[Updated] Craft a Memorable YouTube Channel Brand for More Viewers

[Updated] Craft a Memorable YouTube Channel Brand for More Viewers

Kevin Lv12

Craft a Memorable YouTube Channel Brand for More Viewers

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

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

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.

Branding YouTube Channel

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.

Create Video Thumbnails

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

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.

Pew Die Pie Channel

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

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

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.

author avatar

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

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

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.

Branding YouTube Channel

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.

Create Video Thumbnails

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

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.

Pew Die Pie Channel

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

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

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.

author avatar

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

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

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.

Branding YouTube Channel

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.

Create Video Thumbnails

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

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.

Pew Die Pie Channel

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

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

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.

author avatar

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

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

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.

Branding YouTube Channel

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.

Create Video Thumbnails

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

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.

Pew Die Pie Channel

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

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

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.

author avatar

Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Shanoon Cox

Transform Your Videography: Using YouTube to Boost Visual Clarity

How to Use YouTube Enhancements

author avatar

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

YouTube has integrated a free video editor to facilitate the work of YouTubers and allow them to process their videos prior to uploading. Although nobody can claim these features can live up to the sophisticated features of the professional video editors, YouTube enhancements are useful and cool which offer a simple way to improve the quality of the videos and do not require any technical knowledge on your behalf.


If you are looking for a more professional approach in video editing, you should try out Wondershare Filmora(for Windows and Mac) . This is an exceptionally versatile and powerful tool, which will allow you to gain full control over the videos you wish to edit. It is very easy to use, and it will open up a new world of potentials in video editing. There is a free trial that you can benefit from, so as to see if Filmora meets your criteria in full prior to your purchase.

Download Win VersionDownload Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )


How to Use YouTube Enhancements

First of all, you need to locate YouTube Enhancements. As soon as you have logged into your YouTube channel, you should go to the Video Manager. There you choose Edit and YouTube Enhancements, and you are ready to go. There are three distinctive categories that you can use, in order to edit your video. You can choose among Quick Fix, Filters, and Blurring Effects. As you can see, there are features that pretty much cover the basics in video editing under these categories.

Locate enhancements features

Quick Fix promptly addresses issues that have to do with the contrast and saturation, as well as offers the ability to rotate or trim the video. There is nothing sophisticated there, but it is a really easy and practical solution for those who do not wish to waste time editing. It is cool that you can also stabilize your video or allow for Slow Motion or Timelapse effects. This is definitely an improvement for YouTube videos.

Qucik Fix

Filters feel a lot like those used on Instagram. They are neat and cool, of course, covering many of the demands for sophisticated editing. You can find filters like Lomo-ish, Old Fashioned, Heat Map, Cartoon, Cross Process, Festival and much more on YouTube Enhancements. You can also adjust the lighting and colors, so as to fine-tune your video.

YouTube Filters

Blurring Effects are perhaps the most advanced on YouTube Enhancements, and they provide the opportunity to maintain your privacy, by removing people’s distinctive details from the video and blurring them or putting mosaic on their face. With this tool, you can also blur objects on the video, which can increase your privacy even more. For instance, you can blur the plates of your car or your address. Last, there are some hilarious effects that you should check out.

YouTube Costum Blurring

Once you are done, there is an option to preview the video that you have edited. In this way, you will know if the editions that you have made are sufficient for you or not. Finally, you can choose either to save the video as a new file or revert to the original video. These options are welcome, as sometimes you just do not get what you have expected and you do not want to replace the video you have already uploaded.

How to Use Wondershare Filmora to improve YouTube videos

These are the steps that you need to follow, so as to proceed with high-quality video editing on Filmora:

  • Open Wordershare Filmora
  • Choose if you want 16:9 or 4:3 aspect ratio
  • Tap Import so as to upload the files
  • Drag and drop them, in order to place them in the right order

Import Video

  • Click Edit and adjust the settings (rotation, contrast, saturation, brightness, hue, auto de-noise and speed)

Adjust Contrast Saturation

  • Click OK, and you are done with the improvement of Video Quality

If you wish to fine-tune the images of the videos and place special filters, you can go ahead as follows:

  • Tap the Effect button
  • Drag the effect you want to use on the timeline (you can choose from a wide variety of effects, including Bokeh and Light Leaks, Old Film, etc.)

