This is How You Create a YouTube Channel for Your Business

1. Why YouTube for businesses? 
2. What are the advantages of a YouTube channel for businesses? 
3. What are the disadvantages of a YouTube channel for businesses? 
4. What should be considered with a YouTube channel for businesses? 
5. Creating a YouTube channel for business in 7 steps
6. What mistakes should be avoided when using a YouTube business channel? 
7. Helpful tools for creating YouTube videos for your YouTube channel
8. Conclusion on the YouTube channel for businesses

In the following article, our guest author Isabell Hoppe explains why a YouTube channel is essential for business marketing and how to create one.

Moving images have gained in importance rapidly in recent years. In addition to the newcomer TikTok, YouTube as an "old hand" can still hold its own. In 2021, German users* consumed an average of 40 minutes of YouTube videos per day. According to a study by Think with Google, a full 80 percent of German YouTube users* are particularly open to personalized advertising and brand messages.

That's why YouTube is still considered THE video platform. If your company is already considering creating a YouTube Business Channel, now is the right time.

Why YouTube for businesses? 

YouTube is THE most profitable marketing tool of the 21st century. Because with well-made, emotional videos you can reach millions of customers*. 

In 2021, advertisers reached 49 million YouTube users* in Germany. The users* who do not have an account are not even included. So the audience is quite large.

In comparison: Instagram and TikTok have way fewer users. Instagram had 27.8 million in 2021 and TikTok 20 million users* in Germany.

Moreover, you can assume that you will find a part of your target group there. Because YouTube is received across all social and age groups. 

Source: Statista

What are the advantages of a YouTube channel for businesses? 

YouTube is considered the second largest search engine in the world and does credit to its parent company Google. Google also indexes your videos. This means that if you integrate important SEO keywords into the title and description text of your videos, you will get a good ranking both on Google and YouTube and will be found more easily. 

Well-produced YouTube videos with emotional messages stay in the heads of your potential customers* for a long time. Because video content is processed and stored in the brain much faster and easier compared to pure text.

Visual content is also advantageous for customer loyalty. Through the personal address in the videos, subscribers* build parasocial relationships much faster than with pure text content. Because they can interact with you through the screen and also through the comment function. This builds and strengthens relationships with the community.

Thanks to the built relationship, your target group also interacts more often with you - engagement increases. Both an advantage for you and an advantage for Google, Meta and ByteDance. Because users* stay longer on the respective platforms and your profile - the primary goal of the above-mentioned companies.

If you already have Reels or TikTok in the pipeline, you don't necessarily have to produce new content - although it is recommended. Since YouTube recognized the potential of vertical videos in 2021, they also introduced YouTube Shorts (YouTube's vertical video format) that year.

Another point in favor of YouTube is the lifespan of the videos. Older YouTube videos can still generate more views years later and be found via search engines. If you update the title, description, and thumbnail occasionally on your old videos, the algorithm will replay them. This is not the case with Instagram and TikTok. The lifespan of these videos is comparatively short compared to YouTube.

What are the disadvantages of a YouTube channel for businesses? 

YouTube is profitable, but at the same time it is time-consuming, costly, and maintenance-intensive. If you want to achieve success with the platform, you must bring money, patience, perseverance, regularity, and of course a channel strategy.

Those who regularly publish videos look professional and are played out more often by the algorithm. But it definitely takes time! Results are not immediately visible. This can be very frustrating in between - but don't bury your head in the sand! Influencer marketing strategies can be supportive to build reach for your YouTube Business Account.

What should be considered with a YouTube channel for businesses? 

For your company, a brand account is recommended. This allows multiple marketing employees* to access the channel. You don't have to decide on a brand account right away. You can convert your channel to a brand account at any time in the advanced settings.

You also need a Google Account for your YouTube Business Channel as well as a Google My Business profile. 

Create a YouTube account with an existing Google Account


If you already have a Google Account, just use that to open a YouTube Account. You can skip this chapter and continue reading at 'Creating a YouTube Channel for Business in 7 Steps'.

Create a YouTube account without a Google Account

If you don't have a Google Account, then you need to create one.

1. Enter youtube.com 

2. Click "Login" in the top right corner.

Source: YouTube

3. Click on "Create New Account", left below the login field and choose between "For me", "For my child", or "For my business".

4. Click on "Create an account for my business". Subsequently, a different login mask will open. Enter your first name, last name, and an email address there.

If you want to create a Gmail address, you can do it at this point. If you don't want to use a Gmail address, click on "Use my current email address instead" and enter your desired address in the "Your email address" input field. Once you have entered a password and confirmed it, click "Next".

Source: Google

5. After you clicked on "Next", you will receive an email to the email address you provided. Google now asks you to confirm your email address. In the email, there is a confirmation code. You enter this six-digit code into the field "Confirm email address".

6. Enter the required data. You will be guided step by step. From the step where you have to enter your company name, you are creating a Google My Business profile. You can understand Google My Business as a directory entry. Regardless of YouTube, it makes sense to fill out the profile with information.

7. Once you have entered everything, you have created a Google Account and a Google My Business profile. You are on the Google homepage. Next, click on the symbol at the top right to get to the YouTube homepage.

Creating a YouTube channel for business in 7 steps

Before uploading videos, you should take the time to set up your YouTube company account. 

The following steps are recommended:

1. Create a channel

⁠First, click on the user profile at the top right. Here you choose "Create channel". Give your YouTube Business Channel a channel name and select a suitable image. Then click on "Create Channel". 

Source: YouTube

2. Customize channel in YouTube Studio

⁠Next, click on "Customize Channel". Here an explanation of the YouTube Studio is given beforehand. In the YouTube Studio you can receive valuable statistics and hints, upload videos, and edit your channel. 

