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"2024 Approved Transform Your Channels' Image A Pathway to More Subscribers and Followers"
Transform Your Channels’ Image: A Pathway to More Subscribers and Followers
How to Brand Your YouTube Channel to Get More Subscribers
Shanoon Cox
Nov 01, 2022• Proven solutions
Epic Meal Time. Michelle Phan. Peter McKinnon. When you think of each of these YouTube creators, what comes to mind? The feelings and thoughts you have are vastly different because each one of these channels has its own unique branding.
Epic Meal Time’s YouTube brand is in-your-face and intense. It pumps you full of adrenaline and increases your heart rate.
Michelle Phan’s YouTube brand is calm, whimsical, and aspirational.
The color palette she chose is pleasing to the eyes and doesn’t evoke any of the stress we get from Epic Meal Time.
They have different branding because they want to reflect different feelings for different audiences.
Bad Branding Causes Mistrust
When a branding element does not align with the message or the tone does not match with the material, then the audience is not going to trust what you offer. Without trust, you won’t be able to get the advocacy that is essential for a YouTube channel to grow.
Imagine Michelle Phan using the aggressive colors of Epic Meal Time or vice versa. Pretty weird, huh?
What is YouTube Branding?
You might think that branding simply comes together while making videos, but that’s not true. Branding takes a bit of preparation and foresight.
YouTube branding is the idea your viewers have in mind and the emotion they get when they think about your channel.
Here are notable elements of your channel’s branding:
- Channel name
- Channel art
- Video thumbnail
- Video title
- Icon
- Watermark
- Catchphrase
- Style of video
How to Start Branding Your YouTube Channel?
Before you start designing thumbnails and coming up with a catchphrase, the first step in branding is understanding the purpose of your channel. Once you have a purpose, you will know how you want your viewers to feel.
Here is a quick exercise to find your channel’s purpose:
Draw a 3 circle Venn diagram.
In circle 1, write down everything you consider yourself an expert in.
- What do your friends know you for?
- What can you give advice on?
- What did you go to school to learn?
In circle 2, write down all the topics you are passionate about.
- What can you talk effortlessly about for hours?
- At a party, where do you lead conversations towards?
In circle 3, write down everything that people will pay for that you can supply. Here is where you find the demand of the audience.
- Can you give me travel advice?
- Can you make people forget about their stressful day?
- Do you have experience in a specialized field?
Understanding what people will pay money for will help guide you in creating content that has true value.
In the center, come up with all the ideas that can be associated with all three circles. This will be the ideal purpose for your YouTube channel as it harnesses your expertise, your passion, and the demand of a viewership.
Examples:
Epic Meal Time
Expertise = Eating
Passion = Fast Food Culture
Demand = Unique Meals
PURPOSE: Showcase a unique combination of fast food people won’t make at home.
Michelle Phan
Expertise = Beauty Products
Passion = Makeup and Fashion
Demand = Beauty School
PURPOSE: Give people more confidence in beauty products.
How Is Your Channel Different From the Others?
Now that you have your purpose, it’s time to separate you from others with similar purposes. YouTube is a crowded space for content creators. If your channel is mimicking another more successful channel, you will be in the shadows.
Good branding allows you to differentiate from others .
Pick a Unique and Memorable Name
If your name is Michelle Phan, and you are not the Michelle Phan, I’m sorry, but you will need to pick another name for your YouTube channel:
If you do have to pick another name or if your channel is an ensemble with multiple members, make sure the name you choose is original, memorable, and short (4 words max).
Picking an Icon
Not every YouTuber needs to design an original logo for their brand. In fact, if the channel is about you — the YouTuber — you are the brand, so using a high-quality picture of yourself as the icon is okay.
However, if your channel has a specific theme or topic and you want your branding to convey it so it sticks in the viewers’ heads, especially if it’s their first time viewing your channel. A clear logo will help in amplifying your message:
Create Video Thumbnails That Stand Out
The power of good branding is that your viewers will be able to spot your brand in a crowded space. On YouTube, the crowded space is the suggested video section.
Epic Meal Time thumbnails standing out amongst other loud thumbnails.
Once you have the feeling you want to evoke, test out different thumbnails. Go incognito, search up your videos, and see how the visuals appear beside your competitions. Do they all have the same style or is your far more impressive?
Good branding doesn’t happen in the first try so keep experimenting.
Designing Your Icon, Thumbnail, and Channel Art
There is a lot to consider when designing all the visual elements for your channel. I won’t get into all of it, but here are some tips that you should always keep in mind.
- Less is more: Don’t clutter your icons, thumbnails, or banner.
- Have a single focus: A channel and a video can have a lot of different topics, but the image can’t show everything a video can. Pick one important area and highlight that in the image.
- Quality matters: Your audience is savvier than ever. If they see a pixelated image, they will judge your channel poorly. That’s bad branding. Always use high-quality pictures.
- Make sure the color pops and the text is visible: Use eye-catching colors and visible text. This is a billboard, you have milliseconds to get people’s attention as they scroll past.
Want more resources for creating your channel’s visual elements? Yes? Well, we made this for you:
- How to Make YouTube Video Thumbnail
How to Make Your Visuals Consistent?
When a viewer finds your video and considers it pretty interesting, they will then go into your channel page to learn more. Here is where they make their decision: subscribe or not subscribe?
Consistent branding affirms the viewer that they are in the right place. Peter McKinnon’s brand is built upon his amazing photography, it only makes sense that his visual elements are awesome.
Peter McKinnon is best known for his photography and cinematography, and his branding amplifies that.
