Leveraging YouTube for Personal Branding

With 2.6 billion users worldwide, YouTube is the most popular video-sharing site and the second most visited website after Google, its parent company. That means it even ranks higher than Facebook! People regularly search YouTube for education, entertainment, how-tos, and just to be inspired. As video has become more popular on social networks and the myth of the “viral YouTube video” has been debunked, YouTube isn’t as popular with many businesses and marketers, but it is still an extremely powerful channel for growing audiences. Here are some great tips to help you leverage YouTube for your personal branding today!

Why is YouTube important for personal branding? 

Learning to leverage YouTube is powerful for personal branding because video is an impactful way to bring your personal brand to life. Unlike other social networks where videos are displayed in the newsfeed for a few days and then become less relevant, on YouTube, your videos are always findable and viewable. YouTube videos can continue to gain views for years after they have been posted. 

Creating a YouTube channel (the YouTube name for an account) is easy and free. Once you have a channel, you can upload videos and YouTube Shorts! Additionally, you can share your content across your social media channels, helping spread your brand’s awareness! 

How do you build your presence on YouTube for personal branding?

Creating a strong presence on YouTube is relatively easy – and if people are interested in your content, you can generate thousands or millions of views. Generating views on YouTube isn’t as simple as creating and posting a video. You’ll want to follow the 4P approach to YouTube to maximize the exposure of your videos. 

Profile 

• Add all profile information.
• Include a “trailer” video that will automatically play when people visit your channel.
• Organize your content into Playlists so people can easily find your videos. 
• Add videos posted by other accounts into your playlists as well – for example, a news channel did a segment on me that I added to my media playlist.
• Include a banner that is clear, easy to read, and states what you do. 
• Include a profile picture. If you are a company, use your logo. If you use your personal image, ensure your face takes up 75% of the space. Pro Tip: Make your profile picture simple and clean, if your picture is busy edit it!

People 

• People can subscribe to your channel to be notified of your updates. Do not be afraid to ask viewers to like and subscribe. 
• Great content + community will build subscribers over time.
• Promote your YouTube videos on other channels (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Blog, etc.) to maximize your views. 
   

Posting 

• Write a headline that people search for and that is appealing and interesting. Many people search YouTube, and the title of your video is key to gaining traction. 
• Descriptions on YouTube are the only way that YouTube knows what your video is about. Write longer descriptions to maximize your visibility in searches and recommended videos. Here are some great tips for writing descriptions.
• Most videos are 2 – 5 minutes long but can be longer if they add value to the audience. 
• Include tags and categories to maximize exposure. 
• Experiment with different videos to see what works. Check out this list of 15 various types of YouTube videos to try!
• Cross-post videos that you use on other channels to maximize your reach.
• If you are posting on TikTok and Reels, you should also add YouTube Shorts. 
   

Participating 

• Follow other accounts, and many will reciprocate. 
• Get notifications of comments and respond or moderate as necessary.
• Promote your account and videos on other social networks or online channels (email, website, etc.).
   

Remember:   

Not every video you post will be a hit – test, and learn to see which videos perform well. Also, remember that you don’t need millions of views for your video to have results – you need the right people viewing them. 

If you use YouTube for personal branding to build a following, you’ll want a clear and consistent posting plan and spend time subscribing to and commenting on other videos and accounts. If you aren’t ready to fully invest in YouTube, start using it as a place to post all your other videos and build your video presence.

The information was taken from an excerpt of “Launch Yourself” by Krista Neher. For your free action planner and bonus resources, visit www.LaunchYourself.com/book.