Create Your Look & Define Your Hook
In branding your channel, it’s important to stay CONSISTENT. Set the stage for your brand with these simple, memorable ways to stand out from the crowd.
1. Channel Look
Okay, let’s brand your channel!
This simple guideline will help you keep your channel look consistent and clean. Save yourself time in designing with the tools and tips below.
First – Choose 3 Fonts
Your channel needs 3 consistent fonts: Header, Subheader and Tagline.
Keeping these 3 things consistent will go a LONG way in saving you production and editing time.
– Choose your Header font to be one that is bold, large, all caps and clean.
– Choose your Subheader font to be on that is slightly less large/bold, but still clean and simple.
– Choose your Tagline font to look more like handwriting.
I personally use Futura Narrow (H1 – Header), Amatic Small Caps (H2 – Subheader) and Raleway (H3 – Tagline or Body Text):
Next – Choose 3 Hex Codes
A hex code is the HTML parameter for a certain color. You’ve seen these before, they look like this:
Choose 3 consistent hex codes and store them in a note on your computer. This will make your branding and editing process SO much easier.
I write mine like this:
HEX CODES
light blue: 44D2EB
turquoise: 3BC9CB
light pink: FF97CE
hot pink: FF0093
I store these on every device I have (iPhone, iPad, laptop and desktop) so that I can quickly and easily reference them when making text overlays, graphics, thumbnails or other content.
Last – Make Your Channel Cover Art
Keep it simple! Include your channel name and when your videos are published. You can use Canva.com if you need help with designing a simple layout for your channel art.
2. Script Your Hook
This is like your brand “hello,” or even your brand slogan. You’ll start your videos the exact same way every time with a “punchline” that your viewers will remember and associate with you and your content.
It helps to tell your viewers what your channel is all about, give them a piece of your style, and get excited for each piece of new content you create.
For a long time, mine was “What up world, it’s Liz, and today I’m here to supercharge your life with… [a workout, recipe, etc]” Another channel that does a great job with this is The Leo King. His punchline is “What’s goin on everybody, it’s David Palmer, the Leo King, here to illuminate the collective consciousness.”
Another one I like is Shameless Maya. Her punchline is “What’s up beautiful people, it’s your homegirl Ms. Shameless, all up in ya buildin.” You’ll start to notice that every good channel has a punchline, even if it’s just “Hi guys, its Katie…”
Whatever the aim of your channel is, or whatever your personal style is, pack it in your punchline!
This punchline should come at the beginning of every video you make because it helps condition your viewers to come back, know what to expect, and keep your content quick and clean.
3. Create Thumbnail Templates
When someone searches for a video on YouTube, they will click on whichever video has the best-looking thumbnail that appeals most to them.
It’s incredibly important to keep your thumbnails:
- easy to read,
- clean,
- descriptive of the video, and
- branded to match your viewer’s preferred style!
Even if you’re not a designer, thumbnails have become easier and easier to create quickly using free tools like Canva.com. Go create your account right now, then create 3 basic Thumbnail Templates.
Canva will save them in your account for you so that your upload process is fast and easy. We will cover more on this in Week 3: Posting.
Below are some great examples of consistent, high-impact thumbnails:
Charisma On Command:
Carly Christman:
Ramit Sethi (I Will Teach You To Be Rich):
ASSIGNMENT:
Channel Branding PDF
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