But Branding Is Not Designing, It’s A Feeling
Don’t get too caught up with a design.
Look at PewDiePie’s branding. You can argue that it is inconsistent and the design is not professional, but actually, his branding is spot on, because he is making you feel a certain way.
PewDiePie’s brand highlights its upbeat and unpredictable personality.
PewDiePie wants you to laugh. He is not branding his expertise like Peter McKinnon is, he’s branding his personality.
Consistent branding is about making the elements of your channel: channel art, logo, thumbnails, titles, etc. all harmonize together to evoke a sensation.
The humor in PewDiePie’s brand is consistent, even though his thumbnails don’t look like Philip DeFranco’s. It is up to you how you define consistency, and that will happen over time.
Philip DeFranco supplies commentary on current events with a satirical flair. Like a news broadcast, his branding and video format are consistent, while the daily news is different.
Inserting A Watermark
The main point of a watermark is to let the viewers know when they are watching your video that it is in fact your video.
Let’s be honest, YouTube content can all look the same, especially if you are making content that is quite general (like beauty or tech), so a watermark helps differentiate, so when viewers are ready to subscribe, they have an extra branding element connecting them to your channel.
Improvement Pill is a YouTube channel focused on inspiring and motivating its viewer to live a better life.
Above we see an example of a watermark from the YouTube channel Improvement Pill. You can see the watermark in the lower right-hand corner.
Improvement Pill is not the only channel that uses whiteboard animation to illustrate their story, and because of that, they need to set themselves apart. A watermark helps do that.
When a viewer lands on their video, the watermark gives the viewer another way to get more familiar with the channel, and if they are to scroll over the watermark a subscription button pops up.
Want to set up your subscription watermark? Here is a quick tutorial:
Coming Up With A Catchphrase
A catchphrase can be your greeting or sign off, but it doesn’t have to be an original line, it can simply be the way you say “hello.”
Check out some of the popular YouTuber’s catchphrases:
When coming up with a catchphrase that is connected to your channel’s branding remember how you want the viewer to feel. Do you want to leave them with a smile? Or do you want them to take action?
Final Thoughts On YouTube Branding
As you build and grow your YouTube channel, you can expand your purpose while still sticking within the overall theme. You might have started a channel that focused on the topic of nutrition, but as you grow, you will discover that your audience may also be interested in fitness tips or workout accessories as well. Take it slowly and grow with purpose.
Your branding doesn’t dictate the content you create, but it does affect how you go about making it.
Got more questions about branding your YouTube channel? Let us know in the comments below.
Shanoon Cox
Shanoon Cox is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Shanoon Cox
Shanoon Cox
Nov 01, 2022• Proven solutions
Epic Meal Time. Michelle Phan. Peter McKinnon. When you think of each of these YouTube creators, what comes to mind? The feelings and thoughts you have are vastly different because each one of these channels has its own unique branding.
Epic Meal Time’s YouTube brand is in-your-face and intense. It pumps you full of adrenaline and increases your heart rate.
Michelle Phan’s YouTube brand is calm, whimsical, and aspirational.
The color palette she chose is pleasing to the eyes and doesn’t evoke any of the stress we get from Epic Meal Time.
They have different branding because they want to reflect different feelings for different audiences.
Bad Branding Causes Mistrust
When a branding element does not align with the message or the tone does not match with the material, then the audience is not going to trust what you offer. Without trust, you won’t be able to get the advocacy that is essential for a YouTube channel to grow.
Imagine Michelle Phan using the aggressive colors of Epic Meal Time or vice versa. Pretty weird, huh?
What is YouTube Branding?
You might think that branding simply comes together while making videos, but that’s not true. Branding takes a bit of preparation and foresight.
YouTube branding is the idea your viewers have in mind and the emotion they get when they think about your channel.
Here are notable elements of your channel’s branding:
- Channel name
- Channel art
- Video thumbnail
- Video title
- Icon
- Watermark
- Catchphrase
- Style of video
How to Start Branding Your YouTube Channel?
Before you start designing thumbnails and coming up with a catchphrase, the first step in branding is understanding the purpose of your channel. Once you have a purpose, you will know how you want your viewers to feel.
Here is a quick exercise to find your channel’s purpose:
Draw a 3 circle Venn diagram.
In circle 1, write down everything you consider yourself an expert in.
- What do your friends know you for?
- What can you give advice on?
- What did you go to school to learn?
In circle 2, write down all the topics you are passionate about.
- What can you talk effortlessly about for hours?
- At a party, where do you lead conversations towards?
In circle 3, write down everything that people will pay for that you can supply. Here is where you find the demand of the audience.
- Can you give me travel advice?
- Can you make people forget about their stressful day?
- Do you have experience in a specialized field?
Understanding what people will pay money for will help guide you in creating content that has true value.
In the center, come up with all the ideas that can be associated with all three circles. This will be the ideal purpose for your YouTube channel as it harnesses your expertise, your passion, and the demand of a viewership.
Examples:
Epic Meal Time
Expertise = Eating
Passion = Fast Food Culture
Demand = Unique Meals
PURPOSE: Showcase a unique combination of fast food people won’t make at home.
Michelle Phan
Expertise = Beauty Products
Passion = Makeup and Fashion
Demand = Beauty School
PURPOSE: Give people more confidence in beauty products.
How Is Your Channel Different From the Others?
Now that you have your purpose, it’s time to separate you from others with similar purposes. YouTube is a crowded space for content creators. If your channel is mimicking another more successful channel, you will be in the shadows.
Good branding allows you to differentiate from others .
