YT YouTube2Text

YouTube2Text → Transcripts → Why The Smartest Creators I Know Focus on Packaging, Not Content

Why The Smartest Creators I Know Focus on Packaging, Not Content — Transcript

by Kallaway · 5,614 words · 802 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

Open in transcriber Summarize with AI Download SRT/VTT

Full transcript

0:00If your content is underperforming, the
0:01main reason why that's happening is the
0:04packaging. This is the number one area
0:06all my smartest creator friends obsess
0:08over. And if you don't know what
0:09packaging is or have a strategy for it,
0:11you're at a massive disadvantage. Cuz
0:14here's the truth. If you have bad
0:15packaging, you don't even really have a
0:17chance of making content that's going to
0:18perform well. So, if you want to grow
0:20faster and make sure the time you spend
0:22making content is worth it, packaging is
0:24the area you need to level up. Now, in
0:27this video, I'm going to break down 10
0:28tactical tips and frameworks to help you
0:30improve your packaging immediately. And
0:33once you hear these and incorporate them
0:34into your process, I guarantee your
0:36videos will start crushing. By the way,
0:38I'm Callaway. I have a million
0:39followers. I've done billions of views.
0:40And content is all I do all day long.
0:43All right. Now, the first tactical tip
0:44to understand is what content packaging
0:47actually means and why it's so
0:49important. Packaging for YouTube is the
0:51title, the thumbnail, and the intro of
0:53the video. The first 30 to 60 seconds.
0:55Packaging for social media is the first
0:56line of the caption, the thumbnail, and
0:58the hook. The first 3 to 5 seconds. Now,
1:01here's why packaging is the most
1:02important aspect of the content
1:04workflow, and why the smartest creators
1:06I know spend most of their time focused
1:08on it. Imagine in front of you was a
1:10table full of gifts. Now, on the table,
1:12they're all different shapes and sizes.
1:14Some laced with bows, some in bags, some
1:16with colorful wrapping paper. You get
1:18the picture. Now, if I only gave you one
1:20second to look at the table and pick a
1:22gift, which is the first one that
1:24catches your eye? For most people, it's
1:26going to be that gold one on the right
1:27hand side. Now, why is this? For one,
1:29the packaging of the gold one is
1:31generally different and more
1:32eye-catching than all the others. It
1:34pops out more. And just like a deer in
1:36the woods, people notice things that are
1:38atypical from the conventional pattern
1:40because the human brain is trained to
1:42spot differences. Now, if I told you to
1:44walk up to the table and pick one of the
1:46gifts to unwrap, and you weren't trying
1:47to be cheeky, you would probably go and
1:49pick the gold one. And the reason for
1:51that is because the gold one looks most
1:53valuable to you, and you're curious to
1:55figure out what value is inside. This
1:58one-two punch of initial awareness and
1:59then rapid valuebased curiosity is the
2:02cheat code to winning packaging. And in
2:04this video, we're going to get into a
2:05bunch of tactical psychology tips and
2:07tactics that you can use to improve your
2:10packaging so more people click and
2:12watch. But just to finish the metaphor,
2:13here's really why content packaging is
2:15so important. For all the gifts on the
2:17table you don't pick up, they might as
2:19well have been empty boxes on the
2:21inside. Because the truth is, it doesn't
2:23matter what's inside if no one ever
2:25looks. Think about it. If each of those
2:27gifts represented a piece of content you
2:29spent hours making, but nobody ever
2:31picks them up and unwraps them, well
2:33then what's inside might as well have
2:34been 15 minutes of black screen. Mr.
2:36Beast is famous for saying, "If they
2:38don't click, they don't watch."
2:40Packaging is the art of getting the
2:42viewer to click and start watching in
2:44the first place. And if you can't do
2:46that, literally nothing else matters in
2:48the content workflow downstream. Now,
2:50before I go on to the next point and
2:51give you all the tactics and tricks that
2:53I personally use, one more point of
2:55clarification on this whole metaphor.
