"Driving Engagement and Growth  The Role of Brand in YouTube Success for 2024"

"Driving Engagement and Growth The Role of Brand in YouTube Success for 2024"

Steven Lv12

Driving Engagement and Growth: The Role of Brand in YouTube Success

How to Brand Your YouTube Channel to Get More Subscribers

Shanoon Cox

Nov 01, 2022• Proven solutions

0

Epic Meal Time. Michelle Phan. Peter McKinnon. When you think of each of these YouTube creators, what comes to mind? The feelings and thoughts you have are vastly different because each one of these channels has its own unique branding.

Epic Meal Time

Epic Meal Time’s YouTube brand is in-your-face and intense. It pumps you full of adrenaline and increases your heart rate.

Michelle Phan

Michelle Phan’s YouTube brand is calm, whimsical, and aspirational.

The color palette she chose is pleasing to the eyes and doesn’t evoke any of the stress we get from Epic Meal Time.

They have different branding because they want to reflect different feelings for different audiences.

Bad Branding Causes Mistrust

When a branding element does not align with the message or the tone does not match with the material, then the audience is not going to trust what you offer. Without trust, you won’t be able to get the advocacy that is essential for a YouTube channel to grow.

Imagine Michelle Phan using the aggressive colors of Epic Meal Time or vice versa. Pretty weird, huh?

What is YouTube Branding?

You might think that branding simply comes together while making videos, but that’s not true. Branding takes a bit of preparation and foresight.

YouTube branding is the idea your viewers have in mind and the emotion they get when they think about your channel.

Here are notable elements of your channel’s branding:

- Channel name

- Channel art

- Video thumbnail

- Video title

- Icon

- Watermark

- Catchphrase

- Style of video

How to Start Branding Your YouTube Channel?

Before you start designing thumbnails and coming up with a catchphrase, the first step in branding is understanding the purpose of your channel. Once you have a purpose, you will know how you want your viewers to feel.

Here is a quick exercise to find your channel’s purpose:

Draw a 3 circle Venn diagram.

Branding YouTube Channel

In circle 1, write down everything you consider yourself an expert in.

- What do your friends know you for?

- What can you give advice on?

- What did you go to school to learn?

In circle 2, write down all the topics you are passionate about.

- What can you talk effortlessly about for hours?

- At a party, where do you lead conversations towards?

In circle 3, write down everything that people will pay for that you can supply. Here is where you find the demand of the audience.

- Can you give me travel advice?

- Can you make people forget about their stressful day?

- Do you have experience in a specialized field?

Understanding what people will pay money for will help guide you in creating content that has true value.

In the center, come up with all the ideas that can be associated with all three circles. This will be the ideal purpose for your YouTube channel as it harnesses your expertise, your passion, and the demand of a viewership.

Examples:

Epic Meal Time

Expertise = Eating

Passion = Fast Food Culture

Demand = Unique Meals

PURPOSE: Showcase a unique combination of fast food people won’t make at home.

Michelle Phan

Expertise = Beauty Products

Passion = Makeup and Fashion

Demand = Beauty School

PURPOSE: Give people more confidence in beauty products.

How Is Your Channel Different From the Others?

Now that you have your purpose, it’s time to separate you from others with similar purposes. YouTube is a crowded space for content creators. If your channel is mimicking another more successful channel, you will be in the shadows.

Good branding allows you to differentiate from others .

Pick a Unique and Memorable Name

If your name is Michelle Phan, and you are not the Michelle Phan, I’m sorry, but you will need to pick another name for your YouTube channel:

If you do have to pick another name or if your channel is an ensemble with multiple members, make sure the name you choose is original, memorable, and short (4 words max).

Picking an Icon

Not every YouTuber needs to design an original logo for their brand. In fact, if the channel is about you — the YouTuber — you are the brand, so using a high-quality picture of yourself as the icon is okay.

However, if your channel has a specific theme or topic and you want your branding to convey it so it sticks in the viewers’ heads, especially if it’s their first time viewing your channel. A clear logo will help in amplifying your message:

Create Video Thumbnails That Stand Out

The power of good branding is that your viewers will be able to spot your brand in a crowded space. On YouTube, the crowded space is the suggested video section.

Create Video Thumbnails

Epic Meal Time thumbnails standing out amongst other loud thumbnails.

Once you have the feeling you want to evoke, test out different thumbnails. Go incognito, search up your videos, and see how the visuals appear beside your competitions. Do they all have the same style or is your far more impressive?

Good branding doesn’t happen in the first try so keep experimenting.

Designing Your Icon, Thumbnail, and Channel Art

There is a lot to consider when designing all the visual elements for your channel. I won’t get into all of it, but here are some tips that you should always keep in mind.

- Less is more: Don’t clutter your icons, thumbnails, or banner.

- Have a single focus: A channel and a video can have a lot of different topics, but the image can’t show everything a video can. Pick one important area and highlight that in the image.

- Quality matters: Your audience is savvier than ever. If they see a pixelated image, they will judge your channel poorly. That’s bad branding. Always use high-quality pictures.

- Make sure the color pops and the text is visible: Use eye-catching colors and visible text. This is a billboard, you have milliseconds to get people’s attention as they scroll past.

Want more resources for creating your channel’s visual elements? Yes? Well, we made this for you:

- How to Make YouTube Video Thumbnail

- How to Make YouTube Icons

- Free Youtube Banners

How to Make Your Visuals Consistent?

When a viewer finds your video and considers it pretty interesting, they will then go into your channel page to learn more. Here is where they make their decision: subscribe or not subscribe?

Consistent branding affirms the viewer that they are in the right place. Peter McKinnon’s brand is built upon his amazing photography, it only makes sense that his visual elements are awesome.

Peter McKinnon

Peter McKinnon is best known for his photography and cinematography, and his branding amplifies that.

But Branding Is Not Designing, It’s A Feeling

Don’t get too caught up with a design.

Look at PewDiePie’s branding. You can argue that it is inconsistent and the design is not professional, but actually, his branding is spot on, because he is making you feel a certain way.

Pew Die Pie Channel

PewDiePie’s brand highlights its upbeat and unpredictable personality.

PewDiePie wants you to laugh. He is not branding his expertise like Peter McKinnon is, he’s branding his personality.

Consistent branding is about making the elements of your channel: channel art, logo, thumbnails, titles, etc. all harmonize together to evoke a sensation.

The humor in PewDiePie’s brand is consistent, even though his thumbnails don’t look like Philip DeFranco’s. It is up to you how you define consistency, and that will happen over time.

Philip DeFranco

Philip DeFranco supplies commentary on current events with a satirical flair. Like a news broadcast, his branding and video format are consistent, while the daily news is different.

Inserting A Watermark

The main point of a watermark is to let the viewers know when they are watching your video that it is in fact your video.

Let’s be honest, YouTube content can all look the same, especially if you are making content that is quite general (like beauty or tech), so a watermark helps differentiate, so when viewers are ready to subscribe, they have an extra branding element connecting them to your channel.

Improvement Pill

Improvement Pill is a YouTube channel focused on inspiring and motivating its viewer to live a better life.

