📈 Stop guessing, start testing: How YouTube's thumbnail tester can boost your CTRs

Discover how you can leverage this feature to enhance your ad strategy and drive greater engagement.

Eligibility requirements

Before you start testing your thumbnails, it’s important to understand the eligibility criteria and setup requirements:

• Availability: Currently, this feature is available to a limited group of advertisers but will be rolled out to all in the coming months.

• Platform: The thumbnail testing feature is accessible only through YouTube Studio on a computer.

• Advanced features: Ensure advanced features are enabled in YouTube Studio. Detailed instructions on unlocking these features are available in YouTube’s support resources.

• Video types: You can test thumbnails on public long-form ads, previous live streams saved as videos, or podcast episodes. Thumbnails for ads marked as "Made for Kids," for mature audiences, or private videos cannot be tested.

How to test and compare thumbnails

Follow these steps to optimize your ad visuals:

1. Sign in: Log into your YouTube Studio account.

2. Select the video: Choose the video ad you want to test.

   • For a new ad, click on CREATE in the upper right-hand corner and then Upload videos.

   • For an existing ad, go to Content from the left menu and select the ad you want to edit.

3. Initiate testing:

   • Under 'Thumbnail', click on Test and compare.

   • Upload up to three thumbnails for testing.

   • Click DONE. The test will begin once the video is published.

You can stop the test and manually select one of the thumbnails at any time by using the Stop and set option.

Understanding test results

The duration of the test can vary, typically taking a few days to two weeks. Several factors influence this timeframe:

• Thumbnail diversity: Greater differences between your thumbnails can lead to quicker test results.

• Impressions: Higher thumbnail impressions expedite the testing process.

Once the results are ready, they will be available in YouTube Studio. The outcomes will be classified based on the watch timeshare:

• Winner: This thumbnail significantly outperformed others, demonstrating a statistically significant increase in engagement.

• Preferred: This thumbnail showed better performance but not by a significant margin, indicating potential but inconclusive higher engagement.

• None: All thumbnails performed similarly, with no substantial difference in engagement. The first uploaded thumbnail will be set as the default, but you can manually choose any thumbnail if desired.

The role of the control group

To ensure reliable results, YouTube maintains a small control group of viewers who only see the default thumbnail. The performance data from this group is excluded from the experiment calculations, providing a clear comparison of the tested thumbnails’ performance.

Optimizing thumbnails is a game-changer for advertisers looking to refine their campaigns on YouTube In-Feed placement. By testing and comparing different thumbnails, you can gain valuable insights into what visuals capture your audience’s attention, ultimately driving more engagement and maximizing the effectiveness of your ads. As this feature becomes available to all advertisers, take advantage of it to enhance your ad strategy and achieve better results.

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