​Humanity has been asking existential questions forever. We’re wired for purpose, constantly seeking to answer the big question, “Why?” Although a record-breaking number of believers are leaving brick-and-mortar churches in America, every month, over 100,000 people go on Google and type into the search bar, “Is God Real?” Countless others search for Bible study tools. Our neighbors are asking Siri, not a pastor, “What happens after death?” or profoundly, “What is faith?” The world is going digital, but should the church? The answer is that the gospel should go to all the world, using whatever tools and gifts we have. The eyes of people are on screens, especially the youth. The church must be equipped to go where people’s attention is focused—to be in the world, but not of it. In this free handbook, we’ll demonstrate how to use social media networks for ministry and evangelize to young adults ages 18−30.

​Before subscribing to your channel, most people visit your channel page to get a bird’s-eye-view of what to expect. It is the number-one place where people will decide to subscribe to your channel and, therefore, requires careful thought.

It’s important to understand visitor behavior on the platform. Often, people will watch and like a video that has come up in their suggested videos. Then they click on the name of the creator, which directs them to the channel page. What they find will influence whether they decide to subscribe to the channel to receive that content in their regular feed of videos. Many times, they’re looking for a few specific things, such as: How many videos has this creator uploaded? (after all, what’s the point of subscribing to a channel with only two videos?); how often do they upload? (once a week, twice a week?); what types of videos are they offering? They may also check out your most popular videos. Spend time organizing your channel page to help answer these questions and create a brand look that appeals to the target audience you are trying to reach. Work with a professional designer, if necessary.
 
To start, consider your channel name and how it can tie into your ministry’s branding and goals for being on the platform. Refer to the previous section of this guide on branding to help you identify which direction you would like to go. The name “That Christian Vlogger” immediately communicates to the viewer that they can expect video blogs of Christian content, making the value of the channel instantly apparent. The more common route is to choose the name of a personality or organization. However, this may make it more difficult to communicate purpose and value. Ask, “Does this channel name make a person want to subscribe to the channel?” When an individual uses his or her name, it implies that the channel contains content that is more personal and relatable to the viewer.

Be careful to avoid names that only have internal meaning and don’t convey a clear message or value to the broader public. This is especially important for evangelistic channels seeking to reach people outside the faith who may not be familiar with Christian terms. People may misinterpret your content as not being for them.

Next, develop strong copy for your YouTube channel’s “About” page. The first sentences are the most important, as this copy will pop up in the hovercard for your channel in several places around YouTube, such as the comment and suggested channels sections, as well as the snippet text in the YouTube search results. Therefore, it’s very important that you are intentional with how you craft this copy. These first few sentences should call out your target audience, helping the reader identify that this content is for them. Also, pitch the value of your channel for that target audience. Ask yourself, “Why should they prioritize my content over another similar channel?” or “How will they be affected by my content?” Assume that the reader has never heard about you before and has no idea what your channel is about. Then take the next paragraph to describe what your channel is about and what a person can expect if they were to subscribe to your channel, including your posting schedule. Additionally, weave keywords that are relevant to your channel into the copy and the content you’re creating. Avoid just listing keywords at the end of your “About” page. Finally, you can include links at the bottom of the “About” page that direct to your website and other social media profiles.
 
The channel trailer is a video that is shown very prominently at the top of your channel page for prospective new audience members. Once they hit “subscribe,” they will no longer see that video. Therefore, create a short channel trailer that speaks directly new people, letting them know what your channel is about or what your goal is, how often they can expect new content (e.g., daily, weekly, monthly), and what kind of content they can expect on a regular basis (e.g., vlogs, comedy, inspirational, etc.). Your channel trailer should feature you addressing the camera directly. If possible, give them visual demonstrations of what your channel will show them with quick clips (i.e., your b-roll) while you speak. These elements combined help create an engaging trailer that sets clear expectations, enabling the viewer to better decide if this channel is for them.
 