2:56You might be thinking, "All right, the
2:58gifts on the table thing makes sense for
2:59YouTube because we're looking at a home
3:00feed of thumbnails and choosing what to
3:02pick." But on social media, I don't get
3:04to choose. The feed just serves up
3:06videos. So, how does that make sense in
3:08this whole thing? on social media. With
3:09short form video, instead of having a
3:11table full of gifts that you choose,
3:13you're getting served gifts one at a
3:15time on the feed by the algorithm. And
3:17with short form video, it's the
3:19packaging's job to get you to stop
3:20scrolling and choose to unwrap the gift.
3:23So, it's a bit of a different mechanism,
3:24but it's the exact same game. Whether
3:26it's YouTube or social media, the
3:28packaging must get the viewer to opt in
3:30and watch or nothing else matters. Now,
3:32if you believe what I'm saying about the
3:34packaging, and you should, you're
3:35probably thinking, "All right, just tell
3:36me what to change with my packaging so
3:38it's better and more people watch." And
3:40so, let's do that. First, I'm going to
3:41go through a rapidfire list of
3:43frameworks and tactics that apply to
3:45YouTube packaging for long- form
3:46content. And then, I'm going to do the
3:48same thing, different tips and tactics
3:50for short form social media packaging.
3:52If you care about content, I recommend
3:54watching the entire thing because the
3:56pieces are different, but the psychology
3:58applies to both. And spoiler alert,
4:00there are about eight gems in here that
4:01I have never heard anybody talk about.
4:03So, let's dive in. All right, packaging
4:04tip number one for YouTube is about
4:06contrast and color science. Here's how
4:08YouTube actually works. After just a few
4:10hours of watching on YouTube, a viewer's
4:12homepage is going to start having more
4:13and more videos from the same niche or
4:16category. If you like watching marketing
4:18videos, you're going to start seeing
4:19more and more marketing videos show up
4:21on the feed. Now, typically the design
4:23meta for thumbnails in a given niche
4:25tends to converge on the same aesthetic
4:28and colors. And that's because most
4:30people are lazy. And so, if one person
4:31in the category rips, everyone just
4:33copies what they see and does the exact
4:35same thing. What ends up happening is
4:37that when a viewer looks at a grid of
4:38thumbnails in a given niche, nothing
4:40pops out because all of the design and
4:42colors look the same. And in this case,
4:45the one they end up clicking on is
4:46anything with a recognizable face, like
4:48a big personal brand or a famous person,
4:50because the colors never grab their
4:52attention. However, the easiest way to
4:54get your packaging to pop, especially if
4:56you're smaller or not as wellknown, is
4:58by inversing the color meta of the
5:01category. So, for example, if the
5:03thumbnail design pattern in your niche
5:04is typically dark and busy, then go
5:06light and minimal. If your category is
5:08typically colorful and bright, then go
5:10monochromatic. And there's actually
5:12proven neuroscience behind this. The
5:14brain processes colors and brightness
5:16much faster than it can interpret
5:18objects and text. So if you just inverse
5:21the colors, brightness, and orientation
5:23of the design in your category, you'll
5:25get a lot more people to stop and pay
5:27attention to your thumbnail initially.
5:28Now, the best way to figure out what the
5:30design meta is of your niche or category
5:32is to use a tool like Click Pilot, add a
5:34bunch of the top channels, zoom out,
5:36look at the grid, and try to assess what
5:38the color pattern or design pattern
5:40looks like. When you slot your thumbnail
5:42into this grid, does it pop out or not?
5:45If not, and your face is relatively
5:47unknown, then you've got a packaging
5:48problem cuz your thumbnails will not be
5:50clickable relative to the field. So, the
5:52takeaway for this first point is this.
