Did you know video marketing is on the rise, with more than 78% of marketers pledging to invest some money into video production?
Now, while it can be argued that video content can be used on your website and across all social media platforms, there’s still one that’s well-known for its video distribution capabilities: YouTube.
If you’re considering taking the plunge and creating a YouTube channel for your business, this guide can help.
Here, we’ll uncover how to create a YouTube channel from start to finish (as well as how to develop a publish-ready layout and create consistent branding to ensure it gets maximum reach and engagement).
Let’s dig in, shall we?
How good branding amplifies your YouTube channel
What’s the one thing most YouTubers change (or establish) when they become successful and influential?
Their branding, of course.
For example, here’s what famous content creator, Mr. Beast’s YouTube channel used to look like back in the day:
Screenshot provided by author
Compared to this, here’s what his YouTube channel looks like today:
Screenshot provided by author
The difference is obvious — the current videos are branded, have Mr. Beast’s face in the thumbnail, use high-quality visuals, and adhere to an almost consistent character limit in the title.
Effective branding is crucial for any YouTube channel — after all, how will you establish a strong identity, foster audience loyalty, and differentiate yourself in a crowded marketplace?
To be on top of your branding efforts, here’s all that you can do:
- Leverage social analytics (this will help you keep track of viewer retention, conversion rates, user sentiments, etc.).
- Have a memorable channel name (or video titles)
- Develop engaging custom thumbnails
- Create consistent visuals
[Side Note: You can leverage Keyhole’s social media analytics feature to find how your YouTube videos perform and get recommendations on how to improve your videos.]
Read More: Have You Seen These 10-Most Viewed YouTube Videos?
Creating a branded YouTube channel
Before we discuss how to effectively brand YouTube channels, let’s first explain how to create one.
Step 1: Sign into YouTube with your Google account
For the first step, go to YouTube.com and click “Sign In” — this option will be visible in the top right corner of your dashboard.
From here on, you’ll be asked to sign in through your Google account. If you don’t have a Google account, click on “Create a new account.”
Step 2: Go to YouTube settings
Next, go to your account (again, at the top-right corner of your dashboard) and click on YouTube settings.
Step 3: Create your channel
You can create a new channel or add and manage new channels to your account.
Screenshot provided by author
Alternatively, on some devices, you’ll have the option to create a new channel directly from the dashboard — no need to go into settings.
Screenshot provided by author
Branding your YouTube channel: A step-by-step guide
Now, let’s dig into the meatier bits and find how to leverage different YouTube features to effectively brand your channel and make it stand out from the crowd.
Professional profile picture
Your channel profile picture is the window to your YouTube channel, so it’s the first thing that has to be branded. In most instances, folks opt to use the most recognizable qualities/elements of their brand.
For example, some brands like Netflix have their logo in their profile picture (since they’re known for the iconic “N”). In contrast, other brands like Huda Beauty choose to use the face of their founder, Huda Kattan, as she’s the most recognizable aspect of the brand.
You’ll have the option to add a profile picture to your YouTube channel as soon as you create it (you can later change this by going to your channel settings).
Screenshot provided by author
If you don’t have a branded profile photo, you can keep your profile picture blank or use the illustrations from YouTube’s collection.
Optimized channel description
An optimized channel description will help search engines and prospects find you on different channels. It also bolsters your professional image.
Experts suggest the following tips/tricks to make your description stand out:
- Adding links to important resources (i.e., your website or branded social channels)
- Removing any “fluff” from the description
- Using relevant keywords in the description
- Highlighting your value proposition
- Creating a strong opening line
- Adding an actionable CTA
- Leveraging social proof
On that note, here are a couple of other things you can do, too:
- Mention your updated schedule so your audience doesn’t have to make any guesstimates.
- A/B testing your description to see which one stands out the most.
- Directly referencing who your target audience is.
For reference, here’s an example of a channel describing who their target audience is (eCommerce content teams) and how they can help them (by bulk generating product descriptions).
Screenshot provided by author
Customized channel layout
Once you set up your account, now’s the time to create a content calendar and think about how you plan to format and present your videos.
For example, some YouTube channels prefer to customize their layouts based on playlists, recent uploads, popular content, or personalized “for you” recommendations.
Sticking to a consistent layout allows your viewers to navigate your videos easily (which also increases engagement!).