The channel header is found at the very top of your channel and is an opportunity for you to set your brand apart from other channels. Branding helps communicate a greater perceived value. Make sure your branded look is professional, clean, and modern. Include your upload schedule in your header, and use graphics and text to communicate what the channel is about. Consider including a close-up of your face (if you are the “face” of your ministry) that enables the viewer to see the whites of your eyes on a small screen. Be sure to also include relevant social media links to your ministry’s other platforms.
 
Consider which videos you want people to see first. One strategy is to highlight your most popular videos in a playlist. By featuring your highest-viewed videos, people are more likely to give them a chance because a significant number of other people have already watched them, indicating they are worth your time. This is called social proofing. Another strategy is to feature your highest-converting videos. These can be identified by looking at your channel analytics to see which videos convert viewers into subscribers the most often. Your most-viewed videos may not effectively convert viewers to subscribers.
 
Spend time organizing your videos into additional playlists based on related topics, choosing your best-performing videos for each topic. This can help create a string of binge-worthy content, increasing the time people spend watching and engaging with your content. You may even want to create a playlist dedicated to new subscribers titled something like “New Here?” or “New to the Channel?” This will allow a newcomer to get to know you and your channel through a curated playlist of videos designed to introduce them to your personality and content. Humans connect better with other humans and stories, so share some of your back story here.

​While it is true that content is king, it is also true that marketing is queen. On YouTube, the things that most influence your discovery and channel growth (other than quality of content) are your thumbnails, titles, and tags.
 
Each video that you create should have one focal point or one problem that you’re trying to address. Your thumbnails, title, description, and tags should all work in unison to communicate that message and to optimize the exposure of every piece of content you produce. YouTube’s algorithm weighs all the elements of your video—views, length, titles, tags, etc.—to determine whether to promote that particular video in related search queries, suggested videos, and on the homepage. Most people will find your video through a search query or a related video, so it’s important to have a solid strategy to increase your exposure. Therefore, knowing how to optimize your thumbnails, title, and tags is essential to growing an audience.

• Thumbnails often perform best when they tease a value or a story. Don’t give away the punch line of your video in the thumbnail. Seek to create an emotional response and to give the prospective viewer an incentive to click on the video. Pique their curiosity, giving them a reason to watch.
  
  Use a brief amount of large-font text on your thumbnail that allows easy readability. Help your text stand out by adding a shape behind it. This text can serve to reinforce the video’s connection to a specific topic, increasing the likelihood that a person will select your video among the competition. To interrupt their scrolling, get them to actively think about the thumbnail and how it relates to their search query or topic that interests them. This will better position your video for success.
  
  Keep in mind the average viewer will be watching the video on their mobile phone, so you want to make sure the thumbnail you create is clear and any text is readable on a small screen. Human beings prefer to connect with other human beings. Your viewer will have an easier time relating to the subject matter, and you’re more likely to invoke an emotional response if you include images of people, especially faces, in your thumbnails. Make sure their faces are large enough that you can actually see the whites of their eyes in a small thumbnail. You should also incorporate your overall branding strategy into the design of your thumbnails and your logo. This will help train your audience to easily identify content from your channel.
  
  If you’re not a photo editing pro with tools like Photoshop, no worries. Use free online tools like Canva.com to create your thumbnail from a clear screenshot from the paused video or from a high-quality photo you snapped during the video shoot. Use Canva’s YouTube thumbnail template to make sure you have the correct dimensions: 1,920x1,080 pixels for HD resolution. When taking screenshots, make the video full screen to increase the clarity of the image. Increase the contrast, saturation, and sharpness on your thumbnails to make the image and colors pop, helping you stand out from other videos. Thumbnails perform better when they are about 30% oversaturated and oversharpened, because this helps a small image to pop on a mobile device.
  
  ​In summary
  • Choose an image and/or graphics that stand out and pique curiosity.
  • Include large-font text that teases a value or a story.
  • Include people’s faces, and make sure they are large enough that a viewer can see the whites of their eyes on a small screen.
  • Incorporate your branding and logo.
  • Make sure the thumbnail is easy to understand on a small screen.
  • Add extra contrast, saturation, and sharpness.