Above we see an example of a watermark from the YouTube channel Improvement Pill. You can see the watermark in the lower right-hand corner.

Improvement Pill is not the only channel that uses whiteboard animation to illustrate their story, and because of that, they need to set themselves apart. A watermark helps do that.

When a viewer lands on their video, the watermark gives the viewer another way to get more familiar with the channel, and if they are to scroll over the watermark a subscription button pops up.

Want to set up your subscription watermark? Here is a quick tutorial:

Coming Up With A Catchphrase

A catchphrase can be your greeting or sign off, but it doesn’t have to be an original line, it can simply be the way you say “hello.”

Check out some of the popular YouTuber’s catchphrases:

When coming up with a catchphrase that is connected to your channel’s branding remember how you want the viewer to feel. Do you want to leave them with a smile? Or do you want them to take action?

Final Thoughts On YouTube Branding

As you build and grow your YouTube channel, you can expand your purpose while still sticking within the overall theme. You might have started a channel that focused on the topic of nutrition, but as you grow, you will discover that your audience may also be interested in fitness tips or workout accessories as well. Take it slowly and grow with purpose.

Your branding doesn’t dictate the content you create, but it does affect how you go about making it.

Got more questions about branding your YouTube channel? Let us know in the comments below.

author avatar

Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox

Nov 01, 2022• Proven solutions

0

Epic Meal Time. Michelle Phan. Peter McKinnon. When you think of each of these YouTube creators, what comes to mind? The feelings and thoughts you have are vastly different because each one of these channels has its own unique branding.

Epic Meal Time

Epic Meal Time’s YouTube brand is in-your-face and intense. It pumps you full of adrenaline and increases your heart rate.

Michelle Phan

Michelle Phan’s YouTube brand is calm, whimsical, and aspirational.

The color palette she chose is pleasing to the eyes and doesn’t evoke any of the stress we get from Epic Meal Time.

They have different branding because they want to reflect different feelings for different audiences.

Bad Branding Causes Mistrust

When a branding element does not align with the message or the tone does not match with the material, then the audience is not going to trust what you offer. Without trust, you won’t be able to get the advocacy that is essential for a YouTube channel to grow.

Imagine Michelle Phan using the aggressive colors of Epic Meal Time or vice versa. Pretty weird, huh?

What is YouTube Branding?

You might think that branding simply comes together while making videos, but that’s not true. Branding takes a bit of preparation and foresight.

YouTube branding is the idea your viewers have in mind and the emotion they get when they think about your channel.

Here are notable elements of your channel’s branding:

- Channel name

- Channel art

- Video thumbnail

- Video title

- Icon

- Watermark

- Catchphrase

- Style of video

How to Start Branding Your YouTube Channel?

Before you start designing thumbnails and coming up with a catchphrase, the first step in branding is understanding the purpose of your channel. Once you have a purpose, you will know how you want your viewers to feel.

Here is a quick exercise to find your channel’s purpose:

Draw a 3 circle Venn diagram.

Branding YouTube Channel

In circle 1, write down everything you consider yourself an expert in.

- What do your friends know you for?

- What can you give advice on?

- What did you go to school to learn?

In circle 2, write down all the topics you are passionate about.

- What can you talk effortlessly about for hours?

- At a party, where do you lead conversations towards?

In circle 3, write down everything that people will pay for that you can supply. Here is where you find the demand of the audience.

- Can you give me travel advice?

- Can you make people forget about their stressful day?

- Do you have experience in a specialized field?

Understanding what people will pay money for will help guide you in creating content that has true value.

In the center, come up with all the ideas that can be associated with all three circles. This will be the ideal purpose for your YouTube channel as it harnesses your expertise, your passion, and the demand of a viewership.

Examples:

Epic Meal Time

Expertise = Eating

Passion = Fast Food Culture

Demand = Unique Meals

PURPOSE: Showcase a unique combination of fast food people won’t make at home.

Michelle Phan

Expertise = Beauty Products

Passion = Makeup and Fashion

Demand = Beauty School

PURPOSE: Give people more confidence in beauty products.

How Is Your Channel Different From the Others?

Now that you have your purpose, it’s time to separate you from others with similar purposes. YouTube is a crowded space for content creators. If your channel is mimicking another more successful channel, you will be in the shadows.

Good branding allows you to differentiate from others .

Pick a Unique and Memorable Name

If your name is Michelle Phan, and you are not the Michelle Phan, I’m sorry, but you will need to pick another name for your YouTube channel:

If you do have to pick another name or if your channel is an ensemble with multiple members, make sure the name you choose is original, memorable, and short (4 words max).

Picking an Icon

Not every YouTuber needs to design an original logo for their brand. In fact, if the channel is about you — the YouTuber — you are the brand, so using a high-quality picture of yourself as the icon is okay.

However, if your channel has a specific theme or topic and you want your branding to convey it so it sticks in the viewers’ heads, especially if it’s their first time viewing your channel. A clear logo will help in amplifying your message:

Create Video Thumbnails That Stand Out

The power of good branding is that your viewers will be able to spot your brand in a crowded space. On YouTube, the crowded space is the suggested video section.

Create Video Thumbnails

Epic Meal Time thumbnails standing out amongst other loud thumbnails.

Once you have the feeling you want to evoke, test out different thumbnails. Go incognito, search up your videos, and see how the visuals appear beside your competitions. Do they all have the same style or is your far more impressive?

Good branding doesn’t happen in the first try so keep experimenting.

Designing Your Icon, Thumbnail, and Channel Art

There is a lot to consider when designing all the visual elements for your channel. I won’t get into all of it, but here are some tips that you should always keep in mind.

- Less is more: Don’t clutter your icons, thumbnails, or banner.

- Have a single focus: A channel and a video can have a lot of different topics, but the image can’t show everything a video can. Pick one important area and highlight that in the image.

- Quality matters: Your audience is savvier than ever. If they see a pixelated image, they will judge your channel poorly. That’s bad branding. Always use high-quality pictures.

- Make sure the color pops and the text is visible: Use eye-catching colors and visible text. This is a billboard, you have milliseconds to get people’s attention as they scroll past.

Want more resources for creating your channel’s visual elements? Yes? Well, we made this for you:

- How to Make YouTube Video Thumbnail

- How to Make YouTube Icons

- Free Youtube Banners

How to Make Your Visuals Consistent?

When a viewer finds your video and considers it pretty interesting, they will then go into your channel page to learn more. Here is where they make their decision: subscribe or not subscribe?

Consistent branding affirms the viewer that they are in the right place. Peter McKinnon’s brand is built upon his amazing photography, it only makes sense that his visual elements are awesome.

Peter McKinnon

Peter McKinnon is best known for his photography and cinematography, and his branding amplifies that.

But Branding Is Not Designing, It’s A Feeling

Don’t get too caught up with a design.

Look at PewDiePie’s branding. You can argue that it is inconsistent and the design is not professional, but actually, his branding is spot on, because he is making you feel a certain way.

Pew Die Pie Channel

PewDiePie’s brand highlights its upbeat and unpredictable personality.

