YouTube Platform Guide

Getting Started With YouTube

Want to learn how to use your YouTube? We've put together a collection of tips and more explaining everything you need to know.

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Where To Start With YouTube

YouTube offers numerous benefits for brands. With over 2 billion monthly active users, YouTube allows brands to reach a massive global audience, making it the second-largest search engine after Google. By providing useful, entertaining, and engaging video content, brands can educate viewers, answer questions, and demonstrate authenticity to build trust and credibility with their audience.

YouTube also allows you to repurpose existing content like podcasts, presentations, and infographics into video format, which can be shared across other social media channels and websites. With the staying power of YouTube videos, you can continue attracting viewers and leads over time, unlike quickly-scrolled social media posts.

Overall, YouTube provides brands with a powerful platform to reach a massive audience, build credibility, acquire customers, repurpose content, and generate revenue, making it an effective marketing channel.

YouTube Platform Image Sizes

Here are the key YouTube image and video sizes you need to know:

YouTube Channel Art (Banner)

• Ideal size: 2560 x 1440 pixels
• Minimum safe area: 1546 x 423 pixels (center)
• Accepted formats: JPG, GIF, BMP, PNG under 6MB

YouTube Profile Picture

• Ideal size: 800 x 800 pixels
• Displays as a 98 x 98 pixel circle
• Accepted formats: JPG, GIF, BMP, PNG

YouTube Video Thumbnails

• Ideal size: 1280 x 720 pixels (16:9 aspect ratio)
• Maximum file size: 2MB
• Accepted formats: JPG, GIF, PNG

YouTube Video Dimensions

• 16:9 aspect ratio recommended
• 1920 x 1080 pixels (1080p)
• 2560 x 1440 pixels (1440p or 2K)
• 3840 x 2160 pixels (2160p or 4K)
• Minimum: 426 x 240 pixels
• Accepted formats: MOV, MPEG4, MP4, AVI, WMV, MPEGPS, FLV, 3GPP, WebM
• Maximum length: 12 hours
• Maximum file size: 128GB

Optimizing your YouTube images and videos with the right dimensions is key to making your channel look professional and attracting viewers. Use these guidelines to create high-quality, properly sized content that will stand out.

When To Share On YouTube

Based on the search results, here are the key points about the best times for brands to share content on YouTube:

The ideal times to post YouTube videos for brands are:

• Weekdays (Monday-Wednesday): 2 PM - 4 PM
• Thursdays & Fridays: 12 PM - 3 PM
• Weekends (Saturday & Sunday): 9 AM - 11 AM

The reasoning is that these times tend to see higher viewer engagement and viewership, as that's when most people are online and have free time to watch videos. Weekends, especially Saturdays, also perform well for certain content types like recipes and family-focused videos.

Best Time To Share Videos For Your SaaS Brand

However, the best time depends on your audience and their viewing habits. Analyzing your own channel's analytics to identify peak viewership times is recommended. Experimenting with different posting times and days can also help you determine the optimal schedule for your brand.

In general, it's best to avoid posting very early in the morning (1 AM - 6 AM) when viewership is lowest. Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays tend to be better than weekends for most brand content.

The key is to post your videos when your target audience is most likely to be online and engaged. Timing your uploads strategically can help maximize views, engagement, and the discoverability of your content on YouTube.

YouTube Platform Advertising Capabilities

YouTube offers a range of powerful advertising capabilities that make it an effective platform for brands to reach their target audience offering a variety of ad formats to fit different campaign goals and budgets including:

• TrueView: skippable in-stream ads that users can skip after 5 seconds. You only pay if they watch for 30 seconds or more. Great for brand awareness and storytelling
• Non-Skippable: short, impactful ads that play before, during, or after a video. Ideal for delivering quick messages that get immediate attention
• Bumpers: 6-second non-skippable ads that are concise and memorable. Good for reinforcing brand messages
• Sponsored: product images and info that appear on top of a video. Useful for showcasing specific products
• Display: static or animated banner ads that appear alongside a video. Helpful for driving website traffic

YouTube Advertising Targeting Options

YouTube provides robust targeting capabilities, allowing advertisers to define their audience based on various parameters such as:

• Demographics: Age, gender, parental status, household income, etc
• Interests: Specific topics, categories, or keywords related to the user's interests
• Behaviors: Users' search history, watch history, device usage, etc
• Locations: Specific countries, regions, cities or even neighborhoods
• Topics: Broad themes like "Autos & Vehicles" or "Beauty & Fitness"
• Keywords: Relevant words or phrases related to your products/services

YouTube's powerful targeting, diverse ad formats, and robust measurement capabilities make it an extremely effective platform for brands to connect with their ideal customers and drive measurable results. Its massive user base and growing popularity make it a must-consider channel for any digital advertising strategy.

YouTube Platform Best Practices

Here are some of the key YouTube best practices for brands:

Optimize For Search & Discovery

• Include your target keywords in the video title, description, and tags
• Use relevant, eye-catching thumbnails that follow YouTube's guidelines (1280x720 pixels, 16:9 ratio)
• Organize videos into playlists with descriptive titles to improve SEO
• Add relevant tags to help your videos show up in search results and suggested videos
• Choose the most appropriate category for your video content

Create Engaging Content

• Hook viewers in the first few seconds with a catchy intro or hook
• Tell a compelling story and experiment with different video lengths
• Publish content regularly and embrace episodic series
• Optimize the user experience, including deciding if/where to place ads
• Collaborate with other relevant YouTube creators to cross-promote

Encourage Viewer Engagement

• Record a custom channel greeting video to introduce your brand
• Use end screens with annotations to link to other videos and playlists
• Engage viewers with playlists and direct them to specific playlists
• Utilize community features like posts, polls, and stories once you have 1000 subscribers

Measure & Optimize

• Analyze your YouTube analytics to identify top-performing content and optimize
• Experiment with different posting days/times to find your optimal schedule
• Respond to comments and interact with your audience to build relationships
• Promote your YouTube content across your other social channels and website

By following these best practices around content, optimization, engagement, and promotion, brands can maximize the reach, impact, and results of their YouTube channel. Consistency, relevance, and an understanding of YouTube's algorithms are key to success.

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