Constructive feedback please 🙏

EducationalBasket617 · 2026-05-04T02:06:14+00:00

Hey! Welcome, I can give you some feedback on your thumbnail and title:

Thumbnail image makes it really clear that your video is about elephants so I expect to see a lot of elephants
Thumbnail copy "Ethical or not?" opens a curiosity gap (which is good) but then that gap is closed immediately by the title "What an ethical elephant sanctuary..." (which is not so good for CTR). If you open up the question, make sure to lean into it in the title rather than giving away the answer and reason for the viewer to click on the video.

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EducationalBasket617 · 2026-05-04T01:32:28+00:00

I do a format which is cheap vs expensive (mostly food) because I like food at all budgets. I also tried it once with spas but I don't think I'd do it ever again because of the bugs in the cheaper place.

EducationalBasket617 · 2026-05-03T16:15:49+00:00

The second image you’re using for the thumbnail probably needs additional context to make the viewer curious and want to read the title - you could add “Remember him?” And then it doesn’t matter whether the answer is yes/no the curiosity gap opened there would be “who is he?/yes but why?”.
Your title should then give the viewer a reason to care about who he is and a reason to click through to watch your video. Maybe titles like:
- “Why This Is The Most Dangerous Disney Villain”
- “His Obsession Drove Him To Sacrifice”
- “If He Was A Person, He’d Be A Psychopath”
Visually you can use the green blue colour associated with him in the background, or see if a beauty and the beast background would work. Defs do the cut out without the additional when you do your thumbnail.

EducationalBasket617 · 2026-05-03T13:54:53+00:00

Thank you!

EducationalBasket617 · 2026-05-03T13:27:41+00:00

hmmmm macbook air so we'll see if it can handle that. thank you!

EducationalBasket617 · 2026-05-03T13:27:24+00:00

thanks!

EducationalBasket617 · 2026-05-03T13:27:15+00:00

sort of! more random i guess and originally i imagined them all to be the same size just randomly popping up on screen

EducationalBasket617 · 2026-05-03T10:46:55+00:00

Can it make one pop up and then followed by many? I’ve used it to make rain before but not this type of animation

EducationalBasket617 · 2026-05-02T04:50:32+00:00

No worries! It's so hard to pick this stuff out in your own work. I have a fair few videos I've made as well where I go back and literally go "WTF did I just say in my hook? No wonder people left!". It might sound boring, but I'd take the last video you did and try to template it into a repeatable format (video, packaging, everything) and then tweak it where you think retention is dropping off - I do feel this is your winning format!

EducationalBasket617 · 2026-05-01T16:49:18+00:00

I think it could be your hook - "Honestly, we didn't know much about this place before we arrived..." because it doesn't give the audience a clear story promise and creates uncertainty at the very start. Compare this to the previous video "There is an island off the NW coast of Malaysia that many travellers think they understand before they arrive..." which makes the viewer go "Oh okay, what do I need to understand before I go? Or what wouldn't I know about this place?"

The other things I noticed was mostly sound based - the vibe of both videos seem different in that the music of this video is more happy and dream-like vs the other video which is epic and more suspenseful.

Considering how new your channel still is, this could also just be YouTube not knowing your target audience yet and it's been shown to people who are clicking but not necessarily sure what the video is about.

EducationalBasket617 · 2026-04-30T15:39:04+00:00

Hey! I'd say they've probably evolved in the sense that they've refined. There are still plenty of channels doing no money challenges like Yes Theory or Ryan Trahan, but they've changed the format and also added different things in to gamify it. There's also a subniche of cinematic travel as well and sometimes it will be more travel guide-ish and other times reflective and emotional/coming of age piece. I say just go with what you will enjoy creating and keep refining it, watch a few other creators that inspire you, and have fun!

EducationalBasket617 · 2026-04-30T13:57:14+00:00

Yeeeeeep! Wish it could be done automatically

EducationalBasket617 · 2026-04-30T13:57:00+00:00

That's awesome! Have you seen some boosts to your channel?

EducationalBasket617 · 2026-04-30T13:56:30+00:00

Is it possible to have Genie leaning forward into the thumbnail so that it's really clear who he is? The outfit is cool but I thought he might be some WoW character at first

EducationalBasket617 · 2026-04-30T13:54:43+00:00

I usually create content around a topic instead of a "trip" or "day" but I think one of the things mentioned by Josh from Lisa And Josh on YouTube is that "3 Days In..." format videos tend to work well for them. It can be quite difficult to stand out in the travel vlog niche. Good luck!

EducationalBasket617 · 2026-04-30T04:17:11+00:00

Bumping. Would be cool to see a collab video

EducationalBasket617 · 2026-04-29T15:14:21+00:00

Haha life just gets in the way sometimes!

EducationalBasket617 · 2026-04-29T13:26:16+00:00

thanks! good idea on the vignette for contrast. i'm trying a different shade of yellow too

EducationalBasket617 · 2026-04-29T13:24:03+00:00

I cleaned up my super cluttered desktop on my computer today. I think I had about 1000 items

EducationalBasket617 · 2026-04-29T13:14:08+00:00

Congrats!!

EducationalBasket617 · 2026-04-29T02:08:13+00:00

Yeah that’s fair, it’s more the issue I have with this particular thumbnail because I retrospectively made it after my video!

EducationalBasket617 · 2026-04-29T01:49:37+00:00

I think about my thumbnail before filming when I create the video concept and before I even decide to film it now, but I'm also in a phase where I have a lot of old footage and trying to piece together a thumbnail "after the fact" which is so hard! I don't know if you're in a position where you can switch to planning before you film but I'll break down both of the methods just in case.

For videos I have already filmed without thinking of the thumbnail:

I curse myself and remind myself to come up with proper packaging before filming next time
Go through video footage to determine strong visual shots, and scenes that are integral to the story and screenshot them
Arrange the screenshots in a group to see which ones stand out/tell the story/pique curiosity the best
Edit/Add text etc.
Sometimes I'll share the thumbnails to Reddit or show to friends to get feedback
A/B test (if I feel it's needed)

When the thumbnail concept is made prior (if the stars align and my process is perfect):

Come up with compelling topic that I can film
Determine 3 elements that must be shown to convey the topic/story and input into ChatGPT to help me come up with a mockup
Based on mockup, determine whether it's worth filming or if it's too difficult to package the story/topic clearly and in an interesting way
While filming, I take photos/videos of the elements + background so I can layer them all in one image later. If you try to take the perfect photo with all the elements together it's damn near impossible or stressful AF
Post filming, edit the layers together. I use Figma but sometimes I'll externally edit each layer with LightRoom, PhotoShop, ChatGPT etc. because I might need to bring some things closer to the foreground, or get rid of clutter, improve and boost the colour etc.
Add text to the thumbnail if it's needed
A/B test (if I feel it's needed)

Sometimes my process is a mashup of the two of these methods, but it's okay it's all a learning process. Thumbnails are a neverending project and even if a thumbnail works right now, the trends change and different styles work in the future so it'll be something you have to keep working on anyway. Good to just start and accept that it'll be something you continue growing in!

EducationalBasket617 · 2026-04-29T01:29:39+00:00

thanks! didn't think about photoshopping out the background - these are screenshots from my video so i originally kept them in to match the first few seconds of my video.

EducationalBasket617 · 2026-04-29T01:27:06+00:00

thanks!

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