Pick a Unique and Memorable Name
If your name is Michelle Phan, and you are not the Michelle Phan, I’m sorry, but you will need to pick another name for your YouTube channel:
If you do have to pick another name or if your channel is an ensemble with multiple members, make sure the name you choose is original, memorable, and short (4 words max).
Picking an Icon
Not every YouTuber needs to design an original logo for their brand. In fact, if the channel is about you — the YouTuber — you are the brand, so using a high-quality picture of yourself as the icon is okay.
However, if your channel has a specific theme or topic and you want your branding to convey it so it sticks in the viewers’ heads, especially if it’s their first time viewing your channel. A clear logo will help in amplifying your message:
Create Video Thumbnails That Stand Out
The power of good branding is that your viewers will be able to spot your brand in a crowded space. On YouTube, the crowded space is the suggested video section.
Epic Meal Time thumbnails standing out amongst other loud thumbnails.
Once you have the feeling you want to evoke, test out different thumbnails. Go incognito, search up your videos, and see how the visuals appear beside your competitions. Do they all have the same style or is your far more impressive?
Good branding doesn’t happen in the first try so keep experimenting.
Designing Your Icon, Thumbnail, and Channel Art
There is a lot to consider when designing all the visual elements for your channel. I won’t get into all of it, but here are some tips that you should always keep in mind.
- Less is more: Don’t clutter your icons, thumbnails, or banner.
- Have a single focus: A channel and a video can have a lot of different topics, but the image can’t show everything a video can. Pick one important area and highlight that in the image.
- Quality matters: Your audience is savvier than ever. If they see a pixelated image, they will judge your channel poorly. That’s bad branding. Always use high-quality pictures.
- Make sure the color pops and the text is visible: Use eye-catching colors and visible text. This is a billboard, you have milliseconds to get people’s attention as they scroll past.
Want more resources for creating your channel’s visual elements? Yes? Well, we made this for you:
- How to Make YouTube Video Thumbnail
How to Make Your Visuals Consistent?
When a viewer finds your video and considers it pretty interesting, they will then go into your channel page to learn more. Here is where they make their decision: subscribe or not subscribe?
Consistent branding affirms the viewer that they are in the right place. Peter McKinnon’s brand is built upon his amazing photography, it only makes sense that his visual elements are awesome.
Peter McKinnon is best known for his photography and cinematography, and his branding amplifies that.
But Branding Is Not Designing, It’s A Feeling
Don’t get too caught up with a design.
Look at PewDiePie’s branding. You can argue that it is inconsistent and the design is not professional, but actually, his branding is spot on, because he is making you feel a certain way.
PewDiePie’s brand highlights its upbeat and unpredictable personality.
PewDiePie wants you to laugh. He is not branding his expertise like Peter McKinnon is, he’s branding his personality.
Consistent branding is about making the elements of your channel: channel art, logo, thumbnails, titles, etc. all harmonize together to evoke a sensation.
The humor in PewDiePie’s brand is consistent, even though his thumbnails don’t look like Philip DeFranco’s. It is up to you how you define consistency, and that will happen over time.
Philip DeFranco supplies commentary on current events with a satirical flair. Like a news broadcast, his branding and video format are consistent, while the daily news is different.
Inserting A Watermark
The main point of a watermark is to let the viewers know when they are watching your video that it is in fact your video.
Let’s be honest, YouTube content can all look the same, especially if you are making content that is quite general (like beauty or tech), so a watermark helps differentiate, so when viewers are ready to subscribe, they have an extra branding element connecting them to your channel.
Improvement Pill is a YouTube channel focused on inspiring and motivating its viewer to live a better life.
Above we see an example of a watermark from the YouTube channel Improvement Pill. You can see the watermark in the lower right-hand corner.
Improvement Pill is not the only channel that uses whiteboard animation to illustrate their story, and because of that, they need to set themselves apart. A watermark helps do that.
When a viewer lands on their video, the watermark gives the viewer another way to get more familiar with the channel, and if they are to scroll over the watermark a subscription button pops up.
Want to set up your subscription watermark? Here is a quick tutorial:
Coming Up With A Catchphrase
A catchphrase can be your greeting or sign off, but it doesn’t have to be an original line, it can simply be the way you say “hello.”
Check out some of the popular YouTuber’s catchphrases:
When coming up with a catchphrase that is connected to your channel’s branding remember how you want the viewer to feel. Do you want to leave them with a smile? Or do you want them to take action?
Final Thoughts On YouTube Branding
As you build and grow your YouTube channel, you can expand your purpose while still sticking within the overall theme. You might have started a channel that focused on the topic of nutrition, but as you grow, you will discover that your audience may also be interested in fitness tips or workout accessories as well. Take it slowly and grow with purpose.
Your branding doesn’t dictate the content you create, but it does affect how you go about making it.
Got more questions about branding your YouTube channel? Let us know in the comments below.
Shanoon Cox
Shanoon Cox is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Shanoon Cox
Shanoon Cox
Nov 01, 2022• Proven solutions
Epic Meal Time. Michelle Phan. Peter McKinnon. When you think of each of these YouTube creators, what comes to mind? The feelings and thoughts you have are vastly different because each one of these channels has its own unique branding.
Epic Meal Time’s YouTube brand is in-your-face and intense. It pumps you full of adrenaline and increases your heart rate.
Michelle Phan’s YouTube brand is calm, whimsical, and aspirational.
The color palette she chose is pleasing to the eyes and doesn’t evoke any of the stress we get from Epic Meal Time.
They have different branding because they want to reflect different feelings for different audiences.