5:54If your niche on YouTube converges on a
5:57particular color science design pattern,
5:59inverse it so yours can pop and contrast
6:02more. All right, lesson number two for
6:04YouTube packaging goes along the same
6:06lines. And if you've been making YouTube
6:07videos for a while and they haven't been
6:09working, I guarantee this one's going to
6:10piss you off. Here's a fact that I
6:12learned way too late that really matters
6:14for packaging. More than 80% of YouTube
6:16viewers are scrolling on YouTube in dark
6:19mode. That means the dark gray or
6:21blackish background on your phone or
6:23desktop. So, if you've designed your
6:25thumbnails to pop on the traditionally
6:27white screen and you've used some
6:29darkish grayish background, well, when
6:31you flip to dark mode, if they don't pop
6:33out, you're cooked. So, this tip is
6:35critical. When you do all the color
6:37science and contrast work that I just
6:38mentioned in the first point, make sure
6:40you're doing it on dark mode. You have
6:42to pop against the field and against the
6:45background of your phone and desktop in
6:47dark mode. This is a super easy fix, but
6:49a huge design mistake that a lot of
6:50people are making. All right, packaging
6:52tip number three for YouTube is
6:53understanding packaging psychology.
6:55Here's how the psychology actually works
6:58when someone is scrolling through
6:59YouTube and trying to decide which
7:01thumbnail title combo to press. It goes
7:03like this. They see thumbnail, title,
7:06thumbnail, click. That is the flow. Let
7:09me explain this. I mentioned this a
7:10little bit before about how the brain
7:11process, but let me explain this here.
7:12When the brain is rapidly processing for
7:15information, it goes through two stages.
7:16The first is called bottoms up
7:18processing. And this is where the visual
7:20cortex can assess things like colors,
7:23motion, brightness, and broad
7:25orientation, but it's not crystal clear.
7:27It assesses those things rapidly. Think
7:30of it like a blind person that can
7:31barely see. They can't really make out
7:34exactly the letters and objects, but
7:36they could see colors blurred. They
7:38could see motion happening. That's how
7:40your brain works rapidly in real time.
7:41It happens in like 200 milliseconds. So
7:43the very first step in packaging
7:44psychology and what happens in real time
7:47all the time on YouTube is that as
7:49someone's scrolling their brain sees a
7:51different color, different brightness,
7:54some motion popping out of the corner of
7:56their eye, and that's what initially
7:58locks them on to seeing if something's
8:00interesting. So that's step one, the
8:02initial thumbnail. They haven't actually
8:03looked at it and comprehended what it
8:05is, but they've just aimed their
8:06attention towards it. That's step one.
8:08Now, step two is once they aim their
8:10attention, typically a viewer will
8:12glance down at the title. They won't try
8:14to diagnose the thumbnail first. They'll
8:16go title first. And this is because
8:18thumbnails have a lot going on. Even
8:19though there's more contextual
8:21information to process, the load and
8:23processing power required to understand
8:25a full thumbnail verse read a couple
8:27words is high to low. So, the brain
8:29seeks the easier path, which is to read
8:31the title and try to understand what it
8:34means. Now, on the first go of reading
8:35the title, most viewers don't fully
8:37comprehend the sentence unless it's
8:39perfectly worded. However, their eyes
8:41catch a few keywords and they start to
8:43build a comprehension map about what
8:45that sentence actually means. Obviously,
8:47the more they comprehend of the title on
8:49that first look, the better. This is why
8:50shorter titles on YouTube typically win.
8:52People absorb a higher percentage and
8:54they get the meaning quicker. So, at
8:56this stage on the title comprehension,
8:57they're really asking themselves, is
8:59this a go or no go? No go, they skip and
9:02go to the next one. go. They need more
9:04information before clicking. Rarely will
9:06they click on the video just by reading
9:08the title. They then look back up to the
9:11thumbnail. And this is step three. So
9:12again, I'm going through the psychology.
9:14It's initial thumbnail, title
9:15comprehension, go no-go decision, back
9:18to the thumbnail. That's where we're at.
9:19But this time, when they see the
9:21thumbnail, their brain has shifted into
9:23a different processing mode. It's called
9:24top down here. They're actually
9:26ingesting the objects, the graphics, the
9:28text, and they're trying to make sense
9:30of what it means. The first thumbnail
9:32exposure was just colors and brightness.