PewDiePie wants you to laugh. He is not branding his expertise like Peter McKinnon is, he’s branding his personality.

Consistent branding is about making the elements of your channel: channel art, logo, thumbnails, titles, etc. all harmonize together to evoke a sensation.

The humor in PewDiePie’s brand is consistent, even though his thumbnails don’t look like Philip DeFranco’s. It is up to you how you define consistency, and that will happen over time.

Philip DeFranco

Philip DeFranco supplies commentary on current events with a satirical flair. Like a news broadcast, his branding and video format are consistent, while the daily news is different.

Inserting A Watermark

The main point of a watermark is to let the viewers know when they are watching your video that it is in fact your video.

Let’s be honest, YouTube content can all look the same, especially if you are making content that is quite general (like beauty or tech), so a watermark helps differentiate, so when viewers are ready to subscribe, they have an extra branding element connecting them to your channel.

Improvement Pill

Improvement Pill is a YouTube channel focused on inspiring and motivating its viewer to live a better life.

Above we see an example of a watermark from the YouTube channel Improvement Pill. You can see the watermark in the lower right-hand corner.

Improvement Pill is not the only channel that uses whiteboard animation to illustrate their story, and because of that, they need to set themselves apart. A watermark helps do that.

When a viewer lands on their video, the watermark gives the viewer another way to get more familiar with the channel, and if they are to scroll over the watermark a subscription button pops up.

Want to set up your subscription watermark? Here is a quick tutorial:

Coming Up With A Catchphrase

A catchphrase can be your greeting or sign off, but it doesn’t have to be an original line, it can simply be the way you say “hello.”

Check out some of the popular YouTuber’s catchphrases:

When coming up with a catchphrase that is connected to your channel’s branding remember how you want the viewer to feel. Do you want to leave them with a smile? Or do you want them to take action?

Final Thoughts On YouTube Branding

As you build and grow your YouTube channel, you can expand your purpose while still sticking within the overall theme. You might have started a channel that focused on the topic of nutrition, but as you grow, you will discover that your audience may also be interested in fitness tips or workout accessories as well. Take it slowly and grow with purpose.

Your branding doesn’t dictate the content you create, but it does affect how you go about making it.

Got more questions about branding your YouTube channel? Let us know in the comments below.

author avatar

Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox

Nov 01, 2022• Proven solutions

0

Epic Meal Time. Michelle Phan. Peter McKinnon. When you think of each of these YouTube creators, what comes to mind? The feelings and thoughts you have are vastly different because each one of these channels has its own unique branding.

Epic Meal Time

Epic Meal Time’s YouTube brand is in-your-face and intense. It pumps you full of adrenaline and increases your heart rate.

Michelle Phan

Michelle Phan’s YouTube brand is calm, whimsical, and aspirational.

The color palette she chose is pleasing to the eyes and doesn’t evoke any of the stress we get from Epic Meal Time.

They have different branding because they want to reflect different feelings for different audiences.

Bad Branding Causes Mistrust

When a branding element does not align with the message or the tone does not match with the material, then the audience is not going to trust what you offer. Without trust, you won’t be able to get the advocacy that is essential for a YouTube channel to grow.

Imagine Michelle Phan using the aggressive colors of Epic Meal Time or vice versa. Pretty weird, huh?

What is YouTube Branding?

You might think that branding simply comes together while making videos, but that’s not true. Branding takes a bit of preparation and foresight.

YouTube branding is the idea your viewers have in mind and the emotion they get when they think about your channel.

Here are notable elements of your channel’s branding:

- Channel name

- Channel art

- Video thumbnail

- Video title

- Icon

- Watermark

- Catchphrase

- Style of video

How to Start Branding Your YouTube Channel?

Before you start designing thumbnails and coming up with a catchphrase, the first step in branding is understanding the purpose of your channel. Once you have a purpose, you will know how you want your viewers to feel.

Here is a quick exercise to find your channel’s purpose:

Draw a 3 circle Venn diagram.

Branding YouTube Channel

In circle 1, write down everything you consider yourself an expert in.

- What do your friends know you for?

- What can you give advice on?

- What did you go to school to learn?

In circle 2, write down all the topics you are passionate about.

- What can you talk effortlessly about for hours?

- At a party, where do you lead conversations towards?

In circle 3, write down everything that people will pay for that you can supply. Here is where you find the demand of the audience.

- Can you give me travel advice?

- Can you make people forget about their stressful day?

- Do you have experience in a specialized field?

Understanding what people will pay money for will help guide you in creating content that has true value.

In the center, come up with all the ideas that can be associated with all three circles. This will be the ideal purpose for your YouTube channel as it harnesses your expertise, your passion, and the demand of a viewership.

Examples:

Epic Meal Time

Expertise = Eating

Passion = Fast Food Culture

Demand = Unique Meals

PURPOSE: Showcase a unique combination of fast food people won’t make at home.

Michelle Phan

Expertise = Beauty Products

Passion = Makeup and Fashion

Demand = Beauty School

PURPOSE: Give people more confidence in beauty products.

How Is Your Channel Different From the Others?

Now that you have your purpose, it’s time to separate you from others with similar purposes. YouTube is a crowded space for content creators. If your channel is mimicking another more successful channel, you will be in the shadows.

Good branding allows you to differentiate from others .

Pick a Unique and Memorable Name

If your name is Michelle Phan, and you are not the Michelle Phan, I’m sorry, but you will need to pick another name for your YouTube channel:

If you do have to pick another name or if your channel is an ensemble with multiple members, make sure the name you choose is original, memorable, and short (4 words max).

Picking an Icon

Not every YouTuber needs to design an original logo for their brand. In fact, if the channel is about you — the YouTuber — you are the brand, so using a high-quality picture of yourself as the icon is okay.

However, if your channel has a specific theme or topic and you want your branding to convey it so it sticks in the viewers’ heads, especially if it’s their first time viewing your channel. A clear logo will help in amplifying your message:

Create Video Thumbnails That Stand Out

The power of good branding is that your viewers will be able to spot your brand in a crowded space. On YouTube, the crowded space is the suggested video section.

Create Video Thumbnails

Epic Meal Time thumbnails standing out amongst other loud thumbnails.

Once you have the feeling you want to evoke, test out different thumbnails. Go incognito, search up your videos, and see how the visuals appear beside your competitions. Do they all have the same style or is your far more impressive?

Good branding doesn’t happen in the first try so keep experimenting.

Designing Your Icon, Thumbnail, and Channel Art

There is a lot to consider when designing all the visual elements for your channel. I won’t get into all of it, but here are some tips that you should always keep in mind.

- Less is more: Don’t clutter your icons, thumbnails, or banner.

- Have a single focus: A channel and a video can have a lot of different topics, but the image can’t show everything a video can. Pick one important area and highlight that in the image.

- Quality matters: Your audience is savvier than ever. If they see a pixelated image, they will judge your channel poorly. That’s bad branding. Always use high-quality pictures.

- Make sure the color pops and the text is visible: Use eye-catching colors and visible text. This is a billboard, you have milliseconds to get people’s attention as they scroll past.