Bad Branding Causes Mistrust
When a branding element does not align with the message or the tone does not match with the material, then the audience is not going to trust what you offer. Without trust, you won’t be able to get the advocacy that is essential for a YouTube channel to grow.
Imagine Michelle Phan using the aggressive colors of Epic Meal Time or vice versa. Pretty weird, huh?
What is YouTube Branding?
You might think that branding simply comes together while making videos, but that’s not true. Branding takes a bit of preparation and foresight.
YouTube branding is the idea your viewers have in mind and the emotion they get when they think about your channel.
Here are notable elements of your channel’s branding:
- Channel name
- Channel art
- Video thumbnail
- Video title
- Icon
- Watermark
- Catchphrase
- Style of video
How to Start Branding Your YouTube Channel?
Before you start designing thumbnails and coming up with a catchphrase, the first step in branding is understanding the purpose of your channel. Once you have a purpose, you will know how you want your viewers to feel.
Here is a quick exercise to find your channel’s purpose:
Draw a 3 circle Venn diagram.
In circle 1, write down everything you consider yourself an expert in.
- What do your friends know you for?
- What can you give advice on?
- What did you go to school to learn?
In circle 2, write down all the topics you are passionate about.
- What can you talk effortlessly about for hours?
- At a party, where do you lead conversations towards?
In circle 3, write down everything that people will pay for that you can supply. Here is where you find the demand of the audience.
- Can you give me travel advice?
- Can you make people forget about their stressful day?
- Do you have experience in a specialized field?
Understanding what people will pay money for will help guide you in creating content that has true value.
In the center, come up with all the ideas that can be associated with all three circles. This will be the ideal purpose for your YouTube channel as it harnesses your expertise, your passion, and the demand of a viewership.
Examples:
Epic Meal Time
Expertise = Eating
Passion = Fast Food Culture
Demand = Unique Meals
PURPOSE: Showcase a unique combination of fast food people won’t make at home.
Michelle Phan
Expertise = Beauty Products
Passion = Makeup and Fashion
Demand = Beauty School
PURPOSE: Give people more confidence in beauty products.
How Is Your Channel Different From the Others?
Now that you have your purpose, it’s time to separate you from others with similar purposes. YouTube is a crowded space for content creators. If your channel is mimicking another more successful channel, you will be in the shadows.
Good branding allows you to differentiate from others .
Pick a Unique and Memorable Name
If your name is Michelle Phan, and you are not the Michelle Phan, I’m sorry, but you will need to pick another name for your YouTube channel:
If you do have to pick another name or if your channel is an ensemble with multiple members, make sure the name you choose is original, memorable, and short (4 words max).
Picking an Icon
Not every YouTuber needs to design an original logo for their brand. In fact, if the channel is about you — the YouTuber — you are the brand, so using a high-quality picture of yourself as the icon is okay.
However, if your channel has a specific theme or topic and you want your branding to convey it so it sticks in the viewers’ heads, especially if it’s their first time viewing your channel. A clear logo will help in amplifying your message:
Create Video Thumbnails That Stand Out
The power of good branding is that your viewers will be able to spot your brand in a crowded space. On YouTube, the crowded space is the suggested video section.
Epic Meal Time thumbnails standing out amongst other loud thumbnails.
Once you have the feeling you want to evoke, test out different thumbnails. Go incognito, search up your videos, and see how the visuals appear beside your competitions. Do they all have the same style or is your far more impressive?
Good branding doesn’t happen in the first try so keep experimenting.
Designing Your Icon, Thumbnail, and Channel Art
There is a lot to consider when designing all the visual elements for your channel. I won’t get into all of it, but here are some tips that you should always keep in mind.
- Less is more: Don’t clutter your icons, thumbnails, or banner.
- Have a single focus: A channel and a video can have a lot of different topics, but the image can’t show everything a video can. Pick one important area and highlight that in the image.
- Quality matters: Your audience is savvier than ever. If they see a pixelated image, they will judge your channel poorly. That’s bad branding. Always use high-quality pictures.
- Make sure the color pops and the text is visible: Use eye-catching colors and visible text. This is a billboard, you have milliseconds to get people’s attention as they scroll past.
Want more resources for creating your channel’s visual elements? Yes? Well, we made this for you:
- How to Make YouTube Video Thumbnail
How to Make Your Visuals Consistent?
When a viewer finds your video and considers it pretty interesting, they will then go into your channel page to learn more. Here is where they make their decision: subscribe or not subscribe?
Consistent branding affirms the viewer that they are in the right place. Peter McKinnon’s brand is built upon his amazing photography, it only makes sense that his visual elements are awesome.
Peter McKinnon is best known for his photography and cinematography, and his branding amplifies that.
But Branding Is Not Designing, It’s A Feeling
Don’t get too caught up with a design.
Look at PewDiePie’s branding. You can argue that it is inconsistent and the design is not professional, but actually, his branding is spot on, because he is making you feel a certain way.
PewDiePie’s brand highlights its upbeat and unpredictable personality.
PewDiePie wants you to laugh. He is not branding his expertise like Peter McKinnon is, he’s branding his personality.
Consistent branding is about making the elements of your channel: channel art, logo, thumbnails, titles, etc. all harmonize together to evoke a sensation.
The humor in PewDiePie’s brand is consistent, even though his thumbnails don’t look like Philip DeFranco’s. It is up to you how you define consistency, and that will happen over time.
Philip DeFranco supplies commentary on current events with a satirical flair. Like a news broadcast, his branding and video format are consistent, while the daily news is different.
Inserting A Watermark
The main point of a watermark is to let the viewers know when they are watching your video that it is in fact your video.