9:34Now they're actually going for
9:35comprehension. When they deduce
9:37comprehension from the thumbnail, if
9:39that matches the keywords or meaning
9:41that they derive from the title and
9:43they're interested, they're going to
9:44click. Now, like I said, this is super
9:46nerdy, but knowing this flow, how
9:48someone actually progresses through the
9:50thumbnail, title, thumbnail, click flow
9:52is very important because at each stage,
9:54something could go wrong and then you
9:56can know how to fix it. Here's the gut
9:58check you should be running. First, like
9:59I said, go into Click Pilot, put your
10:01thumbnail in a sea of others. If you're
10:03not even noticing it initially in the C,
10:05well, then you have a problem at that
10:07first step. That's a color, brightness,
10:09motion issue. If you are noticing it,
10:11but then once you read the title, you're
10:13just not curious enough to go back to
10:14the thumbnail. Well, then you have a
10:16problem with title clarity and
10:18comprehension. Going through this 1 123
10:20step process will help you understand
10:21where your packaging is failing so you
10:23can improve it more quickly. All right.
10:25All right. Now, if you like the lessons
10:26that I've gone through so far, I've
10:27spent the last couple months in secret
10:29working on the god tier YouTube growth
10:32playbook. Literally everything I know
10:34about YouTube, all the nerdy stuff, all
10:36the psychology systems, AI workflows,
10:38templates, everything you need to win on
10:40YouTube, all in one. There is nothing
10:43even close on the internet to this thing
10:44that I'm putting together. Now, I've got
10:45a weight list link in the description
10:47for this. I might only drop it one time
10:49for one day and then it's closed
10:50forever. I'm not yet sure how we're
10:52going to do it, but I promise you if you
10:54think you might want to hear my full
10:56comprehensive advance mode and give you
10:58my system for growth on YouTube, I'd be
11:01on that wait list. That's all I'm going
11:02to say for now. All right, tip number
11:03four for YouTube packaging is going to
11:05sound obvious, but I guarantee a lot of
11:07you are making this mistake. I call it
11:09trust quality. Here's what's really
11:11happening in a viewer's brain when
11:12they're deciding to click. And this is
11:14different psychologically from what we
11:15just went over. What a viewer is really
11:17doing is voting with their trust that if
11:20they watch a video and spend their time
11:22that it will solve a problem or give
11:24them value back. They're trying to
11:26assess a score of how well they trust
11:29the video will be able to do that. And
11:30this dance of assessing that trust is
11:32going on real time every single time
11:34they look at a title thumbnail
11:36combination. And so here's an easy
11:37framework to think about this. This
11:39really helped for me. Imagine a viewer
11:40has a trust score of 1 to 100 with every
11:43single title thumbnail combination that
11:45they see. And so as they look at the
11:47title, the thumbnail, the creator's
11:49name, the amount of views already on the
11:50video, and all the other attributes that
11:52they can see, they're trying to assess
11:54that score from 1 to 100 on if this
11:56video will actually deliver the promise
11:58made. Now, if a viewer really has a
12:00problem that they need solved, they
12:02might be willing to drop that trust
12:04score down, let's say, to 20% or 20 out
12:07of 100. So, anything that's over a 20,
12:10they're willing to give it a chance
12:11because they really want that problem
12:12solved. If a viewer doesn't really want
12:14a problem solved, the trust score
12:16required to get them to click might be
12:1880 or above or 90 or above. And so, the
12:20packaging combination would have to be
12:21above that to get them to click. Think
12:23of it kind of like based on what a
12:25viewer needs, they set a line, and then
12:27any packaging above that line, they're
12:29likely to click on it. Now, there are
12:30all sorts of attributes and factors that
12:32go into this big pot to help the viewer
12:34decide what their trust score is for a
12:37given package. The biggest two, of
12:38course, are the comprehension they get
12:40from the title, what they think it
12:42means, and the comprehension they get
12:43from the thumbnail, what they think it
12:44means. But another huge one to fix that
12:47really helps boost your trust score in
12:49the viewer's eyes is the design quality
12:52of the thumbnail itself. Is the photo or
12:54graphic you're using sharp or is it
12:56blurry? Is the headshot well lit or does
12:59it look DIY? Is the font big enough to
13:01read and clean and laid out clearly?