• Titles should reflect the vernacular of the platform. Use tools like YouTube auto-fill in the search bar to find out what language people are typing in to search for specific topics. Basically, start typing your question, and let YouTube finish it for you. Look for very specific video ideas, and use the exact wording or variants of the resulting search phrases for your titles. More nuanced titles will help reduce competition and rank your video higher in search queries.
  
  Look at what other popular YouTubers are doing with their titles in videos covering the same type of subjects. Pay attention to the trends and what other creators are doing on the platform. This will help you perform better in related video suggestions. Model your video titles and other elements after popular videos related to your topic. Normally, the typical number of views a video can expect to garner is around 5% to 10% of the total number of subscribers to the channel. When videos exceed this, it’s an indication of strong content, a popular topic, strong title, thumbnail, and keywording. When you model your own videos after competitor’s high-performing videos on a similar topic, you increase the chances that viewers will find your content in the related videos and ultimately subscribe to your channel.
  
  Craft a title that piques the curiosity of the prospective viewer, without giving away the answer. Your title should make them think: “I never really thought of it that way” or “I wonder where they’re going with that.” You goal should be to get them intrigued in the same way your thumbnail hopefully will. Your thumbnail and title work together as complements. Therefore, the text should not be the same in both, but rather work together to give the viewer an incentive to watch.
  
  Avoid including dates, as this may reduce the perceived relevancy of your video, and it takes up valuable space in the title field. Moreover, omit any type of numbering system you may have developed for organizing your videos, as this also does not add value. An exception to this rule may be a series of videos that must be watched in order. In this case, we recommend creating a playlist specific to each series to enable people to binge watch all the videos, if desired.
  
  However, most viewers will not watch your videos in order and will, in fact, stumble across your videos randomly. When choosing your title, consider the perspective of someone completely new to your content. This is the first video they will watch out of your entire collection. Avoid any language that may give the impression this video is not for the prospective viewer or that the content will not be relevant on its own (i.e., leave out the date and sequence number).
  
  ​In summary
  • Model your title after search phrases.
  • Pay attention to trends related to your topic.
  • Craft a title that piques curiosity.
  • Avoid dates and numbering systems.
    
    
• Tags are used to help people find your videos when they type something into the YouTube search bar. The first thing you want to do is make sure you have a common tag used throughout your entire YouTube channel. When all your videos have one common tag, it acts as an indicator to YouTube that each video is related to all the other videos in the library. When someone watches one video, there will be a greater chance that the suggested videos will also be from your channel. For example, Justin Khoe uses “jkhoe” as a tag in all his videos. You’ll want to come up with something unique to your channel that no one else will be using.
  
  Don’t waste any of your tag space with random or one- to two-word tags. These tend to be very ineffective, as competition levels for those tags are too high. “Bible study” will be an incredibly difficult tag to rank for. “How to study the Bible” is a more nuanced tag with less competition and a better chance for your video to stand out. “How to study the Bible for teenagers” will be even more effective. Look for search phrases that are four or five words or more to narrow your competition for searches or related videos. Start with these longer phrases (including the title of the video), then find related permutations of those same tags. For example, “how to study the Bible” can be supported by the following tags: “how to study the Bible for yourself,” “how to study the Bible for beginners,” “how to study the Bible for women,” etc. If there are words that are frequently misspelled by people, such as “Isaiah,” you may also want to include the most common misspellings. The combination of these techniques increases the chances that your video will rank higher in search results and related videos, bringing new people to your channel from other channels and keeping your viewers engaged with your content.
  
  Don’t mislead viewers. Only use keywords that are related to your video content, as disappointed viewers can give feedback such as downvotes and negative comments that can hinder your video’s performance.
  
  Special note: You can only use 500 characters to encompass all of your various tags; if you go over that limit, you can’t upload or save the video. Be sure to prioritize the strongest tags. Use software like tube buddy to help you identify strong keywords and phrases.
  
  ​In summary, follow this model for tags:
  • Your unique channel tag
  • Four- to five-word search phrases related to the video (including the title of the video)
  • Variations on your search phrases (including commonly misspelled keywords)
  • Avoid random tags and one- or two-word tags.
  • Don’t use misleading keywords.
    
