Joe Fier admits clickbait thumbnails work, using exaggerated expressions to pull clicks. He calls it the chocolate covered broccoli approach: sensational thumbnail gets you in, then the actual video brings you back down to earth.
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Here's the thing. Clickbait works so well, and I hate clickbait, but it works. If I make a video that's just me going like this. Just like a straight face. Yeah. Nobody clicks on it. If I make a video of me going, it looks like I'm yelling or pulling my hair out or going or looking scared or like doing some crazy, like, emotional looking pose, the videos get clicks and it's like, all right, I guess I gotta do some of this, like, chocolate covered broccoli strategy here where I make the thumbnail something that's going to get the clicks and then when I get them into the video, I bring him back down to earth a little bit.