13:03Does it look tasteful or does it look
13:05slapped together? In other words, is the
13:07thumbnail well-designed? I'm not talking
13:08about the comprehension ability of it,
13:11although they go hand in hand. Just from
13:13a design aesthetic, when they see it,
13:15does it look professional and above the
13:17line they would expect to see on YouTube
13:19or below? The quality of the design is
13:21actually a sneaky important factor in
13:23moving that trust score line up or down.
13:26And if the design is crap, if it doesn't
13:28look good, it really hurts the trust
13:30score. And so if you have a really
13:32poorly designed thumbnail, the only
13:33people that are going to click on it are
13:35people that really, really, really have
13:36the problem you're talking about. And so
13:38their trust line is all the way down to
13:40like five. If you don't have design
13:42skills, pay someone who does. Thumbnails
13:44are the most important thing and the
13:46cheapest thing to solve for. I've got a
13:48link in the description below to the
13:49thumbnail guys that I like. If you guys
13:51want an intro, totally fine. If not,
13:53find somebody that can solve this
13:55problem for you if you're not good with
13:56design. All right, packaging lesson
13:58number five for YouTube is the intro of
14:00the video. Now, I haven't talked very
14:02much about the intro so far in this
14:03video, and to be honest, I could make a
14:05whole other video on intros alone, but
14:07here's the best tactical tip I could
14:09share about the intro so you can improve
14:10your packaging. The title thumbnail's
14:12job is to get the click initially and
14:14pass that viewer off to the intro. The
14:17intro's job is to transition between
14:19that positive emotional expectation from
14:22the click and the first hit of value
14:24they get in the body of the video. The
14:26intro is the middleman bringing the
14:28viewer from one to the other. If the
14:29intro can bridge the viewer from click
14:31to value, it has done its job. Now, if
14:33you study YouTube and you know what
14:34packaging is, you've probably heard the
14:35phrase confirm the click a million times
14:38before. Now, to make sure it does this,
14:40ask yourself this. based on the title
14:42thumbnail, what should the viewer expect
14:45to get out of this video and then say
14:47that thing in the intro as soon as
14:49possible. So, for example, the title of
14:51this video you're watching right now was
14:52this. Why the smartest creators I know
14:54focus on packaging, not content. And
14:56then in my intro for this video earlier,
14:58I literally said this. In this video,
15:00we're talking about content packaging.
15:02If your content is underperforming, the
15:04main reason that's happening is the
15:06packaging. This is the number one area
15:08my smartest creator friends obsess over.
15:10So, the first, second, and third lines
15:12of the intro were literally repeating
15:14the title verbatim because I wanted to
15:16confirm the click. That click
15:17confirmation took me 4 seconds. And
15:19that's an example of what good intros do
15:22to feed the viewers expectation and
15:25confirm it. All right, now I'm going to
15:26transition to the short form social
15:28media side of the house and packaging
15:29tips for that. By the way, I have a lot
15:31more of these YouTube packaging tips in
15:33the holster. So, if you want me to make
15:35another video just about YouTube
15:36packaging, comment something like more
15:38YouTube chef and then I'll know in the
15:40comments what that means. And also, if
15:41you like the way I'm laying these out
15:43and you're an entrepreneur, I built a
15:45free community with 65 trainings just
15:47like this for you. It's a bunch of
15:49business owners trying to get better at
15:50content. We have 33,000 people in there
15:52and like I said, it's completely free.
15:53It's called Wavy World. I got a link in
15:55the description for you if you want to
15:56join. All right. Now, as promised, I
15:57want to go through a few tactical
15:58packaging tips that apply to short form
16:00video and social media. Now, as a
16:02reminder for short form videos, what
16:04does packaging mean? It's the first line
16:05of the caption, the text that shows at
16:07the bottom above the fold. It's the
16:09thumbnail, and we're going to get to
16:10that later, and most importantly, it's
16:12the hook, the first 3 to 5 seconds, all
16:15three parts: visual, spoken, and text.