Want more resources for creating your channel’s visual elements? Yes? Well, we made this for you:

- How to Make YouTube Video Thumbnail

- How to Make YouTube Icons

- Free Youtube Banners

How to Make Your Visuals Consistent?

When a viewer finds your video and considers it pretty interesting, they will then go into your channel page to learn more. Here is where they make their decision: subscribe or not subscribe?

Consistent branding affirms the viewer that they are in the right place. Peter McKinnon’s brand is built upon his amazing photography, it only makes sense that his visual elements are awesome.

Peter McKinnon

Peter McKinnon is best known for his photography and cinematography, and his branding amplifies that.

But Branding Is Not Designing, It’s A Feeling

Don’t get too caught up with a design.

Look at PewDiePie’s branding. You can argue that it is inconsistent and the design is not professional, but actually, his branding is spot on, because he is making you feel a certain way.

Pew Die Pie Channel

PewDiePie’s brand highlights its upbeat and unpredictable personality.

PewDiePie wants you to laugh. He is not branding his expertise like Peter McKinnon is, he’s branding his personality.

Consistent branding is about making the elements of your channel: channel art, logo, thumbnails, titles, etc. all harmonize together to evoke a sensation.

The humor in PewDiePie’s brand is consistent, even though his thumbnails don’t look like Philip DeFranco’s. It is up to you how you define consistency, and that will happen over time.

Philip DeFranco

Philip DeFranco supplies commentary on current events with a satirical flair. Like a news broadcast, his branding and video format are consistent, while the daily news is different.

Inserting A Watermark

The main point of a watermark is to let the viewers know when they are watching your video that it is in fact your video.

Let’s be honest, YouTube content can all look the same, especially if you are making content that is quite general (like beauty or tech), so a watermark helps differentiate, so when viewers are ready to subscribe, they have an extra branding element connecting them to your channel.

Improvement Pill

Improvement Pill is a YouTube channel focused on inspiring and motivating its viewer to live a better life.

Above we see an example of a watermark from the YouTube channel Improvement Pill. You can see the watermark in the lower right-hand corner.

Improvement Pill is not the only channel that uses whiteboard animation to illustrate their story, and because of that, they need to set themselves apart. A watermark helps do that.

When a viewer lands on their video, the watermark gives the viewer another way to get more familiar with the channel, and if they are to scroll over the watermark a subscription button pops up.

Want to set up your subscription watermark? Here is a quick tutorial:

Coming Up With A Catchphrase

A catchphrase can be your greeting or sign off, but it doesn’t have to be an original line, it can simply be the way you say “hello.”

Check out some of the popular YouTuber’s catchphrases:

When coming up with a catchphrase that is connected to your channel’s branding remember how you want the viewer to feel. Do you want to leave them with a smile? Or do you want them to take action?

Final Thoughts On YouTube Branding

As you build and grow your YouTube channel, you can expand your purpose while still sticking within the overall theme. You might have started a channel that focused on the topic of nutrition, but as you grow, you will discover that your audience may also be interested in fitness tips or workout accessories as well. Take it slowly and grow with purpose.

Your branding doesn’t dictate the content you create, but it does affect how you go about making it.

Got more questions about branding your YouTube channel? Let us know in the comments below.

author avatar

Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox

Nov 01, 2022• Proven solutions

0

Epic Meal Time. Michelle Phan. Peter McKinnon. When you think of each of these YouTube creators, what comes to mind? The feelings and thoughts you have are vastly different because each one of these channels has its own unique branding.

Epic Meal Time

Epic Meal Time’s YouTube brand is in-your-face and intense. It pumps you full of adrenaline and increases your heart rate.

Michelle Phan

Michelle Phan’s YouTube brand is calm, whimsical, and aspirational.

The color palette she chose is pleasing to the eyes and doesn’t evoke any of the stress we get from Epic Meal Time.

They have different branding because they want to reflect different feelings for different audiences.

Bad Branding Causes Mistrust

When a branding element does not align with the message or the tone does not match with the material, then the audience is not going to trust what you offer. Without trust, you won’t be able to get the advocacy that is essential for a YouTube channel to grow.

Imagine Michelle Phan using the aggressive colors of Epic Meal Time or vice versa. Pretty weird, huh?

What is YouTube Branding?

You might think that branding simply comes together while making videos, but that’s not true. Branding takes a bit of preparation and foresight.

YouTube branding is the idea your viewers have in mind and the emotion they get when they think about your channel.

Here are notable elements of your channel’s branding:

- Channel name

- Channel art

- Video thumbnail

- Video title

- Icon

- Watermark

- Catchphrase

- Style of video

How to Start Branding Your YouTube Channel?

Before you start designing thumbnails and coming up with a catchphrase, the first step in branding is understanding the purpose of your channel. Once you have a purpose, you will know how you want your viewers to feel.

Here is a quick exercise to find your channel’s purpose:

Draw a 3 circle Venn diagram.

Branding YouTube Channel

In circle 1, write down everything you consider yourself an expert in.

- What do your friends know you for?

- What can you give advice on?

- What did you go to school to learn?

In circle 2, write down all the topics you are passionate about.

- What can you talk effortlessly about for hours?

- At a party, where do you lead conversations towards?

In circle 3, write down everything that people will pay for that you can supply. Here is where you find the demand of the audience.

- Can you give me travel advice?

- Can you make people forget about their stressful day?

- Do you have experience in a specialized field?

Understanding what people will pay money for will help guide you in creating content that has true value.

In the center, come up with all the ideas that can be associated with all three circles. This will be the ideal purpose for your YouTube channel as it harnesses your expertise, your passion, and the demand of a viewership.

Examples:

Epic Meal Time

Expertise = Eating

Passion = Fast Food Culture

Demand = Unique Meals

PURPOSE: Showcase a unique combination of fast food people won’t make at home.

Michelle Phan

Expertise = Beauty Products

Passion = Makeup and Fashion

Demand = Beauty School

PURPOSE: Give people more confidence in beauty products.

How Is Your Channel Different From the Others?

Now that you have your purpose, it’s time to separate you from others with similar purposes. YouTube is a crowded space for content creators. If your channel is mimicking another more successful channel, you will be in the shadows.

Good branding allows you to differentiate from others .

Pick a Unique and Memorable Name

If your name is Michelle Phan, and you are not the Michelle Phan, I’m sorry, but you will need to pick another name for your YouTube channel:

If you do have to pick another name or if your channel is an ensemble with multiple members, make sure the name you choose is original, memorable, and short (4 words max).

Picking an Icon

Not every YouTuber needs to design an original logo for their brand. In fact, if the channel is about you — the YouTuber — you are the brand, so using a high-quality picture of yourself as the icon is okay.

However, if your channel has a specific theme or topic and you want your branding to convey it so it sticks in the viewers’ heads, especially if it’s their first time viewing your channel. A clear logo will help in amplifying your message:

Create Video Thumbnails That Stand Out

The power of good branding is that your viewers will be able to spot your brand in a crowded space. On YouTube, the crowded space is the suggested video section.

Create Video Thumbnails

Epic Meal Time thumbnails standing out amongst other loud thumbnails.

