End Card
Final still frame with credits, CTA, subscribe button. YouTube's closing handshake.
- COINED
- 2010s
- TAXONOMY
- ON-SCREEN
- RELATED
- 4
- TEMPLATES
- 0
The end card is the final still frame at the close of a YouTube video. It's the platform's official subscribe-and-watch-next surface, a 5-20 second hold where the creator pitches the next video, asks for a follow, or both.
It exists because retention metrics reward you for keeping viewers on the platform. A well-designed end card converts another 5-15% of viewers into a click-through to your next video. Multiply that across a channel and it's a meaningful audience-growth lever.
The mistake creators make is treating the end card as decoration. Treat it as a CTA. One clear next-action: subscribe, watch, click. Keep it on screen long enough to read but not so long the viewer tunes out. 15 seconds is the sweet spot.
End of every YouTube video meant to drive subscription or watch-next. Branded video where a CTA is the whole point.
On TikTok or Reels - the audience swipes before your end card lands. In narrative film.
Terms next to this one.
Full-screen text between scenes. Wes Anderson grammar.
Image to black. Use it as punctuation. Don't overuse it as periods - every paragraph has one, but not every sentence.
A short, final beat - joke, twist, or visual button - slapped on after the scene felt over. Comedy lives here.
Final image or beat that closes a scene. Sit on it half a second longer than feels right.