Having a spokesperson
Okay, you’ve analyzed your target fan base and figured out what motivates them on YouTube. Now you need to determine whether a specific channel spokesperson would be the right fit for your target fan base. This is a critical decision for both independent creators and organizations.Typically, an audience gravitates toward either a personality or content, but not toward any old personality or content. Whatever you choose to prioritize, it has to have a high level of authenticity. If the viewers in your topic area engage more with personality, for example, be sure to choose a spokesperson with credibility and appeal. This might be you, the creator and channel owner, or someone you hire to be a part of your YouTube production team for a small business or large brand.
Aim for the same voice across your content because it will provide the consistency that your audience needs across different types of video.
A good example of a brand with a consistent voice throughout its entire channel is Aveda , a hair care company focused on beauty, wellness, and the environment. Every video the company creates for each segment of its audience has a specific look and feel. For example, it makes high-quality, polished ad spots to introduce new products, and it creates vlogger-hosted content with popular YouTube creators using their favorite Aveda products. This gives the company a nice variety of content on the channel and appeals to customers and beauty professionals alike.Branding
Branding can be a large and complex topic, but we’re going to keep it simple: Branding is about naming and design that is unique to you. Need an example? Think about Apple. You see consistency in all of its products, naming conventions, website, and packaging. Over time, that branding symbolism — the look and feel — becomes synonymous with who you are.Your YouTube channel and videos are powerful extensions of your brand. If you have an existing website, logo, or color pattern, bring it over to your YouTube channel and use it for the branded elements of your videos as well. If you give your viewers a great experience on YouTube, chances are that they’ll end up on your website, too. Keep the branding consistent. Your viewers will appreciate it.
Planning the channel layout
Your channel must be visually representative of the video content you create. When a viewer first visits your channel, it’s important that they understand what kind of videos your produce or curate. You also want viewers to be in a position to quickly find out when new content is expected from your channel. A great design layout makes these tasks a lot easier.When coming up with a design layout, keep these elements in mind:
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Channel art: The banner you see across the top of your YouTube channel’s home page is the welcome mat for your viewer, so make it as appealing as possible. A good channel art design is device agnostic — it looks good on mobile devices, desktops, smart TVs, or what‐have‐you.
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Channel trailer: The channel trailer is the first video that visitors see when viewing your channel. This is where you need to captivate your new viewers and get them to subscribe to your channel. You can customize the channel trailer for subscribers or nonsubscribers.
- Channel and social media links: The small icons that live in the lower right corner of your channel art direct viewers to your other digital properties, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. The complete list of digital properties is under the About section of your YouTube channel, and you can choose whether to display icons for some or all of your properties.
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Custom sections: Visually dividing your channel page into sections is a great way to help your viewers find the most relevant content on your channel. One way to customize your sections is to create unique playlists or groupings of videos per section.
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Custom thumbnails: Thumbnails are visual snapshots of your video, similar to a poster for a movie. They are chosen by default by YouTube — three optional frames from the beginning, middle, and end of your video are provided for every video asset that’s uploaded. You can, however, create a custom thumbnail for each video. If you do so, choose a thumbnail that is illustrative of the content in the video.
Thumbnails have a tremendous impact on a video’s view rate. With that fact in mind, always choose or create a good thumbnail, especially for videos shown in sections. When you create thumbnails, or have them created, remember to include branding. Video thumbnails should have a look and feel that is consistent with your channel.
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Featured channels: Channels that you own or like or that are simply relevant for your audience are best included in the Featured Channels section on the right side of your channel page.
Under Featured Channels, you control the additional section Related Channels, which YouTube populates with channels that it considers to be like yours. Though YouTube doesn’t disclose the exact criteria, it’s likely based on content type and what viewers search for. You can turn off this feature, but by doing so, YouTube won’t put your channel on the Related Channel feeds of other users. You benefit only by keeping it on.
With so many channels on YouTube, viewers may think they’re viewing the appropriate channel for an organization or famous personality. The verification badge shows up to the right of the channel name and helps alleviate any viewer concerns about the legitimacy of the channel.