16:17Now, as I said before, because short
16:19form videos get automatically served up
16:20in the feed, the packaging has one less
16:23job. It doesn't have to get you to click
16:25and watch, but it does have to get you
16:27to stop and watch. And I call this
16:29opting in. You have to get a viewer to
16:30stop scrolling and opt in to wanting to
16:33watch. Now, the only thing that matters
16:35for that opt-in is the hook. And that's
16:37why this first tip that I'm going to go
16:38through for short form packaging is all
16:40about the clarity in the spoken hook.
16:43The hook matters so much more on short
16:45form than YouTube. And here's why that's
16:46true from a psychology perspective. On
16:48YouTube, you get to use the static title
16:50and thumbnail to build some expectation
16:53of what the topic will be about. So, as
16:55long as the intro confirms that
16:56expectation, you're golden and they're
16:58going to watch. But on social media, the
17:00viewer is seeing your video coming in
17:02completely cold. They have no previous
17:04context on the idea. They weren't
17:05expecting it to come, and they have no
17:07idea what you're talking about when they
17:08start watching. So, you need that
17:09initial hook to both focus them on you
17:12and build that expectation loop about
17:14what they're going to expect in like 3
17:16seconds. This means that the clarity of
17:18the messaging in the hook has to be so
17:20dialed that it both informs the viewer
17:22what the video is going to be about and
17:24inspires them to want to stay because
17:26they trust that that value will be
17:28transferred. Now, I've made tons of
17:30videos about short form hooks. I've also
17:31made a lot of videos about hook script
17:32writing specifically and I will link
17:34those in the description below. But
17:35here's the 8020 tip when it comes to
17:38clarity in spoken hooks. If you cannot
17:40read your script back, just the hook
17:42part, first line or first two lines, and
17:44both immediately know what the video is
17:45going to be about and have enough
17:46curiosity to want to keep reading, the
17:49hook's not good enough. So, it's
17:50absolutely critical that you compress
17:52the hook down so the clarity is
17:54maximized and the curiosity is
17:57maximized. That's tip number one. All
17:58right. Now, tip number two for short
18:00form or number seven overall is about
18:01the visual hook. Now, the visual hook is
18:03made up of the actual visuals that show
18:06in the hook when you run it. And I want
18:08you to think back to that section for
18:09the YouTube part where I talked about
18:10how the brain perceives color, motion,
18:13and brightness differently bottoms up
18:15than it does top down. If you want your
18:17hook to jump out and separate from
18:18everything on the feed, all you have to
18:20do is ratchet up the color, the motion,
18:22and the brightness. Now, you can't do it
18:24too much where you turn it up to the
18:26point where it overwhelms, like a
18:27flashbang or a strobe light. And you
18:28also can't do it to the point where the
18:30visuals disconnect from what's being
18:32said and the clarity goes down. So,
18:34those are two potholes to avoid. But if
18:36you can just turn up the color and the
18:38motion and the brightness a little bit,
18:39you'll win. You literally stun the
18:41subconscious brain into focusing on the
18:43video. And this works because people
18:45cannot outrun their own neural
18:47processing. They cannot intentionally
18:49try to not care about those things. It's
18:51programmed in the DNA. So more unique
18:53colors, more motion, more brightness,
18:54that's all you need. Now, that might not
18:55hold them. That's all about the
18:56storytelling and the script writing.
