Matt

Stop guessing. Know which YouTube video works BEFORE you film.

Here to debunk dumb YouTube myths with data 👹

Building

[Matt @hitfactor_matt]

Do YouTube thumbnails with faces get more views?

Broscience and gurus tell you, "Trust me, you need a face on that thumbnail. Humans look at faces."

But what does an analysis of 1.25 million thumbnails say? 👇

[Matt @hitfactor_matt]

Your brain treats uncertainty as something to be solved.

Most of the time it's just something to be carried.

[Matt @hitfactor_matt]

@TubeAIYT What are the title and thumbnail features you studied? Population wide or within-channel lift?

[Matt @hitfactor_matt]

3. Does how often you post drive views? (Sort of)

4. Does copying outlier formats work? (Not really)

[Matt @hitfactor_matt]

1. Do faces on thumbnails drive more views? (They don't)

2. Does the size or position of a face drive more views? (Nope)

[Matt @hitfactor_matt]

I'm a data nerd and I have mountains of data from 3M+ videos from 16k business and product channels on YouTube.

What have you always wanted to know, from the data?

Examples of some stuff I've already researched:

[Matt @hitfactor_matt]

I have 3 million YouTube videos from 16k business channels, what do you want to know?

[Matt @hitfactor_matt]

Everyone thinks the best YouTube channels have a secret.

They just have a process. The secret is that it's boring.

[Matt @hitfactor_matt]

@JAKETRINDER_ Outliers happen but they're not reliable. They're a better slot machine.

[Matt @hitfactor_matt]

@RobHoffman_ @kanekallaway Do what @kanekallaway said but use Hitfactor and it's 10x easier 😉

[Matt @hitfactor_matt]

@TubeAIYT A winning lottery ticket is an outlier.

[Matt @hitfactor_matt]

@markproduct YouTube without guessing.

[Matt @hitfactor_matt]

Test it on *your* channel with *your* audience.

Full study with replication details is here: https://t.co/C46rMW4Wly

[Matt @hitfactor_matt]

Do YouTube thumbnails with faces get more views?

Broscience and gurus tell you, "Trust me, you need a face on that thumbnail. Humans look at faces."

But what does an analysis of 1.25 million thumbnails say? 👇

[Matt @hitfactor_matt]

1. Stop treating it like a guaranteed win or proven advice.

2. Use a face if it makes sense but don't stress about it.

And most important:

[Matt @hitfactor_matt]

@JAKETRINDER_ You think search is actually important?