Free Movie Special Effect

After having finished with the video editing process, you can preview the video and see if it is of acceptable quality standards. You can do that by clicking on the Play button. Then you can click on the Create button and save the video where you want, in the format of your choosing. It is also possible for you to burn the video on a DVD or share it online using YouTube or Facebook.

Format Supported by Filmora

Download Win VersionDownload Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )

author avatar

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

YouTube has integrated a free video editor to facilitate the work of YouTubers and allow them to process their videos prior to uploading. Although nobody can claim these features can live up to the sophisticated features of the professional video editors, YouTube enhancements are useful and cool which offer a simple way to improve the quality of the videos and do not require any technical knowledge on your behalf.


If you are looking for a more professional approach in video editing, you should try out Wondershare Filmora(for Windows and Mac) . This is an exceptionally versatile and powerful tool, which will allow you to gain full control over the videos you wish to edit. It is very easy to use, and it will open up a new world of potentials in video editing. There is a free trial that you can benefit from, so as to see if Filmora meets your criteria in full prior to your purchase.

Download Win VersionDownload Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )


How to Use YouTube Enhancements

First of all, you need to locate YouTube Enhancements. As soon as you have logged into your YouTube channel, you should go to the Video Manager. There you choose Edit and YouTube Enhancements, and you are ready to go. There are three distinctive categories that you can use, in order to edit your video. You can choose among Quick Fix, Filters, and Blurring Effects. As you can see, there are features that pretty much cover the basics in video editing under these categories.

Locate enhancements features

Quick Fix promptly addresses issues that have to do with the contrast and saturation, as well as offers the ability to rotate or trim the video. There is nothing sophisticated there, but it is a really easy and practical solution for those who do not wish to waste time editing. It is cool that you can also stabilize your video or allow for Slow Motion or Timelapse effects. This is definitely an improvement for YouTube videos.

Qucik Fix

Filters feel a lot like those used on Instagram. They are neat and cool, of course, covering many of the demands for sophisticated editing. You can find filters like Lomo-ish, Old Fashioned, Heat Map, Cartoon, Cross Process, Festival and much more on YouTube Enhancements. You can also adjust the lighting and colors, so as to fine-tune your video.

YouTube Filters

Blurring Effects are perhaps the most advanced on YouTube Enhancements, and they provide the opportunity to maintain your privacy, by removing people’s distinctive details from the video and blurring them or putting mosaic on their face. With this tool, you can also blur objects on the video, which can increase your privacy even more. For instance, you can blur the plates of your car or your address. Last, there are some hilarious effects that you should check out.

YouTube Costum Blurring

Once you are done, there is an option to preview the video that you have edited. In this way, you will know if the editions that you have made are sufficient for you or not. Finally, you can choose either to save the video as a new file or revert to the original video. These options are welcome, as sometimes you just do not get what you have expected and you do not want to replace the video you have already uploaded.

How to Use Wondershare Filmora to improve YouTube videos

These are the steps that you need to follow, so as to proceed with high-quality video editing on Filmora:

  • Open Wordershare Filmora
  • Choose if you want 16:9 or 4:3 aspect ratio
  • Tap Import so as to upload the files
  • Drag and drop them, in order to place them in the right order

Import Video

  • Click Edit and adjust the settings (rotation, contrast, saturation, brightness, hue, auto de-noise and speed)

Adjust Contrast Saturation

  • Click OK, and you are done with the improvement of Video Quality

If you wish to fine-tune the images of the videos and place special filters, you can go ahead as follows:

  • Tap the Effect button
  • Drag the effect you want to use on the timeline (you can choose from a wide variety of effects, including Bokeh and Light Leaks, Old Film, etc.)

