YouTube is the best video sharing platform. With billions of video content published and shared on the website, it’s no surprise that the competition is fierce.
Luckily, you already have one foot on the door. Animated videos can stand out, hold the attention, and convey your intended message in a simple and digestible way.
But making an awesome animated video isn’t enough these days. To give your video a fighting chance to reach out to your audience and keep up with YouTube’s fierce competition, you better follow these tips:
Stick to B.O.G.Y. Thumbnails
Being eye-catching is an understatement when it comes to videos, especially for thumbnails. The most-viewed videos on YouTube have a killer thumbnail that captivates the audience.
How? Well, for one, successful content creators make custom thumbnails for their videos—be it animated or live. Second, they use the B.O.G.Y. method to stand out from their competition.
B.O.G.Y. stands for blue, orange, green, and yellow. These four colors grab attention and have a psychological effect:
- BLUE is often associated with calm and tranquility. It makes people think of security, serenity, and deals with anxiety before it happens.
- ORANGE is bright and bold but doesn’t arouse the same urgency as the color red. It’s easy while still eye-catching, even the broad range of orange.
- GREEN is associated with nature and abundance. It makes people think of friendliness and positivity. Opposite to the color red, it doesn’t evoke urgency to act but more of permission.
- YELLOW is a cheerful color that is associated with optimism and positivity. However, often depending on the color tone, it also evokes discomfort and anxiety that draws impulsive people to take action.
Not only will this help your animated video stand out, but it will also breed consistency in your videos.heck out these popular YouTubers that use this trick: Brian Dean, Neil Patel, and Bright Side.
Choose an Attention-Grabbing Title
Aside from a killer thumbnail, you also need to pique interest with the title of your animated video. It’s the make-or-break moment account to YouTube Creator Academy.
While some of the following tips are actually for blog articles, these work for making an attention-grabbing YouTube title for your animated video:
- Listicles, this means making your video into a list and inserting a number in your title, like “4 Easy Ways to Contour the Nose by Michelle Dy.”
- How-tos. Who doesn’t love a step by step guide to anything? For example, Wil Dasovich made a couple of how-to videos like “How to Get More Youtube Subscribers + Money.”
- Add brackets or parentheses at the end of your title can increase your click-through-rate. For example, Michelle Dy published “How To: Apply Cake Foundation (For Oily Skin)” and “How to Start Youtubing (Vlogging and Youtube Advice)” by Wil Dasovich.
- Make sure to avoid these words if you don’t want your video to demonetized: Israel, Female, Cure, Euro, LGBT, Democrat, Gay, Lesbian, and 3,000 more words.
Write a Video Description That Works
Animated videos are great at making abstract concepts and real-world topics easier to understand. But your audience and YouTube’s algorithms must know what it’s all about.
Here’s a formula you can always follow: First, always start with a strong intro but stick to only three sentences max. Second, tell the contents of the video with timestamps for up to 150 words. Last, add your call to action and encourage them to follow your social channels.
Publish at the Best Time
The goal of your animated video is to reach your target audience. To do that, you need your animated video to be seen. Luckily, YouTube takes the mystery out of that by tracking the hours and days when your audience is active.
Here’s how to access the report:
- Click ‘Customize Channel’ on your channel homepage.
- Select the ‘Analytics’ tab just below your profile picture.
- Then click the ‘Audience’ tab.
- Generate the ‘When your viewers are on YouTube’ report.
Now all you have to do is identify the peak times and publish your animated video an hour or two before these.
Add Subtitles
Subtitles are great for bridging language barriers and disabilities. While it’s an added effort, don’t you think it’s all worth it?
Here’s how:
- Write the SubRip Subtitle file with the start and finish of the dialogue.
- Upload the SRT file
Remember to add the timestamps to match at the right time, and double-check before you upload.
You probably have better things to do than transcribe the whole animated video yourself. Instead, you can have web apps and software do it for you:
- Trint
- Temi
- HappyScribe
- Descript
- Otter.ai
Don’t Forget To Share
Last and certainly not the least, you have to share your animated video across every channel available. It’s the tried-and-tested way to get more views.
Be sure to share your animated video through here:
- Social media sites
- Email subscribers list
- Website
With these surefire tips, you increase the chance of reaching your target audience and conveying your message.
What’s your process of getting more views for your animated video? Tell us in the comments below. We’d love to know!
Collaborate with us! For inquiries, just message us at info@motioncabin.com, and let’s turn your creative ideas into actions.
Motion Cabin is a full-service digital advertising agency that can produce creative high-quality content from stunning animation videos to on-trend graphic designs and articles that effectively engage with your audience.
