4 Steps to Creating a Successful YouTube Channel

AN OPPORTUNITY

With the masses turning to Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to build their brands, there’s a less popular (but vastly successful) opportunity available on a well known video-streaming site that many overlook. While most think of YouTube as just a place to watch videos online, it can also be a great tool for businesses to expand their brand through a well curated YouTube channel. Here are 4 steps to create a successful YouTube channel.

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1. CONTENT IS KING

To have a successful YouTube channel and gain subscribers, you have to produce and post content regularly. The most popular YouTube channels have a high volume of uploads, keeping their content fresh and engaging. Committing to uploading at least one video per week is advisable, but most successful YouTubers will create and post multiple vlogs (video blogs) per week. While creating that much content may seem like a challenging feat, it will pay off in the long run. Ford’s YouTube channel does a great job keeping their content fresh by posting regularly. While they upload catchy commercials to their channel on occasion, it’s not realistic financially to create full blown commercials to post weekly. To fill in their content in between their commercials, Ford introduced a series where they compare different car models. Shorter, (seemingly) less produced content is a great way to invite users to get to know your brand in an authentic way. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHl04wb8R98

2. REINFORCE YOUR BRAND

Another important part of creating a successful YouTube channel is being original and making the content your own. Use the customizable aspects of your channel to build out your brand. Tips to reinforce your brand:

• Put thought into your profile photo and cover photo.
• Use a consistent color palette and font in every video.
• Always always brand every video with your logo.
• Plan out the video thumbnails and titles strategically. Many times, videos are clicked on simply because the viewer is intrigued by a creative title or interesting thumbnail.
• Use the title and thumbnail as a way to give the viewer a preview of what they’re going to watch, while not giving too much away.

Continued education on YouTube branding: Polish Your Brand Identity https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLpjK416fmKwQe_jo3C5YJx0e6MxrHlCuk&time_continue=172&v=JVQfM6LrSnw

3. BE ENGAGING

The third key to having a successful YouTube channel is to produce content that is engaging. Before filming a video, think about what you want your viewers to do after watching it. Should they feel moved and ready to take action? Should the video drive them to your other social media pages? Should it make them want to purchase your product? This is an important consideration to decide upon before you begin filming and editing. The best way to tell your users what they should do next is adding a CTA (call-to-action) in your video. When adding a call to action in your video, make sure there are links in the video description in addition to mentioning the CTA multiple times throughout the video. Viewers love to interact with content creators because it makes them feel like you are accessible and they feel like they know you on a more personal level. When viewers comment on your video, be sure to reply with thought out and personalized responses, not just an automated response. Lost Leblanc is a great example of a YouTuber who takes time to interact with his audience. On every video he posts, he always replies to comments to encourage continuous engagement. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYWj-ly7nR8

4. CROSS PROMOTE

When writing a description of your YouTube video, be sure to keep it short and simple and always add links to your other social media pages to encourage interaction across all your accounts. Cross promotion is a great way to make sure your audience is interacting with you and seeing your messaging everywhere they “live” online. Likewise, when you upload a YouTube video, be sure to talk about it on all your social media accounts so it receives the most views possible from all your followers across the web. I like Claudia Sulewski because she always uses the description of the video to link all products mentioned in her video and links all of her other social media pages to drive viewers to her other accounts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6P8KM9atM4

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Creating a successful YouTube channel will take some work, but the end result will be worth it. Contact MAKE films today to get started on building your video library!

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