Free Movie Special Effect

After having finished with the video editing process, you can preview the video and see if it is of acceptable quality standards. You can do that by clicking on the Play button. Then you can click on the Create button and save the video where you want, in the format of your choosing. It is also possible for you to burn the video on a DVD or share it online using YouTube or Facebook.

Format Supported by Filmora

Download Win VersionDownload Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )

author avatar

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

YouTube has integrated a free video editor to facilitate the work of YouTubers and allow them to process their videos prior to uploading. Although nobody can claim these features can live up to the sophisticated features of the professional video editors, YouTube enhancements are useful and cool which offer a simple way to improve the quality of the videos and do not require any technical knowledge on your behalf.


If you are looking for a more professional approach in video editing, you should try out Wondershare Filmora(for Windows and Mac) . This is an exceptionally versatile and powerful tool, which will allow you to gain full control over the videos you wish to edit. It is very easy to use, and it will open up a new world of potentials in video editing. There is a free trial that you can benefit from, so as to see if Filmora meets your criteria in full prior to your purchase.

Download Win VersionDownload Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )


How to Use YouTube Enhancements

First of all, you need to locate YouTube Enhancements. As soon as you have logged into your YouTube channel, you should go to the Video Manager. There you choose Edit and YouTube Enhancements, and you are ready to go. There are three distinctive categories that you can use, in order to edit your video. You can choose among Quick Fix, Filters, and Blurring Effects. As you can see, there are features that pretty much cover the basics in video editing under these categories.

Locate enhancements features

Quick Fix promptly addresses issues that have to do with the contrast and saturation, as well as offers the ability to rotate or trim the video. There is nothing sophisticated there, but it is a really easy and practical solution for those who do not wish to waste time editing. It is cool that you can also stabilize your video or allow for Slow Motion or Timelapse effects. This is definitely an improvement for YouTube videos.

Qucik Fix

Filters feel a lot like those used on Instagram. They are neat and cool, of course, covering many of the demands for sophisticated editing. You can find filters like Lomo-ish, Old Fashioned, Heat Map, Cartoon, Cross Process, Festival and much more on YouTube Enhancements. You can also adjust the lighting and colors, so as to fine-tune your video.

YouTube Filters

Blurring Effects are perhaps the most advanced on YouTube Enhancements, and they provide the opportunity to maintain your privacy, by removing people’s distinctive details from the video and blurring them or putting mosaic on their face. With this tool, you can also blur objects on the video, which can increase your privacy even more. For instance, you can blur the plates of your car or your address. Last, there are some hilarious effects that you should check out.

YouTube Costum Blurring

Once you are done, there is an option to preview the video that you have edited. In this way, you will know if the editions that you have made are sufficient for you or not. Finally, you can choose either to save the video as a new file or revert to the original video. These options are welcome, as sometimes you just do not get what you have expected and you do not want to replace the video you have already uploaded.

How to Use Wondershare Filmora to improve YouTube videos

These are the steps that you need to follow, so as to proceed with high-quality video editing on Filmora:

  • Open Wordershare Filmora
  • Choose if you want 16:9 or 4:3 aspect ratio
  • Tap Import so as to upload the files
  • Drag and drop them, in order to place them in the right order

Import Video

  • Click Edit and adjust the settings (rotation, contrast, saturation, brightness, hue, auto de-noise and speed)

Adjust Contrast Saturation

  • Click OK, and you are done with the improvement of Video Quality

If you wish to fine-tune the images of the videos and place special filters, you can go ahead as follows:

  • Tap the Effect button
  • Drag the effect you want to use on the timeline (you can choose from a wide variety of effects, including Bokeh and Light Leaks, Old Film, etc.)

Free Movie Special Effect

After having finished with the video editing process, you can preview the video and see if it is of acceptable quality standards. You can do that by clicking on the Play button. Then you can click on the Create button and save the video where you want, in the format of your choosing. It is also possible for you to burn the video on a DVD or share it online using YouTube or Facebook.

