me. I used to do that and I’ve seen hundreds and hundreds of creators do that too. 

This could be one of the biggest reasons why you aren’t getting any clicks or views on your videos. So what are we going to do instead? Prioritize your thumbnails. 

The best creators in the world look at thumbnails as a priority. Mr. Beast once said that if he can’t think of a good thumbnail that his audience would want to click on, he won’t even spend time filming that video! Because at the end of the day, it’s all about the video’s packaging and getting that click. 

Even YouTube is letting us know the importance of thumbnails. They stated that 90% of the best-performing videos have custom thumbnails. 

Knowing all of that, why would you wait until the last minute to work on something that heavily determines the result of your video? 

Quick note: you are going to create and have your own flow on YouTube. For some, you might be creating vlogs where you don’t know where the video is going to go, so maybe you are filming before you think of thumbnails. If that’s what works for you and you’re seeing great results with views and subscribers, great! 

But the same importance of thumbnails applies. After you finish filming, if you want your video to perform the best it can, make sure that you are allocating intentional, unrushed, and thorough time on thumbnail research and editing your thumbnail. 

Tip #3: Don’t Repeat Yourself

This is one of the most common mistakes that I see creators make with their thumbnails… Repeating the same thing you’ve already said in your title. 

For example:  

• Your title reads: How to Grow on Instagram
• And your thumbnail reads: How to Grow on Instagram

You need to make sure your Title and Thumbnail are working together. 

Think of your thumbnail as the visual that will get someone to stop scrolling. It will either grab their attention by appealing to reliability or peak their curiosity but it’s the ONE thing among all of the other thumbnails that will get them to stop scrolling. Then if you can grab their attention with the thumbnail, they will read the title to see if the video is something that they want to watch. 

• The thumbnail stops the scroll or grabs their focus.
• The title explains your video or creates even more curiosity

With that said, if repeating the same words in the title and thumbnail is the mistake, what can you do instead?

Option 1: Use your thumbnail as extra real estate for your title

Back to our ‘How to Grow on Instagram’ Example.

I wanted that title to be “How to Grow 10k Followers in 30 Days on Instagram Fast” but altogether, that title felt long and mumbly. I knew that I wanted “How to Grow on Instagram” to be the keyphrase for the title of my video. So now I could use those extra words to create emphasis in my thumbnail. 

My thumbnail could use the words: 

• 10k Followers in 30 Days
• Grow 10k Followers FAST

Option 2: Peak curiosity

There are a million ways to pique someone’s curiosity. 

• For example, you could lean into showing a transformation that the video promises. 
• You could show a result that someone could achieve after watching your video
• Or share a sneak peek into the storyline, and so much more. 

So again, how can you apply that to your “How to Grow on Instagram” video? 

For example:

• Transformation (before – after)
• Growth unlocked (this could be a graph or screenshot of results)

Now, I’m not going to lie to you and say, “Wow it’s so easy, just do this 1 minute hack and you’ll go viral”. Sorry no… that’s just not how it goes. If you’re having a hard time, that’s OK! It’s part of the process. 

Packaging is something that you will always get to play with. I am still studying packaging with EVERY video that I make. I believe that this is a muscle, where the more you do it, the more natural it will feel over time. 

But I can say that ever since I started focusing on this strategy with EVERY VIDEO, my channel, and my student’s channels have started seeing amazing results. 

If you’re someone who is currently working on growing your YouTube Channel, watch this video where I break down what I would do if I had to start from 0 on YouTube (using a realistic and organic growth strategy.)

I hope this guide will help YOU increase your views on YouTube. Thank you so much for being here! Follow your joy!