You can also customize your channel layout by adding YouTube shorts, creating a channel banner, adding related channels you’d like your audience to follow, developing a community page, etc.
Screenshot provided by author
Consistent, branded video thumbnails
Truth be told: Your thumbnails are the “hook” to your videos, and while we don’t recommend adding any clickbaity thumbnails to your YouTube channel, we’d recommend branding your thumbnails with your brand colors (and also adding your unique value prop or reason to watch the video).
For example, consider these videos by Fellow. They use consistent color palettes and typography in almost all their videos and even include hook-worthy video descriptions that tell the reader exactly how these videos can be beneficial to them.
Screenshot provided by author
[Side Note: They even use the same expert for all their videos, so there’s an inherent brand familiarity and instant recognition.]
Branded playlists
Next up, once you’ve created a good number of videos for your YouTube channel, an industry best practice is to categorize each video into a playlist, and create branded playlists for your entire YouTube channel.
For reference, an excellent example here is the Variety YouTube channel that not only creates branded thumbnails, but also has branded playlists for almost every new segment they do.
Screenshot provided by author
Consistent layout of playlists like these helps with the following:
- Increased user engagement
- Focused audience targeting
- New content discovery
- Visibility through SEO
- Improved watch time
Engaging and informational content
Last but not least, one of the only ways to be successful on YouTube is to actually create the kind of content people want to engage with.
Even if you go to all the lengths of developing consistent branding throughout your YouTube channel, but your content misses the mark, chances are, you’re not going to have the engagement metrics you need.
For this, we’d recommend having a conversation with your customers (or your customer-facing teams) to find out what kind of content they’d like to see.
Utilizing web data to uncover trends and relevant influencers in your industry is the best strategy to focus your marketing and content creation efforts. Data collection tools can scrape social profiles from platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram.
This allows businesses to identify key influencers in their niche, track performance metrics, and integrate that data into larger influencer marketing campaigns. Ultimately, by leveraging data collection tools, creators and companies alike can stay agile, adapt to market trends, and make data-driven decisions that optimize their YouTube strategies.
[Side Note: You can also use social analytical tools like Keyhole to help you understand audience sentiments.]
For reference, here is a stellar examples of a brand that spoke to their audience and understood what kind of content they liked engaging with:
Tailor Brands: Informational content
Tailor Brands, a business-building platform, quickly realized that its audience was missing the necessary resources required to establish and grow a business from scratch.
Finding that gap in the market, it decided to create videos that helped its audience with important questions like “What is an LLC,” “How to build a business website,” “How to make your first sale,” “How to start an LLC in North Carolina,” etc.
For reference, here’s what their videos look like live. (Kudos to them for consistent branded thumbnails, too!)
Screenshot provided by author
Make YouTube your brand’s next platform for success
Assuming you’ve invested some time, money, and effort in creating and branding your YouTube channel, you might want to take your YouTube channel to the next level and monetize from the content you produce.
Well, one way to do this is to be systematic with your approach and understand how your videos perform, which are your most popular videos, and why. For this, you’ll need a YouTube analytics tool that allows you to track engagement, audience sentiments, conversion rates, etc.
And Keyhole can become that tool for you — not only can we help with YouTube analytics, but we can help with analytics of all platforms, and also assist with social listening and historical insights.
Author Bio
Mike Bandar is an award-winning UK-based entrepreneur. A Founding Partner of Turn Partners, the startup studio focused on the acquisition, turnaround or creation of digital businesses. Through Turn Partners, Mike co-founded Hopper HQ, the Instagram planning and scheduling tool, working with thousands of influencers, brands, and agencies around the world.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Is it worth starting a YouTube channel?
It depends on where your audience is. If you have an active audience on YouTube, then yes, it makes sense to start a YouTube channel.
2. How do you change YouTube layouts?
Head to YouTube Studio, click on “Customization,” and select Layout. From there, you can easily organize your channel layout.
3. Is a YouTube branded channel free?
Yes, a YouTube branded channel is completely free! However, being on top of your branding efforts might cost a bit 🙂
4. Can you monetize a YouTube branded channel?
Yes, you can monetize a YouTube branded channel (provided you follow its monetization policies). To monetize your channel, you’ll first need to apply to YouTube’s partner program.
