Charting New Heights with Popular YouTube Content

How to Get a YouTube Video Trending

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

Ever think about how to get a YouTube video trending? It can come down to picking a topic that’s trending.

A trending topic is a subject which a lot of people are currently interested in. If you learn how to tap into what’s popular and cover it in creative and innovative ways then that will help your channel grow more quickly. You’ll get more views, more subscribers, and higher search rankings by following these simple tips.

1. Think of ‘Trending’ as Relevant
2. Find Trending Topics Within Your Niche
3. Aim for Number 1
4. Success Doesn’t Mean Making a Viral Video
5. The Subscriber Snowball Effect

1. Think of ‘Trending’ as Relevant

Instead of thinking of a trending video as a video that everyone is doing, think of it as a subject that is relevant to a lot of people. You want to cover topics that a lot of people care about.

A lot of YouTubers see huge channels have a lot of success posting videos that are very focused on the personal life of the creator (i.e. ‘I had the WORST day’) or which have very vague or sensational titles (i.e. ‘The horse knows what it did’) and decide that those are the kinds of videos they want to do too. However, the only reason large channels are able to be successful with these kinds of videos and titles is that they are already big. These creators have already grown themselves huge audiences of people who know and are interested in them personally.

As a smaller creator, you will not be successful if you only aim to do videos that are focused on you and your life. For example, if you have 100 subscribers and make a vlog about how your day went, then you have 100 people who may potentially find that interesting. The content might be good, but it won’t help you grow.

2. Find Trending Topics Within Your Niche

Taking on trending topics shouldn’t mean taking on topics you aren’t actually interested in or don’t care about. Every genre on YouTube has its own trends, and you will often know about them just by virtue of watching other channels in your genre and talking to people who are interested in the same things as you. For example, if you’re a Gamer and your friends are also Gamers then you probably already know what Gamers are currently interested in.

If you do need help determining trends, here are 2 ways to do it:

1. Visit 3 of the most popular channels in your genre (i.e. gaming, beauty, or prank) and see if there’s any overlap in the themes of their most recent videos.
2. Go to Google Trends and look at the categories most relevant to your genre. To learn how to use Google Trends .

3. Aim for Number 1

Being trendy doesn’t mean you can’t be original. If you know what’s popular in your genre then that will enable you to ask yourself ‘what’s on-trend, but not being covered yet?’.

For example, if you know that relationship videos – topics like ‘how do you know a guy likes you?’ – are doing well then you can think about what other aspects of dating people might be interested in that don’t have many videos on them yet. If you’re one of the first to tackle something that’s on-trend you have a much better chance of getting that number 1 search engine ranking, and higher ranked videos always get more views.

4. Success Doesn’t Mean Making a Viral Video

There’s a common misconception that in order to grow your channel you need to make your videos go viral. The truth is that having one or two viral videos probably won’t help you much. People don’t subscribe to one video, they subscribe for consistently good content.

It’s much better to have 10 videos on a popular topic that are doing alright than it is to have that one big viral hit. Those 10 videos will consistently bring in new viewers to your channel who are more likely to subscribe because they can see you have other content they’re interested in.

5. The Subscriber Snowball Effect

When you make multiple videos around a trending topic, they’re more likely to come up as ‘related’ to each other than if you only cover the topic in one video. If someone enjoys one of your videos on that topic and can see there’s another right there in the related videos, there’s a good chance they’ll click on it.

This gets you more views on multiple videos, and more subscribers because it builds the expectation that you’re going to continue to keep covering relevant topics. Having viewers click from video to video on your channel also increases your watch time, which YouTube’s algorithm takes as a sign that they should rank your videos higher in search results (getting you even more views).

Do you have any of your own tips for how to get a YouTube video trending?

Finding the trend is integral for YouTube channel growth. A user-friendly video editing software will simplify the process of editing videos and saves your efforts. Get Wondershare Filmora by clicking the button below to make the coolest videos and see your viewers boom.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

Ever think about how to get a YouTube video trending? It can come down to picking a topic that’s trending.