Once you have the feeling you want to evoke, test out different thumbnails. Go incognito, search up your videos, and see how the visuals appear beside your competitions. Do they all have the same style or is your far more impressive?

Good branding doesn’t happen in the first try so keep experimenting.

Designing Your Icon, Thumbnail, and Channel Art

There is a lot to consider when designing all the visual elements for your channel. I won’t get into all of it, but here are some tips that you should always keep in mind.

- Less is more: Don’t clutter your icons, thumbnails, or banner.

- Have a single focus: A channel and a video can have a lot of different topics, but the image can’t show everything a video can. Pick one important area and highlight that in the image.

- Quality matters: Your audience is savvier than ever. If they see a pixelated image, they will judge your channel poorly. That’s bad branding. Always use high-quality pictures.

- Make sure the color pops and the text is visible: Use eye-catching colors and visible text. This is a billboard, you have milliseconds to get people’s attention as they scroll past.

Want more resources for creating your channel’s visual elements? Yes? Well, we made this for you:

- How to Make YouTube Video Thumbnail

- How to Make YouTube Icons

- Free Youtube Banners

How to Make Your Visuals Consistent?

When a viewer finds your video and considers it pretty interesting, they will then go into your channel page to learn more. Here is where they make their decision: subscribe or not subscribe?

Consistent branding affirms the viewer that they are in the right place. Peter McKinnon’s brand is built upon his amazing photography, it only makes sense that his visual elements are awesome.

Peter McKinnon

Peter McKinnon is best known for his photography and cinematography, and his branding amplifies that.

But Branding Is Not Designing, It’s A Feeling

Don’t get too caught up with a design.

Look at PewDiePie’s branding. You can argue that it is inconsistent and the design is not professional, but actually, his branding is spot on, because he is making you feel a certain way.

Pew Die Pie Channel

PewDiePie’s brand highlights its upbeat and unpredictable personality.

PewDiePie wants you to laugh. He is not branding his expertise like Peter McKinnon is, he’s branding his personality.

Consistent branding is about making the elements of your channel: channel art, logo, thumbnails, titles, etc. all harmonize together to evoke a sensation.

The humor in PewDiePie’s brand is consistent, even though his thumbnails don’t look like Philip DeFranco’s. It is up to you how you define consistency, and that will happen over time.

Philip DeFranco

Philip DeFranco supplies commentary on current events with a satirical flair. Like a news broadcast, his branding and video format are consistent, while the daily news is different.

Inserting A Watermark

The main point of a watermark is to let the viewers know when they are watching your video that it is in fact your video.

Let’s be honest, YouTube content can all look the same, especially if you are making content that is quite general (like beauty or tech), so a watermark helps differentiate, so when viewers are ready to subscribe, they have an extra branding element connecting them to your channel.

Improvement Pill

Improvement Pill is a YouTube channel focused on inspiring and motivating its viewer to live a better life.

Above we see an example of a watermark from the YouTube channel Improvement Pill. You can see the watermark in the lower right-hand corner.

Improvement Pill is not the only channel that uses whiteboard animation to illustrate their story, and because of that, they need to set themselves apart. A watermark helps do that.

When a viewer lands on their video, the watermark gives the viewer another way to get more familiar with the channel, and if they are to scroll over the watermark a subscription button pops up.

Want to set up your subscription watermark? Here is a quick tutorial:

Coming Up With A Catchphrase

A catchphrase can be your greeting or sign off, but it doesn’t have to be an original line, it can simply be the way you say “hello.”

Check out some of the popular YouTuber’s catchphrases:

When coming up with a catchphrase that is connected to your channel’s branding remember how you want the viewer to feel. Do you want to leave them with a smile? Or do you want them to take action?

Final Thoughts On YouTube Branding

As you build and grow your YouTube channel, you can expand your purpose while still sticking within the overall theme. You might have started a channel that focused on the topic of nutrition, but as you grow, you will discover that your audience may also be interested in fitness tips or workout accessories as well. Take it slowly and grow with purpose.

Your branding doesn’t dictate the content you create, but it does affect how you go about making it.

Got more questions about branding your YouTube channel? Let us know in the comments below.

author avatar

Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Shanoon Cox

Multimedia Annotator

Captions, like subtitles, can be a great way to improve the engagement of your video by reaching more and more audiences. But adding captions to your video is not an easy thing to do and without the right video caption maker, it can seem like an impossible task.

But it is important to add captions to your video, not just so you can target people who don’t understand the language or those who prefer to read rather than watch the video, but also to improve SEO and visibility.

Here, we will be looking at some of the best tools that you can use to add captions to your video.

Filmora Audio Recorder

Record computer system audio

Capture microphone audio

Customize recording volume

Record screen and webcam as well

Try It Free Try It Free

Best Video Caption Makers

The following are the top video caption makers that you can choose from;

YouTube Automatic Caption

If you already have your own YouTube channel, you can use the built-in speech recognition feature to generate accurate captions for your video. This feature can generate captions in a number of languages including English, Portuguese, German, Spanish, Korean, French, Italian, and Dutch which is more than some of the premium caption generators in the market.

The main reason most people choose this solution is that it is fairly simple to use. You don’t have to do much; just upload the video and the automatic caption generator will create the captions you need.

Key Features

  • It is easy to use and freely accessible
  • You can use it to generate captions in a number of different languages
  • It is very accurate
  • You can use it to generate transcripts for the video

Kapwing Auto-Subtitle Maker

Kapwing is an online solution that will generate subtitles and captions for most videos. But it does limit the size of the video that it can generate subtitles on to about 500 MB. There is a free version of the program that although limited in functionality will not add a watermark to the generated captions file. But free users can only get captions for up to 7 minutes of video, making it a less ideal solution when you have a longer video.

Key Features

  • You can generate captions and subtitles for free
  • It is accessible online and you don’t have to install software on your computer to get the captions
  • It has a very simple user interface, making the caption generation process quick and easy
  • In addition to generating subtitles and captions, you can edit existing files.

Adobe Premiere Pro CC

You may know Adobe Premiere as one of the most popular video editing programs on the market, but most people are unaware that it can also be used to generate captions for the video. This tool can be very useful in the creation of high-quality videos and you can generate an accurate caption or subtitle for the video as well.

But Adobe Premiere is not an easy solution to use for both video editing and adding captions, particularly for beginner users. But it is certainly one of the best ways to create and edit videos on your computer.

Key Features

  • Even though the interface is not easy to use, it is clear and flexible
  • You have numerous options to add the captions including font style and color
  • The captions that you add using this tool will be very accurate
  • It can also be used to edit existing subtitle and caption files

Amara Subtitle Editor

Amara subtitle editor will not be able to help you create or generate captions for your video, but it can be a good solution to edit a subtitle file that you already have. It can be very useful in syncing the subtitles with the video and you can use it to make minor changes to the subtitle.

While editing the subtitle file is easy, creating a caption file using Amara can be a lengthy process since you would have to type in the text.