Let’s be honest, YouTube content can all look the same, especially if you are making content that is quite general (like beauty or tech), so a watermark helps differentiate, so when viewers are ready to subscribe, they have an extra branding element connecting them to your channel.
Improvement Pill is a YouTube channel focused on inspiring and motivating its viewer to live a better life.
Above we see an example of a watermark from the YouTube channel Improvement Pill. You can see the watermark in the lower right-hand corner.
Improvement Pill is not the only channel that uses whiteboard animation to illustrate their story, and because of that, they need to set themselves apart. A watermark helps do that.
When a viewer lands on their video, the watermark gives the viewer another way to get more familiar with the channel, and if they are to scroll over the watermark a subscription button pops up.
Want to set up your subscription watermark? Here is a quick tutorial:
Coming Up With A Catchphrase
A catchphrase can be your greeting or sign off, but it doesn’t have to be an original line, it can simply be the way you say “hello.”
Check out some of the popular YouTuber’s catchphrases:
When coming up with a catchphrase that is connected to your channel’s branding remember how you want the viewer to feel. Do you want to leave them with a smile? Or do you want them to take action?
Final Thoughts On YouTube Branding
As you build and grow your YouTube channel, you can expand your purpose while still sticking within the overall theme. You might have started a channel that focused on the topic of nutrition, but as you grow, you will discover that your audience may also be interested in fitness tips or workout accessories as well. Take it slowly and grow with purpose.
Your branding doesn’t dictate the content you create, but it does affect how you go about making it.
Got more questions about branding your YouTube channel? Let us know in the comments below.
Shanoon Cox
Shanoon Cox is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Shanoon Cox
Shanoon Cox
Nov 01, 2022• Proven solutions
Epic Meal Time. Michelle Phan. Peter McKinnon. When you think of each of these YouTube creators, what comes to mind? The feelings and thoughts you have are vastly different because each one of these channels has its own unique branding.
Epic Meal Time’s YouTube brand is in-your-face and intense. It pumps you full of adrenaline and increases your heart rate.
Michelle Phan’s YouTube brand is calm, whimsical, and aspirational.
The color palette she chose is pleasing to the eyes and doesn’t evoke any of the stress we get from Epic Meal Time.
They have different branding because they want to reflect different feelings for different audiences.
Bad Branding Causes Mistrust
When a branding element does not align with the message or the tone does not match with the material, then the audience is not going to trust what you offer. Without trust, you won’t be able to get the advocacy that is essential for a YouTube channel to grow.
Imagine Michelle Phan using the aggressive colors of Epic Meal Time or vice versa. Pretty weird, huh?
What is YouTube Branding?
You might think that branding simply comes together while making videos, but that’s not true. Branding takes a bit of preparation and foresight.
YouTube branding is the idea your viewers have in mind and the emotion they get when they think about your channel.
Here are notable elements of your channel’s branding:
- Channel name
- Channel art
- Video thumbnail
- Video title
- Icon
- Watermark
- Catchphrase
- Style of video
How to Start Branding Your YouTube Channel?
Before you start designing thumbnails and coming up with a catchphrase, the first step in branding is understanding the purpose of your channel. Once you have a purpose, you will know how you want your viewers to feel.
Here is a quick exercise to find your channel’s purpose:
Draw a 3 circle Venn diagram.
In circle 1, write down everything you consider yourself an expert in.
- What do your friends know you for?
- What can you give advice on?
- What did you go to school to learn?
In circle 2, write down all the topics you are passionate about.
- What can you talk effortlessly about for hours?
- At a party, where do you lead conversations towards?
In circle 3, write down everything that people will pay for that you can supply. Here is where you find the demand of the audience.
- Can you give me travel advice?
- Can you make people forget about their stressful day?
- Do you have experience in a specialized field?
Understanding what people will pay money for will help guide you in creating content that has true value.
In the center, come up with all the ideas that can be associated with all three circles. This will be the ideal purpose for your YouTube channel as it harnesses your expertise, your passion, and the demand of a viewership.
Examples:
Epic Meal Time
Expertise = Eating
Passion = Fast Food Culture
Demand = Unique Meals
PURPOSE: Showcase a unique combination of fast food people won’t make at home.
Michelle Phan
Expertise = Beauty Products
Passion = Makeup and Fashion
Demand = Beauty School
PURPOSE: Give people more confidence in beauty products.
How Is Your Channel Different From the Others?
Now that you have your purpose, it’s time to separate you from others with similar purposes. YouTube is a crowded space for content creators. If your channel is mimicking another more successful channel, you will be in the shadows.
Good branding allows you to differentiate from others .
Pick a Unique and Memorable Name
If your name is Michelle Phan, and you are not the Michelle Phan, I’m sorry, but you will need to pick another name for your YouTube channel:
If you do have to pick another name or if your channel is an ensemble with multiple members, make sure the name you choose is original, memorable, and short (4 words max).
Picking an Icon
Not every YouTuber needs to design an original logo for their brand. In fact, if the channel is about you — the YouTuber — you are the brand, so using a high-quality picture of yourself as the icon is okay.
However, if your channel has a specific theme or topic and you want your branding to convey it so it sticks in the viewers’ heads, especially if it’s their first time viewing your channel. A clear logo will help in amplifying your message:
Create Video Thumbnails That Stand Out
The power of good branding is that your viewers will be able to spot your brand in a crowded space. On YouTube, the crowded space is the suggested video section.
Epic Meal Time thumbnails standing out amongst other loud thumbnails.
