How Building a Strong Brand Can Boost Engagement

Whether you’re about to create YouTube video content for the first time or you’re just looking to improve a channel you already have, building a strong brand is essential for success—and that applies to both businesses and individuals.

A strong brand instills trust in your followers. It makes you more memorable and easier to recognize. And it can even play a large part in whether your viewers choose to come back or not.

What Makes a Personal Brand?

For those in the marketing industry, branding is a familiar term. But if you’re new to promoting your channel, knowing what exactly a brand entails may be a bit confusing. In short, a brand includes everything that goes into your image—from how you speak and what you speak about to the images, written words, and content you post.

Now that you know what a brand is, here are 10 marketing secrets you need to try if you want to build a reliable brand and boost engagement on your YouTube Channel.

Know Your Target Audience

First, know who you’re talking to. Just like you’d speak differently to your mother, best friend, and manager, different brand voices appeal to different audiences when marketing.

What works in the gaming industry might not work on a channel devoted to crafting—the same way a beauty channel will have a different audience than one that focuses on plumbing and home repairs. While there will always be some overlap, these different niches have distinct audiences—and knowing who you’re talking to is the key to success.

Use YouTube Analytics

While you can play a guessing game, YouTube offers analytics on your audience that can help you. Here’s how to see them:

1. Sign in to YouTube Studio

2. Select Analytics on the left

3. Select Audience on the top

Here, you can view analytics for your entire channel and individual videos. (Hint: If you have one video that’s much more popular than the rest, you may notice a distinct difference in your target audience. This can help you shift your marketing strategies.)

You can see statistics such as:

• age
• gender
• languages and subtitles
• geographies
• other videos and channels that are popular with your audience
• what time viewers are on YouTube

Use this information wisely, and you can boost your engagement and follow.

Engage with Your Audience

On top of knowing your audience through data, you can also get to know them through personal interactions. Here are some tips for boosting engagement:

• talk directly to your followers in your videos
• ask your viewers questions and prompt them to respond in the comments
• respond to their comments in the comments section and in videos
• source ideas from your viewers
• give credit where it’s due and shoutout followers
• comment on videos from other YouTubers

A great way to deliver the content you know your subscribers want to see is simply by asking them what they want. Engaging with your audience will give you insights that you can’t see through analytics.

Handle Negative Comments with Grace

Be prepared to see criticism and negativity in the comments. People will say things online that they would never say in person, but that doesn’t mean you should, too. How you handle negativity (or whether you do at all) will feed into your brand voice (which we’ll cover later).

So, always handle negativity with grace, and add a dash of humor if you’d like to.

Collaborate with Other Creators

A great way to define your personal brand is to collaborate with creators who align with your brand values.

Collaborating with other creators:

• help you build a strong network for you to utilize to your benefit
• introduces you to audience members who want to see your content
• further defines your brand in relation to other established creators

So, if you’re not sure where to start, use other creators as inspiration. See what they do and use it as a model. Other creators on YouTube are also likely to offer support and guidance to people they befriend.

Use a Stellar Banner Image

Imagine that you walk into a café that looks amazing. The aesthetics alone are enough to keep you around compared to a shop that doesn’t have much going for it. The same concept applies to your YouTube channel—so, use an eye-catching and attractive banner image.

Use something that:

• draws attention
• looks great
• isn’t too busy
• represents your brand

For images, simplicity is good.

Flesh Out Your Profile

Back to the café example—if you saw a café that didn’t have a sign, had no décor, and no information about them online, it would seem sketchy, right? Well, you could be turning away followers inadvertently by having a weak profile.

So, use a good profile picture, and be sure to flesh out your account with lots of juicy information.

Choose the Right Profile Picture

When it comes to posting a profile picture, it’s not always as simple as using a picture of your face (although it might be). Your main image should be recognizable, distinct, and appealing.

This image serves as the masthead of your brand image, so it needs to be great. So, take your time developing a good logo or getting a great headshot because it can make your channel look more professional.

Ensure There’s Cohesion

Your brand comprises many parts, including your brand voice and brand image (which make up your brand identity as a whole).

Your brand must be seamless. Everything should fit together well to create an atmosphere that your subscribers love.

So, consider the following, and ensure that they’re working together and not against each other:

• your “voice” when you speak and write
• your style guide for written content
• images associated with your brand
• how you edit videos
• what type of content do you publish
• your appearance and demeanor in videos
• color schemes
• a logo (if you have one)

Promote Your Brand to Drive Engagement

Finally, if you want to boost engagement after developing a strong personal brand on YouTube, you should promote your channel.

In addition to creating content, you need to share that content.

Here are some ways you can promote your YouTube content:

• Share a link to your videos on other social media platforms
• Cross-promote content by including YouTube videos in newsletters or blogs
• Invest in advertising

Conclusion: Building a Strong Brand isn’t Rocket Science

Developing a cohesive brand that works isn’t impossible, but it can be difficult. Some days you might wonder if it’s all worth it—hang in there because it will be.

To build a strong brand on YouTube:

• choose a niche audience
• tailor your content to your subscribers
• engage and interact
• collaborate with other creators
• pay attention to details
• maintain cohesion throughout every aspect of your brand
• promote yourself

While following this advice will surely help you develop a great brand on YouTube, you might be looking for something faster and easier. Managergram offers various services to help you boost your brand on YouTube, including ways to instantly and predictably increase your likes, views, and subscribers.