A trending topic is a subject which a lot of people are currently interested in. If you learn how to tap into what’s popular and cover it in creative and innovative ways then that will help your channel grow more quickly. You’ll get more views, more subscribers, and higher search rankings by following these simple tips.

1. Think of ‘Trending’ as Relevant
2. Find Trending Topics Within Your Niche
3. Aim for Number 1
4. Success Doesn’t Mean Making a Viral Video
5. The Subscriber Snowball Effect

1. Think of ‘Trending’ as Relevant

Instead of thinking of a trending video as a video that everyone is doing, think of it as a subject that is relevant to a lot of people. You want to cover topics that a lot of people care about.

A lot of YouTubers see huge channels have a lot of success posting videos that are very focused on the personal life of the creator (i.e. ‘I had the WORST day’) or which have very vague or sensational titles (i.e. ‘The horse knows what it did’) and decide that those are the kinds of videos they want to do too. However, the only reason large channels are able to be successful with these kinds of videos and titles is that they are already big. These creators have already grown themselves huge audiences of people who know and are interested in them personally.

As a smaller creator, you will not be successful if you only aim to do videos that are focused on you and your life. For example, if you have 100 subscribers and make a vlog about how your day went, then you have 100 people who may potentially find that interesting. The content might be good, but it won’t help you grow.

2. Find Trending Topics Within Your Niche

Taking on trending topics shouldn’t mean taking on topics you aren’t actually interested in or don’t care about. Every genre on YouTube has its own trends, and you will often know about them just by virtue of watching other channels in your genre and talking to people who are interested in the same things as you. For example, if you’re a Gamer and your friends are also Gamers then you probably already know what Gamers are currently interested in.

If you do need help determining trends, here are 2 ways to do it:

1. Visit 3 of the most popular channels in your genre (i.e. gaming, beauty, or prank) and see if there’s any overlap in the themes of their most recent videos.
2. Go to Google Trends and look at the categories most relevant to your genre. To learn how to use Google Trends .

3. Aim for Number 1

Being trendy doesn’t mean you can’t be original. If you know what’s popular in your genre then that will enable you to ask yourself ‘what’s on-trend, but not being covered yet?’.

For example, if you know that relationship videos – topics like ‘how do you know a guy likes you?’ – are doing well then you can think about what other aspects of dating people might be interested in that don’t have many videos on them yet. If you’re one of the first to tackle something that’s on-trend you have a much better chance of getting that number 1 search engine ranking, and higher ranked videos always get more views.

4. Success Doesn’t Mean Making a Viral Video

There’s a common misconception that in order to grow your channel you need to make your videos go viral. The truth is that having one or two viral videos probably won’t help you much. People don’t subscribe to one video, they subscribe for consistently good content.

It’s much better to have 10 videos on a popular topic that are doing alright than it is to have that one big viral hit. Those 10 videos will consistently bring in new viewers to your channel who are more likely to subscribe because they can see you have other content they’re interested in.

5. The Subscriber Snowball Effect

When you make multiple videos around a trending topic, they’re more likely to come up as ‘related’ to each other than if you only cover the topic in one video. If someone enjoys one of your videos on that topic and can see there’s another right there in the related videos, there’s a good chance they’ll click on it.

This gets you more views on multiple videos, and more subscribers because it builds the expectation that you’re going to continue to keep covering relevant topics. Having viewers click from video to video on your channel also increases your watch time, which YouTube’s algorithm takes as a sign that they should rank your videos higher in search results (getting you even more views).

Do you have any of your own tips for how to get a YouTube video trending?

Finding the trend is integral for YouTube channel growth. A user-friendly video editing software will simplify the process of editing videos and saves your efforts. Get Wondershare Filmora by clicking the button below to make the coolest videos and see your viewers boom.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

Ever think about how to get a YouTube video trending? It can come down to picking a topic that’s trending.