Key Features

  • It can be used to edit caption and subtitles files easily
  • The user interface is pleasant and easy to use
  • It is completely free

Aegisubs

Aegisubs is another tool that you can use to create subtitles for your video. But we must warn you right off the bat that this tool is not very user-friendly and you may find that you will spend a lot of time trying to generate subtitles for your video. But it is a free solution and widely accessible on most platforms.

Key Features

  • It can be used to create subtitles and captions in different languages
  • It supports numerous video and audio formats
  • It has a simple user interface that is easy to navigate
  • It doesn’t have speech recognition and you’ll have to enter all the text manually

AHD Subtitle Maker

AHD subtitle maker is a Windows program that can be used to create subtitles and captions for your video in a variety of formats such as SRT. It is a completely free solution that can also be used to edit subtitle files in numerous ways, even changing the format of the file.

Among other things, you can use AHD subtitle maker to translate, change, copy and delete selected text from a subtitle file and even replace the text with something else.

Key Features

  • It is a free program that works on all versions of Windows
  • It can generate subtitle and caption files in a variety of formats
  • You can use it to generate subtitle files or edit existing files in various ways
  • It can also be used to generate various types of content including ID3 tags for music files

Videocaptionmaker.com

To generate captions and subtitles on your Mac for free, the best option is Video Caption Maker. The full version of the program is available for free and it can be used to create a subtitle file or make changes to a subtitle file you already have.

Key Features

  • You can use it to add text to a video in a simple and straightforward way
  • It can also be used to make changes to existing subtitles by changing the fonts, styles, backgrounds, positions, and more
  • It will also add a visual waveform to an audio file to identify the start and end time
  • It supports numerous video formats including .mov, .mp4, .mpeg, .3gpp, .3gpp2

Jubler

Jubler is a program that can edit subtitles and captions for videos. It can also be used to create new subtitles although it doesn’t automatically generate the captions and you will have to type them in. But when it comes to editing subtitles, this tool is very effective, allowing you to change the font style, color, and even positioning of the subtitles.

Key Features

  • It works on all platforms including Windows, Mac, and Linux
  • It will graphically display the subtitles so you can easily move them to the desired location
  • It supports all subtitle and caption file formats
  • It allows you to edit the subtitles in many ways
  • It can be used to translate the subtitles to various languages

**How Do I Make a Caption for a Video?

Making a caption for your video can be easy depending on the type of program you choose to use. A good rule of thumb is to choose solutions that auto generates the captions as they save you a lot of time. If there are issues after the captions have been generated, you can then use a subtitled editor to fix them, more preferable to typing in the subtitles or captions yourself.

**How Do I Get Automatic Captions for my Video?

If you are uploading your video on YouTube, you can easily generate automatic captions from the YouTube studio. Just use these simple steps;

Step 1: Sign in to YouTube Studio and in the left menu, select “Subtitles.”

Step 2: Click on the video that you want to add subtitles

Step 3: Select “More” under Subtitles and then go through the captions to make sure they are correct. If not, you can edit them on this page.

If you are not using YouTube to share your video, you can use one of the solutions we have outlined in this article to generate automatic captions.

**How Long Does It Take to Caption a Video?

The amount of time that you spend creating a caption for your video is entirely dependent on the captioning tool that you use. Automatic caption generators can create captions in a few seconds but manual subtitle tools can lengthen the process, especially for a longer video.

Conclusion

Captions are a great way to get users to engage with your videos. Studies have shown that a captioned video is far more likely to get more engagements and shares on social media. And since it can be very easy to make caption for you video, why not utilize this little known resource and get your videos to stand out a little bit more.

Try It Free Try It Free

Best Video Caption Makers

The following are the top video caption makers that you can choose from;

YouTube Automatic Caption

If you already have your own YouTube channel, you can use the built-in speech recognition feature to generate accurate captions for your video. This feature can generate captions in a number of languages including English, Portuguese, German, Spanish, Korean, French, Italian, and Dutch which is more than some of the premium caption generators in the market.

The main reason most people choose this solution is that it is fairly simple to use. You don’t have to do much; just upload the video and the automatic caption generator will create the captions you need.

Key Features

  • It is easy to use and freely accessible
  • You can use it to generate captions in a number of different languages
  • It is very accurate
  • You can use it to generate transcripts for the video

Kapwing Auto-Subtitle Maker

Kapwing is an online solution that will generate subtitles and captions for most videos. But it does limit the size of the video that it can generate subtitles on to about 500 MB. There is a free version of the program that although limited in functionality will not add a watermark to the generated captions file. But free users can only get captions for up to 7 minutes of video, making it a less ideal solution when you have a longer video.

Key Features

  • You can generate captions and subtitles for free
  • It is accessible online and you don’t have to install software on your computer to get the captions
  • It has a very simple user interface, making the caption generation process quick and easy
  • In addition to generating subtitles and captions, you can edit existing files.

Adobe Premiere Pro CC

You may know Adobe Premiere as one of the most popular video editing programs on the market, but most people are unaware that it can also be used to generate captions for the video. This tool can be very useful in the creation of high-quality videos and you can generate an accurate caption or subtitle for the video as well.

But Adobe Premiere is not an easy solution to use for both video editing and adding captions, particularly for beginner users. But it is certainly one of the best ways to create and edit videos on your computer.

Key Features

  • Even though the interface is not easy to use, it is clear and flexible
  • You have numerous options to add the captions including font style and color
  • The captions that you add using this tool will be very accurate
  • It can also be used to edit existing subtitle and caption files

Amara Subtitle Editor

Amara subtitle editor will not be able to help you create or generate captions for your video, but it can be a good solution to edit a subtitle file that you already have. It can be very useful in syncing the subtitles with the video and you can use it to make minor changes to the subtitle.

While editing the subtitle file is easy, creating a caption file using Amara can be a lengthy process since you would have to type in the text.

Key Features

  • It can be used to edit caption and subtitles files easily
  • The user interface is pleasant and easy to use
  • It is completely free

Aegisubs

Aegisubs is another tool that you can use to create subtitles for your video. But we must warn you right off the bat that this tool is not very user-friendly and you may find that you will spend a lot of time trying to generate subtitles for your video. But it is a free solution and widely accessible on most platforms.

Key Features

  • It can be used to create subtitles and captions in different languages
  • It supports numerous video and audio formats
  • It has a simple user interface that is easy to navigate
  • It doesn’t have speech recognition and you’ll have to enter all the text manually

AHD Subtitle Maker

AHD subtitle maker is a Windows program that can be used to create subtitles and captions for your video in a variety of formats such as SRT. It is a completely free solution that can also be used to edit subtitle files in numerous ways, even changing the format of the file.

Among other things, you can use AHD subtitle maker to translate, change, copy and delete selected text from a subtitle file and even replace the text with something else.

Key Features

  • It is a free program that works on all versions of Windows
  • It can generate subtitle and caption files in a variety of formats
  • You can use it to generate subtitle files or edit existing files in various ways
  • It can also be used to generate various types of content including ID3 tags for music files

Videocaptionmaker.com

To generate captions and subtitles on your Mac for free, the best option is Video Caption Maker. The full version of the program is available for free and it can be used to create a subtitle file or make changes to a subtitle file you already have.

