Campaign Titles and Thumbnails That Get Completed

What makes offerwall campaign creative work?

On an offerwall, your creative is a thumbnail and a title, and users decide in about a second whether to open your task. Creative that gets completed is recognizable, honest and specific: a clear logo or app icon that matches what users will see after they click, and a title that says exactly what to do. Clickbait gets clicks from people who quit at step two; plain, accurate creative gets fewer wasted starts and more approved completions.

This guide covers where the thumbnail and title appear on Sharklio, the file rules, and how to make both work. For the instructions and proof that follow, read Write instructions that pass review.

Where users see your title and thumbnail

A thumbnail is required on every Sharklio campaign. You can save a draft without one, but you cannot submit the campaign for review until you add it. Users meet it in several places, at different sizes:

The History matters more than it seems. A user who sent proof yesterday comes back to check the status, and a familiar thumbnail is how they find your task again. If the status is a rejection they want to dispute, the same image tells them which advertiser it was.

Thumbnail file rules

These are the limits in the campaign builder:

• Formats: JPG, PNG or WebP up to 5MB, or an animated GIF up to 2MB.
• Shape: widescreen 16:9 works best, because that is the shape of the offerwall card.
• Size: larger images are scaled down to fit within 1,280 by 720 pixels, so a 1,280 by 720 image is a good target. Smaller images work but can look soft on large screens.
• Changes: replacing the thumbnail of a live campaign sends it back to our team for review, like changes to the title or instructions.

Animated GIFs are kept animated. Use motion sparingly: a short, calm loop of real gameplay can help a game task, but flashing or fast animation makes a card harder to read and does not make the task more attractive to careful users.

What makes a good thumbnail

Design for the 16:9 banner and the center square

Because the same image appears both as a wide banner and as a small square cropped from the middle, the safest layout is a 16:9 canvas with the important part in the center. Put your logo or app icon in the middle third, and fill the sides with a plain color, a soft gradient, or a background scene that can be cut off without losing anything. Keep the top right corner free of anything important, since a badge can sit there on the card.

Make it recognizable

Use the same icon or logo users will see on the landing page, in the app store, or on the home screen after they install. When the first screen after the click matches the thumbnail, users know they are in the right place and continue. A generic stock photo of a smiling person tells users nothing about your task and makes it look like every other one.

Readable at small sizes

In History the thumbnail is a small square, roughly the size of a fingertip on a phone. A simple shape with strong contrast still reads at that size; fine detail and small text do not. Test it by shrinking your image to a small square and looking at it on a phone.

No text walls

The title, reward and instructions already sit next to the image. Text inside the thumbnail repeats them, cannot be read at small sizes, and is cut off by the square crop. One or two words, such as the product name, is the most you need.

No misleading claims

Leave out anything the task does not deliver or that the offerwall decides, such as reward amounts, “Instant payout”, “Guaranteed approval”, fake buttons, or badges that look like part of the offerwall. Use only logos and images you have the right to use. Misleading offers are on the prohibited list, so creative like this can get a campaign sent back at review, as Why was my campaign rejected? explains.

How to write a title that gets completed

The campaign title is shown to users, needs at least 5 characters, and is cut off after two lines on the offerwall card. An optional internal title is shown only to you, so use that one for your own labels, such as “US test, October”.

• Say the action and the result. “Install Coin Quest and reach level 5” tells users what to do and where it ends. “Coin Quest” alone does not.
• Put the important words first, so they survive if the title is cut off on a narrow phone.
• Be honest about effort. If the task needs an email confirmation, a purchase, or 20 minutes of play, a user should be able to guess it from the title. Surprises show up as abandoned tasks and disputes.
• No reward amounts. The offerwall shows the reward next to your title, in each publisher’s own currency, so a dollar figure in the title will not match what users see.
• No ALL CAPS, no strings of exclamation marks, no emoji clutter. They read as spam and make the task look less trustworthy.
• No clickbait. “You won’t believe this app” or “Easiest task ever” promises something the user cannot check, and attracts users who give up when it is not true.
• Plain language. Write in clear English if you target English-speaking countries, and avoid internal names or jargon your users do not know.

The first line of your instructions is part of the creative

Under the title, the offerwall card shows a short preview of your task instructions, about two lines, with step numbers removed. That makes your first step or first sentence the card’s description. Start with something that summarizes the task, such as “Open the starting link and create a free account with your email”, rather than a greeting or a paragraph about your company.

The rest of the instructions, the proof requirement, and the starting link follow on the task page. Write instructions that pass review covers the steps, and Proof requirements for every task type gives proof wording you can copy.

What else users weigh next to your creative

Good creative earns the click, but users also see signals you influence through how you run the campaign. Once a task has at least 10 decided completions, users see the share that was approved. Once enough completions have been timed, they also see how long the task takes on average. A fair review record and an honest title that matches the real effort make both numbers work for you. Approval windows: how to choose one and review on time explains how to review fairly.

Creative checklist before you submit

1. Is the thumbnail 16:9, with the logo or icon in the center and nothing important near the edges?
2. Can you still recognize it when shrunk to a small square on a phone?
3. Does it match what users see right after they click?
4. Does the title name the action and the finish line, with the important words first?
5. Is the title free of reward amounts, capitals, hype and promises the task does not keep?
6. Does the first sentence of the instructions summarize the task?

Frequently asked questions