A trending topic is a subject which a lot of people are currently interested in. If you learn how to tap into what’s popular and cover it in creative and innovative ways then that will help your channel grow more quickly. You’ll get more views, more subscribers, and higher search rankings by following these simple tips.

1. Think of ‘Trending’ as Relevant
2. Find Trending Topics Within Your Niche
3. Aim for Number 1
4. Success Doesn’t Mean Making a Viral Video
5. The Subscriber Snowball Effect

1. Think of ‘Trending’ as Relevant

Instead of thinking of a trending video as a video that everyone is doing, think of it as a subject that is relevant to a lot of people. You want to cover topics that a lot of people care about.

A lot of YouTubers see huge channels have a lot of success posting videos that are very focused on the personal life of the creator (i.e. ‘I had the WORST day’) or which have very vague or sensational titles (i.e. ‘The horse knows what it did’) and decide that those are the kinds of videos they want to do too. However, the only reason large channels are able to be successful with these kinds of videos and titles is that they are already big. These creators have already grown themselves huge audiences of people who know and are interested in them personally.

As a smaller creator, you will not be successful if you only aim to do videos that are focused on you and your life. For example, if you have 100 subscribers and make a vlog about how your day went, then you have 100 people who may potentially find that interesting. The content might be good, but it won’t help you grow.

2. Find Trending Topics Within Your Niche

Taking on trending topics shouldn’t mean taking on topics you aren’t actually interested in or don’t care about. Every genre on YouTube has its own trends, and you will often know about them just by virtue of watching other channels in your genre and talking to people who are interested in the same things as you. For example, if you’re a Gamer and your friends are also Gamers then you probably already know what Gamers are currently interested in.

If you do need help determining trends, here are 2 ways to do it:

1. Visit 3 of the most popular channels in your genre (i.e. gaming, beauty, or prank) and see if there’s any overlap in the themes of their most recent videos.
2. Go to Google Trends and look at the categories most relevant to your genre. To learn how to use Google Trends .

3. Aim for Number 1

Being trendy doesn’t mean you can’t be original. If you know what’s popular in your genre then that will enable you to ask yourself ‘what’s on-trend, but not being covered yet?’.

For example, if you know that relationship videos – topics like ‘how do you know a guy likes you?’ – are doing well then you can think about what other aspects of dating people might be interested in that don’t have many videos on them yet. If you’re one of the first to tackle something that’s on-trend you have a much better chance of getting that number 1 search engine ranking, and higher ranked videos always get more views.

4. Success Doesn’t Mean Making a Viral Video

There’s a common misconception that in order to grow your channel you need to make your videos go viral. The truth is that having one or two viral videos probably won’t help you much. People don’t subscribe to one video, they subscribe for consistently good content.

It’s much better to have 10 videos on a popular topic that are doing alright than it is to have that one big viral hit. Those 10 videos will consistently bring in new viewers to your channel who are more likely to subscribe because they can see you have other content they’re interested in.

5. The Subscriber Snowball Effect

When you make multiple videos around a trending topic, they’re more likely to come up as ‘related’ to each other than if you only cover the topic in one video. If someone enjoys one of your videos on that topic and can see there’s another right there in the related videos, there’s a good chance they’ll click on it.

This gets you more views on multiple videos, and more subscribers because it builds the expectation that you’re going to continue to keep covering relevant topics. Having viewers click from video to video on your channel also increases your watch time, which YouTube’s algorithm takes as a sign that they should rank your videos higher in search results (getting you even more views).

Do you have any of your own tips for how to get a YouTube video trending?

Finding the trend is integral for YouTube channel growth. A user-friendly video editing software will simplify the process of editing videos and saves your efforts. Get Wondershare Filmora by clicking the button below to make the coolest videos and see your viewers boom.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

Ever think about how to get a YouTube video trending? It can come down to picking a topic that’s trending.

A trending topic is a subject which a lot of people are currently interested in. If you learn how to tap into what’s popular and cover it in creative and innovative ways then that will help your channel grow more quickly. You’ll get more views, more subscribers, and higher search rankings by following these simple tips.

