YouTube Branding: Empower Your Business Through Video Content

YouTube rakes in two billion users and 60 million content creators worldwide, making it one of the biggest social media platforms. Its user base makes it an ideal space for companies to grow their brands.

Since its launch, small businesses and individuals found success in branding for YouTube. And so can you! Let’s get to the nitty-gritty of YouTube and see how you can leverage it in your social media marketing strategy.

YouTube is more than just a source of entertainment. It’s a place where people connect, share ideas, and foster creativity.

Realizing its potential in the age of influence, there’s a demand for YouTube branding, attracting businesses and individuals aiming to create and expand their presence and communities.

For many who started from scratch, branding for YouTube has brought them from zero to hero. We’ve witnessed YouTubers who turned their hobbies into a business channel like Smosh and PewDiePie did—once lesser-knowns, now among the top channels dominating the YouTube space.

Here are some reasons why you should start building your YouTube brand now.

Boost Brand Awareness

YouTube is accessible anywhere the internet reaches, and tapping new markets and generating leads has become easier than ever. The platform also does a good job of making videos shareable, making it a great addition to optimizing your social media marketing.

Of course content quality matters in video marketing. If you offer valuable content through educational, inspirational, or entertaining videos, you can certainly increase brand awareness. Amplify results further with paid marketing like YouTube ads.

Establish Brand Credibility

A business can strengthen its credibility through the type of content it presents on its branded YouTube channel.

Think testimonials where customers share honest reviews about your brand. Feature behind the scenes and give your audience a glimpse of what happens in the background to deliver the best product in the market.

Or consider tackling industry-related topics, like current trends and debunking industry myths. As your channel grows, you can establish yourself as a brand authority, furthering brand trust.

Increase Profitability

An uptick in awareness via a branded YouTube channel can impact your profit and increase potential customers, too. That’s because today's customers rely on product videos to help them decide. Statistics show that businesses that add YouTube videos to their digital marketing enjoy a 49% revenue growth than those that don’t.

Your brand can earn from your YouTube content, too. Videos generate about $5 per 1,000 views. Creators can rake in around $68,000 in annual salary in the United States, making your YouTube brand a great profit stream!

Again, we reiterate the importance of content quality if you want to optimize your ROI on YouTube and entice a community of lifelong brand supporters.

Branding your YouTube channel requires establishing a strong presence and a strategic plan to connect with your audience effectively. Follow these steps to get you started.

Step 1: Choose a niche for your YouTube branding.

Identifying and sticking to a niche enables you to create and refine your content marketing to the right audience.

There are many ways to find your niche. You can check what’s trending on YouTube to know what interests viewers and select what fits your brand. This process can take time so experiment and see which niche is right for you!

Don’t get hung up on being too niche, though. It is best to stick to a niche broad enough for you to generate multiple content ideas.

Step 2: Know your competitors like the back of your hand.

Content creation is fast-paced on YouTube. If you’re not strategic enough, your channel page can be drowned by other brands. It pays to know your competitors inside and out. Start by conducting a competitive analysis on YouTube.

Explore competitor videos by assessing their topics, most popular videos, and length of videos, among others. See what works and what they haven’t done yet! You can also look into their video descriptions, video titles, and video tags to identify relevant SEO (search engine optimization) keywords.

Mastering your competitors is an endless task. So, always stay on top! Here are some helpful tools to keep your competitors and trends on track:

• YouTube Analytics
• YouTube Ad Library
• Ads Spy Tool

Step 3: Opt for uniform branding elements.

Consistency in your YouTube branding is key to reinforcing your brand in the minds of your target audience. Hence, it is best to stick to uniform brand assets for easier recognition. This includes your logo, color palette, graphics, imagery, and typography.

It’s important to create content that adheres to your brand identity, brand voice, values, and brand promise as well. And don’t forget to inject your personality to stand out and humanize your brand. Plus, it helps to state principles and a style guide for your uniform branding elements correctly to avoid misuse.

Step 4: Create a brand account.