Format Supported by Filmora

Download Win VersionDownload Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )

author avatar

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

YouTube has integrated a free video editor to facilitate the work of YouTubers and allow them to process their videos prior to uploading. Although nobody can claim these features can live up to the sophisticated features of the professional video editors, YouTube enhancements are useful and cool which offer a simple way to improve the quality of the videos and do not require any technical knowledge on your behalf.


If you are looking for a more professional approach in video editing, you should try out Wondershare Filmora(for Windows and Mac) . This is an exceptionally versatile and powerful tool, which will allow you to gain full control over the videos you wish to edit. It is very easy to use, and it will open up a new world of potentials in video editing. There is a free trial that you can benefit from, so as to see if Filmora meets your criteria in full prior to your purchase.

Download Win VersionDownload Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )


How to Use YouTube Enhancements

First of all, you need to locate YouTube Enhancements. As soon as you have logged into your YouTube channel, you should go to the Video Manager. There you choose Edit and YouTube Enhancements, and you are ready to go. There are three distinctive categories that you can use, in order to edit your video. You can choose among Quick Fix, Filters, and Blurring Effects. As you can see, there are features that pretty much cover the basics in video editing under these categories.

Locate enhancements features

Quick Fix promptly addresses issues that have to do with the contrast and saturation, as well as offers the ability to rotate or trim the video. There is nothing sophisticated there, but it is a really easy and practical solution for those who do not wish to waste time editing. It is cool that you can also stabilize your video or allow for Slow Motion or Timelapse effects. This is definitely an improvement for YouTube videos.

Qucik Fix

Filters feel a lot like those used on Instagram. They are neat and cool, of course, covering many of the demands for sophisticated editing. You can find filters like Lomo-ish, Old Fashioned, Heat Map, Cartoon, Cross Process, Festival and much more on YouTube Enhancements. You can also adjust the lighting and colors, so as to fine-tune your video.

YouTube Filters

Blurring Effects are perhaps the most advanced on YouTube Enhancements, and they provide the opportunity to maintain your privacy, by removing people’s distinctive details from the video and blurring them or putting mosaic on their face. With this tool, you can also blur objects on the video, which can increase your privacy even more. For instance, you can blur the plates of your car or your address. Last, there are some hilarious effects that you should check out.

YouTube Costum Blurring

Once you are done, there is an option to preview the video that you have edited. In this way, you will know if the editions that you have made are sufficient for you or not. Finally, you can choose either to save the video as a new file or revert to the original video. These options are welcome, as sometimes you just do not get what you have expected and you do not want to replace the video you have already uploaded.

How to Use Wondershare Filmora to improve YouTube videos

These are the steps that you need to follow, so as to proceed with high-quality video editing on Filmora:

  • Open Wordershare Filmora
  • Choose if you want 16:9 or 4:3 aspect ratio
  • Tap Import so as to upload the files
  • Drag and drop them, in order to place them in the right order

Import Video

  • Click Edit and adjust the settings (rotation, contrast, saturation, brightness, hue, auto de-noise and speed)

Adjust Contrast Saturation

  • Click OK, and you are done with the improvement of Video Quality

If you wish to fine-tune the images of the videos and place special filters, you can go ahead as follows:

  • Tap the Effect button
  • Drag the effect you want to use on the timeline (you can choose from a wide variety of effects, including Bokeh and Light Leaks, Old Film, etc.)

Free Movie Special Effect

After having finished with the video editing process, you can preview the video and see if it is of acceptable quality standards. You can do that by clicking on the Play button. Then you can click on the Create button and save the video where you want, in the format of your choosing. It is also possible for you to burn the video on a DVD or share it online using YouTube or Facebook.

Format Supported by Filmora

Download Win VersionDownload Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )

author avatar

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

Also read:

  • Title: [Updated] Craft a Memorable YouTube Channel Brand for More Viewers
  • Author: Kevin
  • Created at : 2024-05-25 16:43:22
  • Updated at : 2024-05-26 16:43:22
  • Link: https://youtube-videos.techidaily.com/updated-craft-a-memorable-youtube-channel-brand-for-more-viewers/
  • License: This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
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[Updated] Craft a Memorable YouTube Channel Brand for More Viewers