Agorapulse allows you to choose a custom thumbnail for a video. This is available on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok. It's currently not available on Twitter and LinkedIn.
There are three ways you can choose a custom thumbnail for a video:
from an automatically generated set of frames (up to 20 frames)
choose a frame you like from the exact moment in the video
or, upload your own image
To select a custom thumbnail for your video, begin by clicking the 3-dot menu and then Edit video from the publishing panel window.
Next, you can either use the auto-generated frames and pick one of them:
Or you can slide through the video to pick the exact moment you wish and then choose a thumbnail from it by clicking on Choose frame from video button:
Alternatively, you can upload your own image file by clicking on the Upload your own button (This can only be done on Facebook, YouTube & Instagram Reels)
Don't forget to click the Save button when you're done.
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NOTE: There are specifics to keep in mind for each social network - please find the details below.
For Facebook video posts, you can use any of the 3 ways mentioned above - (a) choose from predefined frames that Agorapulse automatically generates, (b) choose your own frame from the video or (c) upload your own image.
For Facebook Reels, it is not possible to edit the thumbnail.
For Instagram posts, it is not possible to upload your own thumbnail. You can only choose from the predefined frames or choose your own frame from the video.
For Instagram Reels, you can use any of the 3 ways, including uploading your own image.
YouTube/YouTube Shorts
For a YouTube video post, you can use any of the 3 ways mentioned above - however, a custom thumbnail selection is only available for verified accounts. Learn more about verifying your YouTube account here. If your YouTube account is not verified, your custom thumbnail won't be used - the default thumbnail YouTube generates on its end will be used instead.
For YouTube Shorts, you can only change the thumbnail for these using the YouTube app. You will only be able to select from the pre-defined ones in the video.
TikTok
For a TikTok video post, you can choose a frame from the video - either from auto-generated frames or frames, you pick on your own. You can't upload your own image as a thumbnail, unfortunately - Instagram & TikTok require the thumbnail to be a frame from the video itself.
Twitter & LinkedIn
Choosing a custom thumbnail for a video is not supported at the moment.
Note the following requirements and technical details:
if you upload your own image, the file can be a max of 2MB
if you publish on more social networks at once, and you use a thumbnail selection method that is only supported on some of them, it'll only be applied on supported networks. On other networks, a default thumbnail will be used.
some video formats (.avi, .wmv, ...) can't be decoded in a browser, and therefore we're not able to generate frames for the thumbnail selection - in such cases, you can upload your own image (except for Instagram)