18:57That's a different video. But if you
18:58just want to stop the scroll, that will
19:00help a ton. All right, lesson number
19:01eight is about the text hook. And if you
19:03haven't watched any of my other videos
19:04on hooks, now you know there are three
19:06core components that make up a short
19:08form video hook. You have the visual
19:10hook, which is the visuals being shown,
19:12how they're laid out, and what the
19:13visuals are. You have the spoken hook,
19:15what is being said. And then you have
19:16the text hook, any words that are being
19:18shown on top of the visuals. Now, the
19:20text hook is typically not the captions,
19:22the word for word you're saying, but
19:24usually it's a title text or title hook
19:26that is extra words that pop up at the
19:28beginning that help give the viewer more
19:30context on what the video is going to be
19:32about. Now, if you don't use text hooks,
19:34you don't use title hooks. Point blank,
19:35you should be. And most of the best
19:36short form videos you see, they are
19:38using text and title hooks because of
19:40the processing speed. Yes, people see
19:42visuals before text, but they can
19:43process reading words before they can
19:46hear them. So, if the visuals act like a
19:48stun gun, which holds them on, the text
19:50hook will act like initial context so
19:53they know what the video is going to be
19:54about. Cuz your choices for context are
19:56text or speech. And like I said, text is
19:58faster to process than speech. The speed
20:00of light is faster than the speed of
20:01sound. people see and contextually
20:03understand faster than they can hear,
20:04think, and process. So, if you want
20:06another advantage in improving your
20:08packaging for short form videos, start
20:10using title text hooks. They can be any
20:12font, any size, any color treatment, as
20:14long as they pop out on the visual and
20:15your eyes go to it. And by the way, if
20:17you struggle with hooks the most for
20:19short form video, I actually have a
20:20couple things that'll make it 100 times
20:22easier for you. In Sandcastle.ai, which
20:24is my content super tool that I've been
20:25building, we just released our latest
20:27hero feature, which is the hook vault.
20:29This allows you to save any hook from
20:32your videos or other videos into a
20:34reusable component. So, for example,
20:36let's say you see a video that crushed
20:38and you really like the hook and you
20:39want to save that hook as a template
20:41that you can then use to generate your
20:42own hooks for different topics. In
20:44Sandcastles, you can literally just
20:46press save to vault. We will transcribe
20:48that hook, convert it into a Mad Lib
20:50format that works for any topic, and
20:52then when you're using our script
20:53writer, you just one-click press, and we
20:55will write new hooks in that style. It's
20:57sick. This is the easiest way to solve
20:59hookw writing. And once you build up
21:00this vault of winning hooks, you'll
21:02never have to think about hooks again.
21:03If you want to try it for free,
21:04sankcastle.ai. All right, here's another
21:06social media packaging tip that most
21:07people will not talk about. I think
21:09short form video thumbnails actually
21:11matter a lot more than people think. And
21:14when I say thumbnail, I'm talking about
21:15the static image that you see that shows
21:18when you're scrolling someone's feed.
21:20Now, of course, the thumbnail has
21:21nothing to do with the video actually
21:23being served up on the feed and getting
21:25people to watch initially, but after
21:27it's posted, it has a lot to do with
21:29three core use cases. For one, and most
21:32importantly, when your video gets shared
21:34in a group DM, like on Instagram, it
21:35gets shared via DM. The thing that shows
21:38in the DM is the thumbnail. So, the
21:40people in that DM aren't guaranteed to
21:42click it, but if the thumbnail's good
21:43and compelling, they might. The
21:45difference between five people in a
21:46group DM clicking and watching your
21:48video versus two is massive when you're
21:50talking about thousands or tens of
21:52thousands of shares. So, a better and
21:54clearer thumbnail will get clicked more
21:56often. That's why I spend an extra 5 to
21:5810 minutes on my videos custom designing
22:00my own thumbnail. Now, the second reason
22:01the thumbnail matters is because when
22:03you're trying to convert a new fan into
22:05a super fan, they're going to hit your
22:06profile and try to binge 6 to 10 more of
22:09your videos in one session. The easiest
22:11way to get them to binge the right ones
22:13is to make thumbnails where it's clear
22:15what each video is about. The more they
22:16see they actually like, the more they're
22:18going to watch and the easier it'll be
22:19to get them to become a super fan. If
22:20someone goes to your profile and you
22:21don't have the thumbnails optimized,
22:22you're missing a huge opportunity. And
22:24the third thing is having your
22:25thumbnails dialed helps with the
22:27aesthetic of your profile, which matters
22:28a lot when someone hits it and tries to
22:30convert to a new follower. So, while all
22:32three of those use cases don't mean more
22:33initial watch time on the feed, they
22:35matter a ton downstream that will lead
22:37to more fans and more followers. A few
22:39people talk about this, but I think a
22:40custom thumbnail can mean a massive
22:42difference. So, be sure to either select
22:44a frame from your video, one-click
22:46select, when you upload that has
22:47contextual information, or design a
22:49custom one on Figma or Canva. All right,
22:51the 10th and final packaging lesson for
22:53short form video is to make sure the
22:55first line of your caption is optimized.