Many businesses and individuals new to YouTube branding would create a channel using their personal Google account. This allows them to figure out things without the added pressure of maintaining a brand. But, a brand account offers more perks for content creators.

For starters, a brand channel makes you look and feel more professional, especially when you have the verification badge or a checkmark beside your channel name. This eliminates the possibility of confusing your channel with fan accounts.

It also enables you to access many features, like YouTube analytics where you can monitor the performance of your videos, audience engagement, and other relevant reports. A brand account allows you to collaborate with many people and customize access types to your content.

Finally, a brand account enables you to customize your channel, like adding featured channels, personalized URLs, and linking to your social media and website.

Step 5: Implement SEO strategies on your channel.

Increase your visibility by weaving SEO strategies into your YouTube branding. These days, how well your channel does depends on search algorithms and ranking. The higher you rank, the more people will engage and increase sales.

So, once the basics—target audience research, content planning, and metrics—are set, it is time to move to keyword search. The process encompasses creating a list of keywords searchers use on YouTube to find content. Leverage free and paid search tools like the YouTube Keyword Tool by Ahrefs.

Your keyword list ideally incorporates a mixture of short and long keywords. Assess for traffic potential and volume or search query number. Once you have your list, it’s time to incorporate them into your video titles, brand channel names, and video descriptions.

Make the most of your branding for YouTube by incorporating your brand name throughout your channel. In this section, we will use the action camera and accessories brand GoPro as an example.

Channel Name

Using your business name as your YouTube channel name increases customer recall. If you’re an influencer, you can create a username or use your first and last name to be more distinct! Remember to keep your channel name short and consistent throughout your socials.

Icon

Well-recognized brands can get away with just vector art as a logo as their profile picture. For example, we have the Nike Swoosh, Apple’s half-bitten apple, and WWF panda.

But if you’re a newer brand establishing awareness, adding your name to your YouTube channel branding is a good idea. It also avoids misunderstanding image-only logos or having identical logos as other brands.

Banner on Branded YouTube Channel

The banner image is an excellent space to update subscribers about your latest promotions, like GoPro’s Hero 12 Black Action Camera launch. Increase familiarity by adding your logo to your YouTube channel banner.

Channel Description

Introduce your brand and create a positive first impression with a well-written channel description. Communicate your brand essence by reiterating why your brand exists. For a wider reach, link your subscribers to your other social media channels and website.

Channel URL

A personalized or branded YouTube URL is a user-friendly way to help viewers remember your channel than the standard URL made up of random characters.

GoPro uses its brand name on its main channel but creates different URL names for its subchannels, too. It has GoPro Tips, GoPro Bike, and GoPro Motorsports in the URLs.

The platform permits YouTube creators to change their branded URLs three times a year. So, take your time when choosing your URL.

Playlists

Rank higher on the search engine results page or SERP by adding your brand name to your enticing playlist title name. Make it short and descriptive, too!

Channel Sections

Organize your YouTube content by separating them into sections. Doing so allows you to feature YouTube videos based on popularity, most recent video content, etc. for easier navigation and promotion.

Intro and Outro

Reinforce your brand by opening and closing your video with brand name graphic clips. Every time they see your video, they can associate or link the content to your brand.

Video End Cards

You can also include a call-to-action through video end cards. A video end card is the last few seconds of a clip that allows you to feature your channel, website, and other content.

Watermarks

Aside from increasing brand recognition, you can claim ownership and protect your content from theft through watermarking. A watermark is usually a semi-transparent logo icon or brand name located in the foreground of your video.

Video Thumbnails and Titles

YouTube custom thumbnails should be able to give context to the content of your videos and be intriguing enough for viewers to click. Try not to mislead or clickbait, though! Additionally, use appealing and high-quality images or designs. Include your brand name in the video title to optimize for search.

Video Descriptions

Maximize your video description by including a call-to-action. You can also add links to your website and other social media channels.

Check out hot tips on how to brand your YouTube, entice viewers to engage with your videos, click the subscribe button, and follow your channel!

