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Last Updated: June 12, 2020

Increase conversions with those 7 video thumbnail play buttons

​One technique to increase conversation rates is to set a custom thumbnail on your video with a contrasting play button.

In the examples ​below, ​​I have created a thumbnail ​that includes myself and the word Click to Play on​ it.  Having a human face typically leads to higher click-through rates.

When using a custom thumbnail, Thrive Architect​ ​allows to choose a play button that will appear ​in the center of the ​thumbnail​.  You can choose from multiple ​icons and set the color for each video.

​Ideally you want to choose a color that is contrasting​. If you want, you could possibly A/B test different icons and colors using Thrive Leads or Thrive Optimize.

​The problem with the default YouTube embedded video thumbnail

A custom thumbnail is optional, ​a default thumbnail will be generated from the platform where the video is hosted.

​One problem with Youtube is the distracting elements they show:  the youtube channel icon, the first part of the title in small font, a watch later and a share icon.

And then maybe a bigger problem ​is​ the Play icon ​showing in black color (until you mouse over)​. This is clearly ​not very visible.

​The solution with Thrive Architect

​If you are using Thrive Architect with WordPress, you can upload your YouTube thumbnail and select a play icon, it gives a much cleaner result.

Here are the choices of icons:

Examples

​Here are some examples with some of the icons available​ in different colors:​

​If you want to increase conversion, you can even upload an animated gif as your background image.

​Conclusion

​Hopefully ​it can help you in increasing your click through rate and ultimately your conversion rate.  ​If you are using Thrive Leads, you can actually test different thumbnails and combinations of buttons as well.

If you want more ways of increase conversions with videos, you can have a look at those blog posts:

​- ​16 ideas for generating leads using videos
- Alternative to autoplay videos
- Convert more with Thrive Architect using animations


Leave a comment below if you have any suggestions or questions.


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About the author 

Denis Ethier

I help startups and established businesses communicate the value of what they do using design, copywriting and the latest tools.

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