We’ve covered why brands and brand marketers should get serious about their presence on YouTube. In the next installment of this series, we’ll start digging into the how of this growing a brand YouTube channel series.
We’ll take inspiration and lessons from some brands that are killing it on YouTube, and talk through some of the fundamentals of starting (perhaps resurrecting) or growing a brand YouTube channel that stands out and gets results.
Create the Right Branding for Your Company’s YouTube Channel
YouTube branding involves creating a distinct visual and messaging identity for a channel to resonate with the target audience. It’s critical in establishing a recognizable and authentic presence on the platform. It includes elements like channel art, logos, color schemes, typography, intro/outro videos, and overall visual aesthetics.
If you have a marketing team, your company’s identity has hopefully been established and now it’s a case of using those design elements on your channel so you provide a consistent and trustworthy experience for the viewer.
Define Your Brand and Identify Your Target Audience
Establishing a successful YouTube channel begins with a clear definition of your brand’s purpose and the specific audience you aim to attract. Your channel’s purpose should articulate its goal and content niche while understanding your target audience involves recognizing their demographics, interests, and needs.
Nike does a stunning job of pitching content it knows should resonate with viewers invested in the brand. It does upload marketing material to its channel but only as part of a larger mix of stories in the fitness space.
Highlighting sporting events, pro and amateur athletes who have overcome physical and mental challenges, team news, and more, the brand has tapped into an enviable community of viewers who engage with the channel on a massive scale. Nike has over 80 published videos that have topped 1M views, and it generated just under 18M YouTube views in December 2023 alone.
Getting clear on your brand’s story allows you to create content that delivers focused value. Tailoring your content, language, and visuals to resonate effectively with your audience builds a loyal subscriber base and fosters a strong brand identity on YouTube.
Consistent branding boosts channel visibility and recognition.
Key Elements of YouTube Branding:
- Channel Art: Design visually appealing banners, a logo, and headers that represent your brand. A visually engaging channel banner is one of the first introductions a viewer has to our presence on YouTube, so make sure it highlights your unique value proposition. Ensure your graphics, overlays, and lower thirds align with your brand’s visual identity. Consistency in visual branding enhances your channel’s aesthetics, making it more visually appealing and professional while fostering viewer trust and loyalty
Beauty is one of the biggest YouTube categories and one that is overwhelmingly dominated by influencer and user-generated content. As a brand, NYX uses its channel to successfully promote its products via tutorials and uses its banner art to showcase a line of cosmetics used in those tutorials.
- Use Consistent Design Concepts like graphics and overlays that match your brand guidelines. Creating a consistent style and tone in your video content that reflects your brand personality creates a cohesive and memorable visual experience for viewers, reinforcing your brand identity. You want a cohesive and professional look.
- Organize your channel layout to showcase your best content and facilitate easy navigation. Create playlists categorizing videos based on topics or themes, prominently featuring popular or latest videos on your homepage. Utilize sections to highlight different content types and customize their order and appearance for an optimized user experience.
- Craft an Engaging Channel Trailer: If you haven’t already done so, create a compelling video that showcases your channel and brand to encourage viewers to subscribe. Think of it as a sizzle reel, a piece of content that highlights the type of content viewers can expect. A well-crafted channel trailer can generate more subscribers and engagement.
A great example of an engaging channel trailer is this short clip from Dropbox. The brand demonstrates that it understands the frustration a chaotic work environment can cause and offers its audience a quick run-through of the benefits it can offer via its cloud storage solutions:
- Optimize Your Channel’s Description and About Section to help viewers understand what your brand and your content will offer. A catchy but informative channel description should communicate your channel’s purpose, content, and value prop. Use relevant keywords strategically throughout the description to enhance search engine visibility. In the About section, provide additional details about your channel, including your mission, background, and relevant links or social media handles. Incorporate keywords to improve SEO and take the opportunity to connect with your audience, showcase your expertise, and build credibility.
- Intro/Outro Videos: Craft engaging and consistent video intros and outros.
- Thumbnails: Design eye-catching thumbnails that maintain a cohesive look. Develop a branded template for video thumbnails,
- Engage with Your Audience: Actively interact and communicate with your viewers through comments, likes, and shares and via the Community Tab. Also, respond to comments on your videos to show appreciation and encourage feedback from your viewers (don’t worry; comment moderation is alive and well on YouTube, and all channels should be taking full advantage of it. Community features such as Q&A sessions and polls are awesome opportunities to communicate directly with your followers and potential customers. Like any other social platform, YouTube works best for brands and publishers when they actively listen to their audience to create an engaged community around your channel. YouTube is ideal for asking for feedback and publishing content around those suggestions. Ask your audience what they want, and try to provide it via your uploads. Viewers subscribe to channels they’re getting value from, so keep that foremost in mind as part of your content strategy.
- Define Your Target Audience: take the take to research what your idea audience is interested in and will consume content about. Understand what keywords they will search for to find your product or service. As part of your audience development strategy, craft your short or long-form content to meet their needs.
- Don’t forget to Promote Your Videos and use them as marketing collateral for other channels. YouTube videos can be embedded in newsletters, emails, social posts, blog content, or website landing pages.
YouTube lets you diversify your content game. From tutorials and reviews to entertaining skits and vlogs, there’s a format for every brand. Keep it fresh dynamic, and your audience will come back for more.
YouTube Marketing isn’t just a trend – it’s a brand-building necessity. So, whether you’re a seasoned marketer or just dipping your toes into the digital waters, make sure YouTube is a pivotal part of your strategy. Your brand deserves the spotlight, and YouTube is the stage waiting for your grand entrance. If you’ve been pondering how to start a YouTube channel but haven’t taken the plunge, consider this your sign to dive in.
Measure What Matters
A brand lift study can help brand marketers hone in on the metrics that matter to improve their influencer marketing outcomes and, with BENlabs AI, drive and scale their influencer marketing efforts to new heights of success.