Key Features

  • You can use it to add text to a video in a simple and straightforward way
  • It can also be used to make changes to existing subtitles by changing the fonts, styles, backgrounds, positions, and more
  • It will also add a visual waveform to an audio file to identify the start and end time
  • It supports numerous video formats including .mov, .mp4, .mpeg, .3gpp, .3gpp2

Jubler

Jubler is a program that can edit subtitles and captions for videos. It can also be used to create new subtitles although it doesn’t automatically generate the captions and you will have to type them in. But when it comes to editing subtitles, this tool is very effective, allowing you to change the font style, color, and even positioning of the subtitles.

Key Features

  • It works on all platforms including Windows, Mac, and Linux
  • It will graphically display the subtitles so you can easily move them to the desired location
  • It supports all subtitle and caption file formats
  • It allows you to edit the subtitles in many ways
  • It can be used to translate the subtitles to various languages

**How Do I Make a Caption for a Video?

Making a caption for your video can be easy depending on the type of program you choose to use. A good rule of thumb is to choose solutions that auto generates the captions as they save you a lot of time. If there are issues after the captions have been generated, you can then use a subtitled editor to fix them, more preferable to typing in the subtitles or captions yourself.

**How Do I Get Automatic Captions for my Video?

If you are uploading your video on YouTube, you can easily generate automatic captions from the YouTube studio. Just use these simple steps;

Step 1: Sign in to YouTube Studio and in the left menu, select “Subtitles.”

Step 2: Click on the video that you want to add subtitles

Step 3: Select “More” under Subtitles and then go through the captions to make sure they are correct. If not, you can edit them on this page.

If you are not using YouTube to share your video, you can use one of the solutions we have outlined in this article to generate automatic captions.

**How Long Does It Take to Caption a Video?

The amount of time that you spend creating a caption for your video is entirely dependent on the captioning tool that you use. Automatic caption generators can create captions in a few seconds but manual subtitle tools can lengthen the process, especially for a longer video.

Conclusion

Captions are a great way to get users to engage with your videos. Studies have shown that a captioned video is far more likely to get more engagements and shares on social media. And since it can be very easy to make caption for you video, why not utilize this little known resource and get your videos to stand out a little bit more.

Try It Free Try It Free

Best Video Caption Makers

The following are the top video caption makers that you can choose from;

YouTube Automatic Caption

If you already have your own YouTube channel, you can use the built-in speech recognition feature to generate accurate captions for your video. This feature can generate captions in a number of languages including English, Portuguese, German, Spanish, Korean, French, Italian, and Dutch which is more than some of the premium caption generators in the market.

The main reason most people choose this solution is that it is fairly simple to use. You don’t have to do much; just upload the video and the automatic caption generator will create the captions you need.

Key Features

  • It is easy to use and freely accessible
  • You can use it to generate captions in a number of different languages
  • It is very accurate
  • You can use it to generate transcripts for the video

Kapwing Auto-Subtitle Maker

Kapwing is an online solution that will generate subtitles and captions for most videos. But it does limit the size of the video that it can generate subtitles on to about 500 MB. There is a free version of the program that although limited in functionality will not add a watermark to the generated captions file. But free users can only get captions for up to 7 minutes of video, making it a less ideal solution when you have a longer video.

Key Features

  • You can generate captions and subtitles for free
  • It is accessible online and you don’t have to install software on your computer to get the captions
  • It has a very simple user interface, making the caption generation process quick and easy
  • In addition to generating subtitles and captions, you can edit existing files.

Adobe Premiere Pro CC

You may know Adobe Premiere as one of the most popular video editing programs on the market, but most people are unaware that it can also be used to generate captions for the video. This tool can be very useful in the creation of high-quality videos and you can generate an accurate caption or subtitle for the video as well.

But Adobe Premiere is not an easy solution to use for both video editing and adding captions, particularly for beginner users. But it is certainly one of the best ways to create and edit videos on your computer.

Key Features

  • Even though the interface is not easy to use, it is clear and flexible
  • You have numerous options to add the captions including font style and color
  • The captions that you add using this tool will be very accurate
  • It can also be used to edit existing subtitle and caption files

Amara Subtitle Editor

Amara subtitle editor will not be able to help you create or generate captions for your video, but it can be a good solution to edit a subtitle file that you already have. It can be very useful in syncing the subtitles with the video and you can use it to make minor changes to the subtitle.

While editing the subtitle file is easy, creating a caption file using Amara can be a lengthy process since you would have to type in the text.

Key Features

  • It can be used to edit caption and subtitles files easily
  • The user interface is pleasant and easy to use
  • It is completely free

Aegisubs

Aegisubs is another tool that you can use to create subtitles for your video. But we must warn you right off the bat that this tool is not very user-friendly and you may find that you will spend a lot of time trying to generate subtitles for your video. But it is a free solution and widely accessible on most platforms.

Key Features

  • It can be used to create subtitles and captions in different languages
  • It supports numerous video and audio formats
  • It has a simple user interface that is easy to navigate
  • It doesn’t have speech recognition and you’ll have to enter all the text manually

AHD Subtitle Maker

AHD subtitle maker is a Windows program that can be used to create subtitles and captions for your video in a variety of formats such as SRT. It is a completely free solution that can also be used to edit subtitle files in numerous ways, even changing the format of the file.

Among other things, you can use AHD subtitle maker to translate, change, copy and delete selected text from a subtitle file and even replace the text with something else.

Key Features

  • It is a free program that works on all versions of Windows
  • It can generate subtitle and caption files in a variety of formats
  • You can use it to generate subtitle files or edit existing files in various ways
  • It can also be used to generate various types of content including ID3 tags for music files

Videocaptionmaker.com

To generate captions and subtitles on your Mac for free, the best option is Video Caption Maker. The full version of the program is available for free and it can be used to create a subtitle file or make changes to a subtitle file you already have.

Key Features

  • You can use it to add text to a video in a simple and straightforward way
  • It can also be used to make changes to existing subtitles by changing the fonts, styles, backgrounds, positions, and more
  • It will also add a visual waveform to an audio file to identify the start and end time
  • It supports numerous video formats including .mov, .mp4, .mpeg, .3gpp, .3gpp2

Jubler

Jubler is a program that can edit subtitles and captions for videos. It can also be used to create new subtitles although it doesn’t automatically generate the captions and you will have to type them in. But when it comes to editing subtitles, this tool is very effective, allowing you to change the font style, color, and even positioning of the subtitles.

Key Features

  • It works on all platforms including Windows, Mac, and Linux
  • It will graphically display the subtitles so you can easily move them to the desired location
  • It supports all subtitle and caption file formats
  • It allows you to edit the subtitles in many ways
  • It can be used to translate the subtitles to various languages

**How Do I Make a Caption for a Video?

Making a caption for your video can be easy depending on the type of program you choose to use. A good rule of thumb is to choose solutions that auto generates the captions as they save you a lot of time. If there are issues after the captions have been generated, you can then use a subtitled editor to fix them, more preferable to typing in the subtitles or captions yourself.

