The more people watch your videos, the better your chance of making money. So it makes sense to devise ways to entice people to click on your video. Custom thumbnails are a common way to get more video views on YouTube, but will they work on Amazon?
What Does the Data Say?
Unfortunately, there is no tracking for this specific metric in the Amazon infrastructure and no way to do your own tracking (split A/B testing is a common way, but it’s not possible yet in the Influencer program).
So, How Can We Test Custom Thumbnails?
It’s all about the eyeball test, at least for now.
The longer you are in the program, the more you get familiar with how different types of videos and settings perform. You can only monitor your items, track their view counts, and watch your sales. Pick 5 items, spend 30 days without a custom thumbnail, and the next 30 with one. If you see more sales with a custom thumbnail, then perhaps custom thumbnails for your account perform better.
What Current Influencers Say
The majority of Amazon Influencers will tell you that they do not see any difference between Shoppable videos with or without custom thumbnails. This might be due to a lack of tracking tools for Influencers to truly gauge, but it’s mostly the “eyeball test.”
I can attest that now, with over 1,000 posts on my Influencer account, I haven’t noticed a difference. I do still make a custom thumbnail for most of my videos, but I do them very quickly, usually at the same time I am shooting the video.
If you create custom thumbnails, you can also upload those as picture posts. Pictures appear in your Amazon Influencer storefront just like videos and do result in clicks, although there is no connection between picture clicks and commissions that we have seen.
Sellers Like Custom Thumbnails On Your Videos
The one thing you can guarantee increasing by doing custom thumbnails is that brands/sellers who are looking to work with Influencers appreciate the extra effort on your videos. They will be more likely to reach out to you if they see you take the time to create custom thumbnails on at least some of your videos.
Let’s Wrap It Up
Custom thumbnails are a good idea, but only if you can make them quickly. It might not be proven that they result directly in more commissions, but they do increase your Storefront’s visibility to brands and sellers, which can result in more cooperation. This leads to more videos, which opens the door to more commissions…eventually.
My recommendation? Quickly animatedly pose with your products when you are shooting your video. This is a quick way to make a great thumbnail for your video, and it will only take an additional 5 seconds to complete. It’s well worth it.