Once you have the feeling you want to evoke, test out different thumbnails. Go incognito, search up your videos, and see how the visuals appear beside your competitions. Do they all have the same style or is your far more impressive?
Good branding doesn’t happen in the first try so keep experimenting.
Designing Your Icon, Thumbnail, and Channel Art
There is a lot to consider when designing all the visual elements for your channel. I won’t get into all of it, but here are some tips that you should always keep in mind.
- Less is more: Don’t clutter your icons, thumbnails, or banner.
- Have a single focus: A channel and a video can have a lot of different topics, but the image can’t show everything a video can. Pick one important area and highlight that in the image.
- Quality matters: Your audience is savvier than ever. If they see a pixelated image, they will judge your channel poorly. That’s bad branding. Always use high-quality pictures.
- Make sure the color pops and the text is visible: Use eye-catching colors and visible text. This is a billboard, you have milliseconds to get people’s attention as they scroll past.
Want more resources for creating your channel’s visual elements? Yes? Well, we made this for you:
- How to Make YouTube Video Thumbnail
How to Make Your Visuals Consistent?
When a viewer finds your video and considers it pretty interesting, they will then go into your channel page to learn more. Here is where they make their decision: subscribe or not subscribe?
Consistent branding affirms the viewer that they are in the right place. Peter McKinnon’s brand is built upon his amazing photography, it only makes sense that his visual elements are awesome.
Peter McKinnon is best known for his photography and cinematography, and his branding amplifies that.
But Branding Is Not Designing, It’s A Feeling
Don’t get too caught up with a design.
Look at PewDiePie’s branding. You can argue that it is inconsistent and the design is not professional, but actually, his branding is spot on, because he is making you feel a certain way.
PewDiePie’s brand highlights its upbeat and unpredictable personality.
PewDiePie wants you to laugh. He is not branding his expertise like Peter McKinnon is, he’s branding his personality.
Consistent branding is about making the elements of your channel: channel art, logo, thumbnails, titles, etc. all harmonize together to evoke a sensation.
The humor in PewDiePie’s brand is consistent, even though his thumbnails don’t look like Philip DeFranco’s. It is up to you how you define consistency, and that will happen over time.
Philip DeFranco supplies commentary on current events with a satirical flair. Like a news broadcast, his branding and video format are consistent, while the daily news is different.
Inserting A Watermark
The main point of a watermark is to let the viewers know when they are watching your video that it is in fact your video.
Let’s be honest, YouTube content can all look the same, especially if you are making content that is quite general (like beauty or tech), so a watermark helps differentiate, so when viewers are ready to subscribe, they have an extra branding element connecting them to your channel.
Improvement Pill is a YouTube channel focused on inspiring and motivating its viewer to live a better life.
Above we see an example of a watermark from the YouTube channel Improvement Pill. You can see the watermark in the lower right-hand corner.
Improvement Pill is not the only channel that uses whiteboard animation to illustrate their story, and because of that, they need to set themselves apart. A watermark helps do that.
When a viewer lands on their video, the watermark gives the viewer another way to get more familiar with the channel, and if they are to scroll over the watermark a subscription button pops up.
Want to set up your subscription watermark? Here is a quick tutorial:
Coming Up With A Catchphrase
A catchphrase can be your greeting or sign off, but it doesn’t have to be an original line, it can simply be the way you say “hello.”
Check out some of the popular YouTuber’s catchphrases:
When coming up with a catchphrase that is connected to your channel’s branding remember how you want the viewer to feel. Do you want to leave them with a smile? Or do you want them to take action?
Final Thoughts On YouTube Branding
As you build and grow your YouTube channel, you can expand your purpose while still sticking within the overall theme. You might have started a channel that focused on the topic of nutrition, but as you grow, you will discover that your audience may also be interested in fitness tips or workout accessories as well. Take it slowly and grow with purpose.
Your branding doesn’t dictate the content you create, but it does affect how you go about making it.
Got more questions about branding your YouTube channel? Let us know in the comments below.
Shanoon Cox
Shanoon Cox is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Shanoon Cox
Effortless YouTube Live with Step-by-Step OBS Guide for Beginners
Live stream to youtube with OBS step by step guide for beginners
Richard Bennett
Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions
- Part1. Stream Now set up
- Part2. Set up Your Live Streaming Encoder
- Part3. Youtube Events set up
- Part4. Video tutorial
1. Stream Now set up
Follow these steps to live stream your impressive videos to YouTube using Stream Now tool:
Step 1: First of all you need to login with your account and then move to Creator Studio option directly.
Step 2: Choose the Video Manager option from top most toolbar.
Step 3: From the drop down menu, simply select Live Streaming option to begin with.
Step 4: Now hot the steam now option on your screen.
Step 5: Change or Upload your thumbnail as per need.
Step 6: It is time to provide an eye catching title to your video, add description and finally choose category from the drop down menu.
Step 7: While using stream option, never forget to click on ‘make archive unlisted when complete’ option so that you can save as well as watch your content on YouTube at later stage.
Step 8: You can monetize your ads as per need.
Step 9: It also provides options to add cards.
Step 10: Now move to encoder setup and then simply copy and paste these details to your streaming software.
Step 11: Now you can set your live chat option as per your requirement.
Step 12: The analysis window will help you to know about how many viewers are connected to your video as well as the message updates will be reflected.
Step 13: Stream health can be monitored directly.
Step 14: One can also use the social media button for live shares.
2.Set up Your Live Streaming Encoder
As soon as you have completed the above set up then next task is to adjust settings of your streaming encoder. It is possible to make easy selection out of wide range of live streaming encoders. The details below are provided with reference to OBS too that is open source type free to access software.
