YouTube, with 2 billion monthly active users, is the second most popular social network that loses only to Facebook. Nonetheless, it’s far more effective in terms of marketing, according to Go Globe: almost 80% of marketers believe it’s the leading platform for video marketing, while the admirers of Facebook account only for 58.5%.
With this in mind, brands should put effort and money primarily towards creating and promoting their YouTube channel. However, high popularity implies high competition, which means that you need to know exactly how to use YouTube efficiently.
We have made up a YouTube channel checklist that’s the perfect guide for new video bloggers.
Here are four points:
Determine Your Goal
First things first, you need to know why you are launching a YouTube channel. The ultimate goal helps to determine the channel customization, content, and type of videos. The desired outcome can be different, from engaging with the audience via educational video-guides to merely spreading the word around the web about your brand.
Create and Customize Your Channel
Once you decide what type of channel you are going to launch, you can create an account. How to get started on YouTube? To begin with, create a Google account and then create a new channel. Make it branded by completing a simple verification to enhance its professional look.
After that, move to customization. You need to set up:
- A profile picture
- Header art
- Channel description
- Links to other social networks, a website, and contact details
Keep in mind: everything needs to be branded and consistent.
When you upload several videos, start to group the content by creating playlists. This will make your account more accessible: users won’t need to browse through all the videos and will instead see the categories with related videos.
Make Up a Content Plan
To engage the audience and make it to the top YouTube ratings, you need a strategic content plan. In other words, you need to map out the sequence of videos according to their topic. The topic should align with the general theme of a channel and focus on your audience’s relevant interests.
To find out what your target audience would like to know, you can browse the search for suggestions. Just type a word or phrase and explore the results in the search bar: those on top are the most trending. Although this isn’t a panacea to finding popular and unique topics, it can become a great starting point.
Once you make a content plan, think through the initial 15 seconds of every video. It must be tantalizing and informative to increase the percentage of users who will continue watching. Besides this, prepare the keywords and tags to use in the title and video itself. They are vital for high reach.
Focus on Quality Content
Here, by quality content, we mean the quality of your video: its resolution, fluidity, and presentation. The first step is to get the equipment that contributes to shooting a high-quality video. Although it’s not compulsory, you may think about buying professional equipment like a camera, microphone, stabilizer, and lighting.
If your budget is tight, you still need to make sure that the microphone records good sound without noises, the resolution is high (preferably, 1080p), and there is enough light.
The next step is to think about video editing software. You can save a lot here, as there are many free tools like Fastreel, FlexClip, or Design Wizard. There, you can find video templates for different types of videos: for instance, Fastreel offers intros, outros, and video ads.
Besides that, there are two more important aspects:
- A description – it must be informative; include the main topic of the video, and provide links for your other accounts or mentioned products. Incorporate your main keyword there several times.
- Subtitles and closed captions – you will find a native guide on YouTube’s support page. Usually, you will have to make only minor edits manually.
With this simple checklist, you will be able to create a new YouTube channel and start promoting it. Your efforts will definitely be worth it: with high-quality videos, you can reach a YouTube audience of different demographics, from 18 to 44, according to Weareflint.
Leave a Reply