Feature Your Customers by Sharing UGC

Let your customers shine and show how they matter by featuring them in your content. Collaborate with them to share how your brand has improved or inspired their lives. You can also encourage them to provide testimonials or video reviews on your products.

Another strategy is to feature UGC or user-generated videos. For example, regular content creators and influencers often have product hauls or sample kits where they share what they think about your brands.

Data shows that UGC videos are more likely to get 10x views than branded content. Not to mention, they are often more creative and feel authentic.

Cross-promote on Other Digital Channels

Don’t limit yourself to YouTube. Go ahead and promote your channel on your website and social media. Share video snippets on Instagram or Facebook to tease your followers. You can also link YouTube content directly with other channels and integrate it into your email marketing.

Leverage Influencer Marketing

Two heads are better than one. So, expand your reach and tap the following of other influencers.

While popularity is important, choosing influencers and content creators that align with your brand values is a more effective approach. It is best to partner with people who are likely to use your products, whether they’re paid to or not.

Create a Series

A video series is a great way to create content on one topic and appeal to a specific audience. Compared to one-off videos, a series allows you to extensively tackle and expand your content to keep your viewers coming back! Once they’re hooked, it enriches your relationship with viewers and makes your brand unique.

For a good series to work, you need a well-written and captivating narrative. Enrich your characters with real struggles and personalities that your viewers can relate to. And don’t shy away from giving your viewers an emotional roller coaster.

Make YouTube Shorts

YouTube Shorts is a quick way to get views as it pushes you into the algorithm compared to long-form content. With people scrolling through dozens of content in under a minute, shorts garner over 50 billion daily views!

What’s great about this format is how applicable it is to anything. You can use shorts to fill the gap between long-form video content. You can create a channel trailer to introduce your brand in a jiff. And you can lead viewers to other videos by providing snippets.

Implement, Analyze, and Revise Your Strategy

Branding your YouTube channel is not a one-and-done process. It entails multiple iterations as cycles, demands, and your market change. Your brand’s goals may also change over time.

That said, it is vital to keep a pulse on what matters to you. Listen to your YouTube community about your content. In fact, they may even tell you what they want to see next! On top of that, stay on track with your key metrics and overall performance.

Finally, adapt and revise your YouTube branding strategy as needed.

So, what’s strategic YouTube branding like in the real world? Check out YouTube campaigns from BlendJet and Pringles, and you may learn a thing or two!

BlendJet

Soft and gentle whispers, the crackling sound of a perfectly crispy fried chicken, or popping pimples. Can you envision these in your head?

There’s a weird yet satisfying experience that people yearn for when exposed to certain sounds or videos, so much so that it has become a trend. It's so popular that the ASMR trend generated over five million ASMR content on YouTube!

Portable blender BlendJet decided to ride on the trend and came up with a series of ASMR videos featuring “oddly satisfying blends.” They have blended flowers, fruits, cake, popsicles, and anything you can think of. The videos are also funnily narrated by the ‘whisper lady’.

Have a listen!

On average, they garner over a hundred thousand views per video. And since the start of its ASMR campaign, the brand reported that it achieved 413% revenue growth.

The brand has grown its video content to include educational videos, product demos, and testimonials, and collaborates with other YouTubers.

Pringles

There’s more than one way to enjoy food. Just ask Pringles!

The iconic chip brand introduced flavor stacking where, as the name implies, customers can layer different flavors of Pringles on top of each other. And with tons of combinations, customers get to discover over 2000 possible flavors!

The brand leveraged bumper ads on YouTube featuring enticing ways to play with flavors. The videos are creative yet short enough—under 10 seconds—to capture and retain the viewers' attention. The bumper ads generated over a million views, successfully increasing brand awareness.

The benefits of having a YouTube channel are transformative, especially for startups and small businesses. An expert hand to rely on can get you to your goals without the hassle. Brand your YouTube channel like a pro when you work with a well-established brand identity agency, Ramotion.