Step 1: First of all you need to visit official website of OBS and get your software tool installed on your system.
Step 2: Now launch OBS on your device and directly go to settings option.
Step 3: It is time to copy the stream key from YouTube and then paste it directly in the specified field of OBS.
Step 4: Users can now add their sources and scenes.
Step 5: Once all these settings are done then you can simply hit the option for start streaming and it will bring your content to YouTube directly.
3. Youtube Events set up
Live stream is little different from Stream Now platform as it allows users to schedule the streams as well as a connectivity to Google Hangouts is provided. These easy to follow steps will assist you to handle all settings for your events using Live Stream tool:
Step 1: Simply click on the schedule event option on screen.
Step 2: It is much easier to make settings for basic information as well as audience type. Make some desired changes to SNS platform. If you select the Quick type then it will directly select your webcam and you need not to make additional complicated settings whereas the custom type option provides easy set up options with OBS.
Step 3: The advance settings option works same as that of stream now features and users can adjust most of these settings as per their streaming needs.
Step 4: Users can turn monetization On or Off as per their preferences.
Step 5: As soon as you finish all above settings then simply click on the create event option.
Step 6: One more window will appear on your screen and here you can make adjustment for preferred bit rate. Also put your dedicated stream key with encoder.
Step 7: When all above steps are completed then you need to hit the option for save changes so that your tool can act accordingly.
Step 8: Now click on events and here you will be able to find your event. Move to live control room if you want to access complete details about this event and you can easily delete it.
Step 9: Users can set privacy terms or simple delete the event that is currently in action.
Video tutorial
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions
- Part1. Stream Now set up
- Part2. Set up Your Live Streaming Encoder
- Part3. Youtube Events set up
- Part4. Video tutorial
1. Stream Now set up
Follow these steps to live stream your impressive videos to YouTube using Stream Now tool:
Step 1: First of all you need to login with your account and then move to Creator Studio option directly.
Step 2: Choose the Video Manager option from top most toolbar.
Step 3: From the drop down menu, simply select Live Streaming option to begin with.
Step 4: Now hot the steam now option on your screen.
Step 5: Change or Upload your thumbnail as per need.
Step 6: It is time to provide an eye catching title to your video, add description and finally choose category from the drop down menu.
Step 7: While using stream option, never forget to click on ‘make archive unlisted when complete’ option so that you can save as well as watch your content on YouTube at later stage.
Step 8: You can monetize your ads as per need.
Step 9: It also provides options to add cards.
Step 10: Now move to encoder setup and then simply copy and paste these details to your streaming software.
Step 11: Now you can set your live chat option as per your requirement.
Step 12: The analysis window will help you to know about how many viewers are connected to your video as well as the message updates will be reflected.
Step 13: Stream health can be monitored directly.
Step 14: One can also use the social media button for live shares.
2.Set up Your Live Streaming Encoder
As soon as you have completed the above set up then next task is to adjust settings of your streaming encoder. It is possible to make easy selection out of wide range of live streaming encoders. The details below are provided with reference to OBS too that is open source type free to access software.
Step 1: First of all you need to visit official website of OBS and get your software tool installed on your system.
Step 2: Now launch OBS on your device and directly go to settings option.
Step 3: It is time to copy the stream key from YouTube and then paste it directly in the specified field of OBS.
Step 4: Users can now add their sources and scenes.
Step 5: Once all these settings are done then you can simply hit the option for start streaming and it will bring your content to YouTube directly.
3. Youtube Events set up
Live stream is little different from Stream Now platform as it allows users to schedule the streams as well as a connectivity to Google Hangouts is provided. These easy to follow steps will assist you to handle all settings for your events using Live Stream tool:
Step 1: Simply click on the schedule event option on screen.
Step 2: It is much easier to make settings for basic information as well as audience type. Make some desired changes to SNS platform. If you select the Quick type then it will directly select your webcam and you need not to make additional complicated settings whereas the custom type option provides easy set up options with OBS.
Step 3: The advance settings option works same as that of stream now features and users can adjust most of these settings as per their streaming needs.
Step 4: Users can turn monetization On or Off as per their preferences.
Step 5: As soon as you finish all above settings then simply click on the create event option.
Step 6: One more window will appear on your screen and here you can make adjustment for preferred bit rate. Also put your dedicated stream key with encoder.
Step 7: When all above steps are completed then you need to hit the option for save changes so that your tool can act accordingly.
Step 8: Now click on events and here you will be able to find your event. Move to live control room if you want to access complete details about this event and you can easily delete it.
Step 9: Users can set privacy terms or simple delete the event that is currently in action.
Video tutorial
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions
- Part1. Stream Now set up
- Part2. Set up Your Live Streaming Encoder
- Part3. Youtube Events set up
- Part4. Video tutorial
1. Stream Now set up
Follow these steps to live stream your impressive videos to YouTube using Stream Now tool:
Step 1: First of all you need to login with your account and then move to Creator Studio option directly.
Step 2: Choose the Video Manager option from top most toolbar.
Step 3: From the drop down menu, simply select Live Streaming option to begin with.
Step 4: Now hot the steam now option on your screen.
Step 5: Change or Upload your thumbnail as per need.
Step 6: It is time to provide an eye catching title to your video, add description and finally choose category from the drop down menu.
Step 7: While using stream option, never forget to click on ‘make archive unlisted when complete’ option so that you can save as well as watch your content on YouTube at later stage.
Step 8: You can monetize your ads as per need.
Step 9: It also provides options to add cards.