1. Think of ‘Trending’ as Relevant
2. Find Trending Topics Within Your Niche
3. Aim for Number 1
4. Success Doesn’t Mean Making a Viral Video
5. The Subscriber Snowball Effect

1. Think of ‘Trending’ as Relevant

Instead of thinking of a trending video as a video that everyone is doing, think of it as a subject that is relevant to a lot of people. You want to cover topics that a lot of people care about.

A lot of YouTubers see huge channels have a lot of success posting videos that are very focused on the personal life of the creator (i.e. ‘I had the WORST day’) or which have very vague or sensational titles (i.e. ‘The horse knows what it did’) and decide that those are the kinds of videos they want to do too. However, the only reason large channels are able to be successful with these kinds of videos and titles is that they are already big. These creators have already grown themselves huge audiences of people who know and are interested in them personally.

As a smaller creator, you will not be successful if you only aim to do videos that are focused on you and your life. For example, if you have 100 subscribers and make a vlog about how your day went, then you have 100 people who may potentially find that interesting. The content might be good, but it won’t help you grow.

2. Find Trending Topics Within Your Niche

Taking on trending topics shouldn’t mean taking on topics you aren’t actually interested in or don’t care about. Every genre on YouTube has its own trends, and you will often know about them just by virtue of watching other channels in your genre and talking to people who are interested in the same things as you. For example, if you’re a Gamer and your friends are also Gamers then you probably already know what Gamers are currently interested in.

If you do need help determining trends, here are 2 ways to do it:

1. Visit 3 of the most popular channels in your genre (i.e. gaming, beauty, or prank) and see if there’s any overlap in the themes of their most recent videos.
2. Go to Google Trends and look at the categories most relevant to your genre. To learn how to use Google Trends .

3. Aim for Number 1

Being trendy doesn’t mean you can’t be original. If you know what’s popular in your genre then that will enable you to ask yourself ‘what’s on-trend, but not being covered yet?’.

For example, if you know that relationship videos – topics like ‘how do you know a guy likes you?’ – are doing well then you can think about what other aspects of dating people might be interested in that don’t have many videos on them yet. If you’re one of the first to tackle something that’s on-trend you have a much better chance of getting that number 1 search engine ranking, and higher ranked videos always get more views.

4. Success Doesn’t Mean Making a Viral Video

There’s a common misconception that in order to grow your channel you need to make your videos go viral. The truth is that having one or two viral videos probably won’t help you much. People don’t subscribe to one video, they subscribe for consistently good content.

It’s much better to have 10 videos on a popular topic that are doing alright than it is to have that one big viral hit. Those 10 videos will consistently bring in new viewers to your channel who are more likely to subscribe because they can see you have other content they’re interested in.

5. The Subscriber Snowball Effect

When you make multiple videos around a trending topic, they’re more likely to come up as ‘related’ to each other than if you only cover the topic in one video. If someone enjoys one of your videos on that topic and can see there’s another right there in the related videos, there’s a good chance they’ll click on it.

This gets you more views on multiple videos, and more subscribers because it builds the expectation that you’re going to continue to keep covering relevant topics. Having viewers click from video to video on your channel also increases your watch time, which YouTube’s algorithm takes as a sign that they should rank your videos higher in search results (getting you even more views).

Do you have any of your own tips for how to get a YouTube video trending?

Finding the trend is integral for YouTube channel growth. A user-friendly video editing software will simplify the process of editing videos and saves your efforts. Get Wondershare Filmora by clicking the button below to make the coolest videos and see your viewers boom.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Mastering YouTube Brand Identity: Increasing Subscriber Count

How to Brand Your YouTube Channel to Get More Subscribers

Shanoon Cox

Nov 01, 2022• Proven solutions

0

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 YouTube Icons

- Free Youtube Banners

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

0

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 YouTube Icons

- Free Youtube Banners

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

0

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 YouTube Icons

- Free Youtube Banners

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

0

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 YouTube Icons

- Free Youtube Banners

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

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