22:57This is called above the fold. When you
22:59look down in the feed, you see a few
23:01characters, usually one sentence before
23:03the dot dot dot. Again, this is really
23:04important because this is more surface
23:06area to help provide more context if the
23:08viewer is confused about the video.
23:09Here's how it'll work for a viewer.
23:11They're going to stop from the motion
23:12and colors. They're going to watch the
23:13first 3 to 5 seconds of the hook, maybe
23:15read the title text. At some point, they
23:17might consider bouncing, but they'll
23:19look down and read the first line of
23:21that caption. If it's written in a way
23:22that induces curiosity or teases what's
23:25coming, they might hold on and keep
23:26watching. I would treat this first line
23:28of the caption like a title and try to
23:31build a curiosity loop in it. And again,
23:33while this is a smaller thing, don't
23:34sleep on it. It's extra surface area
23:36that could help retain the viewer. All
23:37right, guys. That is all I've got for
23:39this video on packaging. As explained,
23:41packaging is the number one most
23:42important part in the content workflow.
23:44It's the most slept on, the fewest
23:46people know about it, but it's actually
23:47sneaky the most important. And as a
23:49recap, for YouTube, packaging means
23:50title, thumbnail, and the first 30
23:52seconds of the intro. For short form
23:54videos on Instagram, Tik Tok, LinkedIn,
23:56YouTube, Facebook, and any other
23:57platform you're posting short form, it's
23:59the first line of the caption, the
24:00thumbnail, and the hook. the first 3 to
24:025 seconds. In this video, we went over
24:0410 tactical tips that you can implement
24:06immediately to instantly improve your
24:08packaging and help people click and
24:10watch more. As always guys, I'm trying
24:12my absolute best to cover the things
24:13that most people don't. That's why I go
24:15down these kind of nerdy psychology
24:17rabbit holes. That's why I cover these
24:18outside the box tips. So, if you like
24:20that, please consider subscribing and
24:22let me know in the comments what your
24:24favorite piece was. And lastly, if you
24:25like this video and you're a business
24:26owner or an entrepreneur and you just
24:28want an accountability group or other
24:29people that are trying to get better
24:30with content, you should definitely join
24:32Wavy World. It's completely free. It has
24:34all the curriculum, but also you can
24:35find a community, a network of people at
24:37your level as well. So, I got a link in
24:39the description for that if you want to
24:40join. And we will see you guys on the
24:41next one. Peace.

About this transcript

This page contains the full transcript of Why The Smartest Creators I Know Focus on Packaging, Not Content by Kallaway, generated from the public captions YouTube serves with the video. The transcript has 5,614 words across 802 segments, with the original timestamps preserved so you can click any line to jump to that moment in the embedded player.

What you can do with it

Use the transcript to take notes, quote the speaker, build a study guide, generate a summary with ChatGPT or Claude via the YouTube Summary tool, or export it as a timed subtitle file with YouTube to SRT. You can also re-open it in the transcriber to choose a caption track available on the video.

Free YouTube transcript tool

YouTube2Text is a free YouTube transcript generator — no signup, no daily limit. Paste any YouTube link and get the full transcript instantly, with timestamps, click-to-jump, caption language selection, AI prompts for ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, and exports to TXT, SRT, VTT, or Markdown.