3. Design YouTube homepage

⁠Under "Layout" you can deposit a channel trailer, if you have one already. Also, you can highlight a video on the homepage for returning subscribers*. Under channel section recommendations you can add "Short Videos", "Uploads", "Own Playlists" and "Subscriptions". 

Source: YouTube

4. Determine YouTube branding

⁠In the tab "Branding" you can deposit an image/logo as profile picture, banner image and watermark. The square channel picture (98 x 98 pixels) may not exceed the size of 4 MB as a JPEG, PNG or GIF file (no animated GIF).

The banner picture should have a resolution of 2.048 x 1.152 pixels and be at most 6MB large. Please note that the banner picture should be designed for smartphone, laptop and television. Therefore, it is recommended to place the font in the middle and have no icons on the outer edge of the picture.

The watermark is embedded in the lower right corner of the video. As a rule, the logo serves as a watermark. The logo should have a resolution of 150 x 150 pixels and a transparent background. The logo should be a PNG, GIF (but no animated GIFs), BMP, or JPEG file with a maximum size of 1 MB.

5. Add channel names, channel description, contact details, and links

⁠Under "General Information" you can change your channel name afterwards and add your channel description. The description serves to give viewers* an impression of what your channel is about. This description is then displayed at your channel info and also in the search results. Therefore, definitely integrate search engine optimized keywords and avoid SEO mistakes in your text to gain visibility.

Also, the language of your YouTube channel can be adapted as well as your business email address can be left behind.

You can link to your website, your corporate blog, your social media channels, your imprint and your privacy policy.

Note: Unfortunately, there is no special field for your imprint and your privacy policy. Therefore, link it here. Because as a YouTube Business Account you must have an imprint and a privacy policy, otherwise legal consequences may follow. 

6. Never forget to save

⁠Once you have entered everything, click on "Publish".

7. Further additions for your YouTube Business Account

⁠Under "Settings" you can add further data for your YouTube business account.

For "Channel" you can indicate your place of residence and insert company related keywords. In addition, you can also link your Google Ads account with the YouTube business account.

Under "Permissions" you can list persons and assign them roles (owner, administrator, editor, editor (restricted), editor for subtitles, viewer and viewer (restricted)).

With "Community" you have the possibility to add moderators, hide YouTube users* who left inappropriate comments and deposit blocked words. Very helpful when it comes to hate comments. 

Source: YouTube

What mistakes should be avoided when using a YouTube business channel? 

Before you start filming, cutting, and publishing your first YouTube videos and shorts, avoid the following mistakes:

• No Video Marketing Strategy: Without a strategy there is no plan

• No target group: If you don't know your target group, you don't know what content you should play.
• No efficient shooting schedule: Don't produce your videos in single hours or days, but block an entire day or a week at a time for it - depending on how many YouTube videos you want to produce.
• No responsibility: If you don't provide clear responsibilities, there will be discrepancies and errors. Hand over the YouTube company account to one or two employees*.
• No regularity and long-term view: If you don't post regularly and sustainably, your videos will be poorly played out by the algorithm.
• Quality instead of quantity: If you generate high-quality content, you will be played out better.
• No YouTube SEO: Without relevant SEO keywords your videos hardly get views. Because they rank poorly in search engines.
• No attention-grabbing thumbnails: Colorful thumbnails with successful hooks generate more attention and are clicked more often.
• No foreign Video Advertising: When foreign advertising is placed between your videos, it looks unprofessional. There is also a danger that your competitors*will place advertising between your videos.
• No measurement of success of defined goals: Without an analysis of your videos you do not know what worked well, what worked badly and how you have to optimize your content.

Helpful tools for creating YouTube videos for your YouTube channel

Good news: When scheduling and evaluating your YouTube videos and shorts, you don't need external tools. The YouTube Studio offers many options for this. However, if you want to use a management tool for all your social media platforms, you can resort to Social Media Suites.

There are both expensive and inexpensive as well as simple and complicated video editing programs for editing your YouTube videos and YouTube shorts. To clear the jungle of video editing programs, we have put together a list of free and paid desktop or mobile versions.

Desktop:

If you are cutting long videos, a cutting program for the desktop is best:

DaVinci Resolve - is a very popular editing program, because it has many features and is also free. 

Source: DaVinci Resolve

Adobe Premiere Pro - the paid editing program offers countless possibilities and is very popular among professionals. However, it can overwhelm beginners.

Source: Adobe Premiere Pro

Mobile:

Apps for video editing are helpful, if you want to cut short, vertical videos on the phone.

CapCut - is a free video editing software for Android as well as for iOS users*. Plus point: Easy to use! 

Source: CapCut

Adobe Premiere Rush - is free, but if you want more features, you have to choose the paid version. 

Source: Adobe Premiere Rush

Tip: Free video editing programs are sufficient for the beginning. Because at the beginning it doesn't always have to be the most expensive and most complicated tool to cut videos.

With all the information you are strengthened and can start with your first YouTube videos and/or shorts. After you have published several YouTube videos and shorts, create fitting playlists for your brand.

Conclusion on the YouTube channel for businesses

YouTube is and remains one of the most important marketing platforms for advertisers. The user numbers and the daily watch time of users* in Germany make this clear. Therefore, create a YouTube channel for your company to target your advertising and brand content to your target group.

Thanks to the step-by-step guide, your YouTube channel is quickly and uncomplicatedly set up in 7 steps. Before you start, take the time to create a video marketing strategy, analyze your target group, know their needs and design your shooting schedule efficiently - it's worth it! But also experiment with your content to find out what works well and what doesn't work well. Have fun setting up and getting started with your YouTube channel!