Step 10: Now move to encoder setup and then simply copy and paste these details to your streaming software.
Step 11: Now you can set your live chat option as per your requirement.
Step 12: The analysis window will help you to know about how many viewers are connected to your video as well as the message updates will be reflected.
Step 13: Stream health can be monitored directly.
Step 14: One can also use the social media button for live shares.
2.Set up Your Live Streaming Encoder
As soon as you have completed the above set up then next task is to adjust settings of your streaming encoder. It is possible to make easy selection out of wide range of live streaming encoders. The details below are provided with reference to OBS too that is open source type free to access software.
Step 1: First of all you need to visit official website of OBS and get your software tool installed on your system.
Step 2: Now launch OBS on your device and directly go to settings option.
Step 3: It is time to copy the stream key from YouTube and then paste it directly in the specified field of OBS.
Step 4: Users can now add their sources and scenes.
Step 5: Once all these settings are done then you can simply hit the option for start streaming and it will bring your content to YouTube directly.
3. Youtube Events set up
Live stream is little different from Stream Now platform as it allows users to schedule the streams as well as a connectivity to Google Hangouts is provided. These easy to follow steps will assist you to handle all settings for your events using Live Stream tool:
Step 1: Simply click on the schedule event option on screen.
Step 2: It is much easier to make settings for basic information as well as audience type. Make some desired changes to SNS platform. If you select the Quick type then it will directly select your webcam and you need not to make additional complicated settings whereas the custom type option provides easy set up options with OBS.
Step 3: The advance settings option works same as that of stream now features and users can adjust most of these settings as per their streaming needs.
Step 4: Users can turn monetization On or Off as per their preferences.
Step 5: As soon as you finish all above settings then simply click on the create event option.
Step 6: One more window will appear on your screen and here you can make adjustment for preferred bit rate. Also put your dedicated stream key with encoder.
Step 7: When all above steps are completed then you need to hit the option for save changes so that your tool can act accordingly.
Step 8: Now click on events and here you will be able to find your event. Move to live control room if you want to access complete details about this event and you can easily delete it.
Step 9: Users can set privacy terms or simple delete the event that is currently in action.
Video tutorial
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions
- Part1. Stream Now set up
- Part2. Set up Your Live Streaming Encoder
- Part3. Youtube Events set up
- Part4. Video tutorial
1. Stream Now set up
Follow these steps to live stream your impressive videos to YouTube using Stream Now tool:
Step 1: First of all you need to login with your account and then move to Creator Studio option directly.
Step 2: Choose the Video Manager option from top most toolbar.
Step 3: From the drop down menu, simply select Live Streaming option to begin with.
Step 4: Now hot the steam now option on your screen.
Step 5: Change or Upload your thumbnail as per need.
Step 6: It is time to provide an eye catching title to your video, add description and finally choose category from the drop down menu.
Step 7: While using stream option, never forget to click on ‘make archive unlisted when complete’ option so that you can save as well as watch your content on YouTube at later stage.
Step 8: You can monetize your ads as per need.
Step 9: It also provides options to add cards.
Step 10: Now move to encoder setup and then simply copy and paste these details to your streaming software.
Step 11: Now you can set your live chat option as per your requirement.
Step 12: The analysis window will help you to know about how many viewers are connected to your video as well as the message updates will be reflected.
Step 13: Stream health can be monitored directly.
Step 14: One can also use the social media button for live shares.
2.Set up Your Live Streaming Encoder
As soon as you have completed the above set up then next task is to adjust settings of your streaming encoder. It is possible to make easy selection out of wide range of live streaming encoders. The details below are provided with reference to OBS too that is open source type free to access software.
Step 1: First of all you need to visit official website of OBS and get your software tool installed on your system.
Step 2: Now launch OBS on your device and directly go to settings option.
Step 3: It is time to copy the stream key from YouTube and then paste it directly in the specified field of OBS.
Step 4: Users can now add their sources and scenes.
Step 5: Once all these settings are done then you can simply hit the option for start streaming and it will bring your content to YouTube directly.
3. Youtube Events set up
Live stream is little different from Stream Now platform as it allows users to schedule the streams as well as a connectivity to Google Hangouts is provided. These easy to follow steps will assist you to handle all settings for your events using Live Stream tool:
Step 1: Simply click on the schedule event option on screen.
Step 2: It is much easier to make settings for basic information as well as audience type. Make some desired changes to SNS platform. If you select the Quick type then it will directly select your webcam and you need not to make additional complicated settings whereas the custom type option provides easy set up options with OBS.
Step 3: The advance settings option works same as that of stream now features and users can adjust most of these settings as per their streaming needs.
Step 4: Users can turn monetization On or Off as per their preferences.
Step 5: As soon as you finish all above settings then simply click on the create event option.
Step 6: One more window will appear on your screen and here you can make adjustment for preferred bit rate. Also put your dedicated stream key with encoder.
Step 7: When all above steps are completed then you need to hit the option for save changes so that your tool can act accordingly.
Step 8: Now click on events and here you will be able to find your event. Move to live control room if you want to access complete details about this event and you can easily delete it.
Step 9: Users can set privacy terms or simple delete the event that is currently in action.
Video tutorial
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
- Title: "2024 Approved Transform Your Channels' Image A Pathway to More Subscribers and Followers"
- Author: Thomas
- Created at : 2024-05-31 12:45:30
- Updated at : 2024-06-01 12:45:30
- Link: https://youtube-help.techidaily.com/2024-approved-transform-your-channels-image-a-pathway-to-more-subscribers-and-followers/
- License: This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