**How Do I Get Automatic Captions for my Video?

If you are uploading your video on YouTube, you can easily generate automatic captions from the YouTube studio. Just use these simple steps;

Step 1: Sign in to YouTube Studio and in the left menu, select “Subtitles.”

Step 2: Click on the video that you want to add subtitles

Step 3: Select “More” under Subtitles and then go through the captions to make sure they are correct. If not, you can edit them on this page.

If you are not using YouTube to share your video, you can use one of the solutions we have outlined in this article to generate automatic captions.

**How Long Does It Take to Caption a Video?

The amount of time that you spend creating a caption for your video is entirely dependent on the captioning tool that you use. Automatic caption generators can create captions in a few seconds but manual subtitle tools can lengthen the process, especially for a longer video.

Conclusion

Captions are a great way to get users to engage with your videos. Studies have shown that a captioned video is far more likely to get more engagements and shares on social media. And since it can be very easy to make caption for you video, why not utilize this little known resource and get your videos to stand out a little bit more.

Try It Free Try It Free

Best Video Caption Makers

The following are the top video caption makers that you can choose from;

YouTube Automatic Caption

If you already have your own YouTube channel, you can use the built-in speech recognition feature to generate accurate captions for your video. This feature can generate captions in a number of languages including English, Portuguese, German, Spanish, Korean, French, Italian, and Dutch which is more than some of the premium caption generators in the market.

The main reason most people choose this solution is that it is fairly simple to use. You don’t have to do much; just upload the video and the automatic caption generator will create the captions you need.

Key Features

  • It is easy to use and freely accessible
  • You can use it to generate captions in a number of different languages
  • It is very accurate
  • You can use it to generate transcripts for the video

Kapwing Auto-Subtitle Maker

Kapwing is an online solution that will generate subtitles and captions for most videos. But it does limit the size of the video that it can generate subtitles on to about 500 MB. There is a free version of the program that although limited in functionality will not add a watermark to the generated captions file. But free users can only get captions for up to 7 minutes of video, making it a less ideal solution when you have a longer video.

Key Features

  • You can generate captions and subtitles for free
  • It is accessible online and you don’t have to install software on your computer to get the captions
  • It has a very simple user interface, making the caption generation process quick and easy
  • In addition to generating subtitles and captions, you can edit existing files.

Adobe Premiere Pro CC

You may know Adobe Premiere as one of the most popular video editing programs on the market, but most people are unaware that it can also be used to generate captions for the video. This tool can be very useful in the creation of high-quality videos and you can generate an accurate caption or subtitle for the video as well.

But Adobe Premiere is not an easy solution to use for both video editing and adding captions, particularly for beginner users. But it is certainly one of the best ways to create and edit videos on your computer.

Key Features

  • Even though the interface is not easy to use, it is clear and flexible
  • You have numerous options to add the captions including font style and color
  • The captions that you add using this tool will be very accurate
  • It can also be used to edit existing subtitle and caption files

Amara Subtitle Editor

Amara subtitle editor will not be able to help you create or generate captions for your video, but it can be a good solution to edit a subtitle file that you already have. It can be very useful in syncing the subtitles with the video and you can use it to make minor changes to the subtitle.

While editing the subtitle file is easy, creating a caption file using Amara can be a lengthy process since you would have to type in the text.

Key Features

  • It can be used to edit caption and subtitles files easily
  • The user interface is pleasant and easy to use
  • It is completely free

Aegisubs

Aegisubs is another tool that you can use to create subtitles for your video. But we must warn you right off the bat that this tool is not very user-friendly and you may find that you will spend a lot of time trying to generate subtitles for your video. But it is a free solution and widely accessible on most platforms.

Key Features

  • It can be used to create subtitles and captions in different languages
  • It supports numerous video and audio formats
  • It has a simple user interface that is easy to navigate
  • It doesn’t have speech recognition and you’ll have to enter all the text manually

AHD Subtitle Maker

AHD subtitle maker is a Windows program that can be used to create subtitles and captions for your video in a variety of formats such as SRT. It is a completely free solution that can also be used to edit subtitle files in numerous ways, even changing the format of the file.

Among other things, you can use AHD subtitle maker to translate, change, copy and delete selected text from a subtitle file and even replace the text with something else.

Key Features

  • It is a free program that works on all versions of Windows
  • It can generate subtitle and caption files in a variety of formats
  • You can use it to generate subtitle files or edit existing files in various ways
  • It can also be used to generate various types of content including ID3 tags for music files

Videocaptionmaker.com

To generate captions and subtitles on your Mac for free, the best option is Video Caption Maker. The full version of the program is available for free and it can be used to create a subtitle file or make changes to a subtitle file you already have.

Key Features

  • You can use it to add text to a video in a simple and straightforward way
  • It can also be used to make changes to existing subtitles by changing the fonts, styles, backgrounds, positions, and more
  • It will also add a visual waveform to an audio file to identify the start and end time
  • It supports numerous video formats including .mov, .mp4, .mpeg, .3gpp, .3gpp2

Jubler

Jubler is a program that can edit subtitles and captions for videos. It can also be used to create new subtitles although it doesn’t automatically generate the captions and you will have to type them in. But when it comes to editing subtitles, this tool is very effective, allowing you to change the font style, color, and even positioning of the subtitles.

Key Features

  • It works on all platforms including Windows, Mac, and Linux
  • It will graphically display the subtitles so you can easily move them to the desired location
  • It supports all subtitle and caption file formats
  • It allows you to edit the subtitles in many ways
  • It can be used to translate the subtitles to various languages

**How Do I Make a Caption for a Video?

Making a caption for your video can be easy depending on the type of program you choose to use. A good rule of thumb is to choose solutions that auto generates the captions as they save you a lot of time. If there are issues after the captions have been generated, you can then use a subtitled editor to fix them, more preferable to typing in the subtitles or captions yourself.

**How Do I Get Automatic Captions for my Video?

If you are uploading your video on YouTube, you can easily generate automatic captions from the YouTube studio. Just use these simple steps;

Step 1: Sign in to YouTube Studio and in the left menu, select “Subtitles.”

Step 2: Click on the video that you want to add subtitles

Step 3: Select “More” under Subtitles and then go through the captions to make sure they are correct. If not, you can edit them on this page.

If you are not using YouTube to share your video, you can use one of the solutions we have outlined in this article to generate automatic captions.

**How Long Does It Take to Caption a Video?

The amount of time that you spend creating a caption for your video is entirely dependent on the captioning tool that you use. Automatic caption generators can create captions in a few seconds but manual subtitle tools can lengthen the process, especially for a longer video.

Conclusion

Captions are a great way to get users to engage with your videos. Studies have shown that a captioned video is far more likely to get more engagements and shares on social media. And since it can be very easy to make caption for you video, why not utilize this little known resource and get your videos to stand out a little bit more.

Also read:

  • Title: "Driving Engagement and Growth The Role of Brand in YouTube Success for 2024"
  • Author: Steven
  • Created at : 2024-05-25 19:09:31
  • Updated at : 2024-05-26 19:09:31
  • Link: https://youtube-clips.techidaily.com/driving-engagement-and-growth-the-role-of-brand-in-youtube-success-for-2024/
  • License: This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
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