Putting the actual product on the thumbnail beat the "shocked face" by a mile for sales.

Putting the actual product on the thumbnail beat the "shocked face" by a mile for sales.

A camera reviewer A/B tested: clickbait reaction face vs clean product hero shot. Reaction face won on click-through, 9.1% vs 7.4%.

But affiliate sales? Product thumbnail won 1.6x. The face pulled curious browsers. The product pulled buyers.

CTR is a vanity metric if the clicks don't carry intent. Optimize for the click that converts, not the most clicks.

Still chasing raw CTR? Why.