    
• Descriptions should not be neglected, as they are factored into YouTube’s and Google’s algorithm for search ranking, increasing discoverability. The first two sentences of your description are the most important regarding ranking, so be sure to reflect the title of your video, and include a call-to-action whenever possible.
  
  Providing description copy (at least 250 words) enables search engines to index your video for search query optimization. In addition, links to your website, specific webpages, resource requests, etc. will also factor into the search engine optimization of both your videos and your website. By providing both calls-to-action and links, you both encourage your viewers toward meaningful action and make it easy for them to take the desired action.
  
  For long videos, make it easy for people to find what they are looking for within the video. For example, a 30-minute video on Bible prophecies may cover many passages. Provide time stamps (lists of relevant timecodes)  for the various sections in the description to allow viewers to skip ahead easily and find the section that most interests them.
  
  ​Checklist
  • Begin your description with the search phrase (or a variation of it) that you used to determine the title.
  • Write your description copy using keywords to optimize search result ranking.
  • Include backlinks to your website, blog, and social media profiles to improve general SEO and visibility.
  • Include calls-to-action where relevant.
  • For long videos, include time stamps for topic-specific sections.

 
If you’ve already established a library of content on YouTube, go back and optimize each of these elements. This will cause YouTube to reevaluate each of your videos and their ranking, helping to better position your existing content.
 
These four elements combined help increase the authority of your channel content, but don’t expect immediate results or for your first video to go viral. YouTube also assesses the quantity of content your channel has produced and gives more authority (and better rankings) to channels that have more content because there is more for people to watch. Expect to put in significant amounts of time to create a wealth of content using these best practices.
 
To be successful on YouTube, you need two pieces. First, you need valuable content that answers people’s questions, meets their needs, makes a difference in people’s lives, and is optimized with proper thumbnails, titles, descriptions, and tags. Second, you need consistency when it comes to putting content out on the platform. Do this, and you will see results.

​Your channel or content strategy is simply the direction you plan to take with your videos to help achieve your goals. The easiest way to determine a channel strategy is to ask yourself a few questions about your audience. What are they interested in? What kinds of questions do they have? What types of problems can you help them solve? Instead of guessing at the answers to these questions, spend time with these people, and ask them these questions! Refer to the “Understanding Your Target Audience” and the “Content Strategy” section of this guidebook to help you through this process.

Once you determine who your target audience is, ask, “Why should they care about my content?” Develop an overall value proposition for your channel based on the needs or core values of your target audience. The value proposition answers two questions: “What do you offer?” and, “Why does it matter?” What value can you deliver to your target audience through your videos? Once you can answer this question, clearly promote your value in each of your videos. Each video should have the underlying objective of moving you toward your strategic goal.
 
Then develop a content creation strategy that balances engaging your current audience with attracting new viewers through highly searchable and sharable content. If your channel is new or small, plan to gear around 75% of your content toward expanding your audience base. Once you get established with tens of thousands of subscribers, switch the balance to favor fan-centric, community content to keep your audience engaged. 

• Searchable or discoverable content is based on what your target audience is already searching for online and will help you get discovered. These videos introduce people who never heard of you to the value you provide through your channel and content, ideally converting them to subscribers. Utilize tools like Google Trends, YouTube search, and other related channels in your niche to do your homework. Look for topics that audiences are actively choosing to engage with, and create content accordingly.

 

• Community content is where you speak directly to your subscribers and provide unique (related) information that they didn’t know they needed but increases the value of your channel. These are designed to build a relationship with your existing audience and grow their trust. This content is just for your subscriber base who already knows you and your mission. These videos will be primarily found in your fan base’s YouTube subscription feed. Typically, video views are lower and slow down after a few weeks, as newer videos have entered the feed.

 
Establish a secondary value in all your videos based on the perceived relationship your audience can develop with you. Many people will watch your videos and engage because they feel connected to you. The on-camera personality should seek to strategically integrate the relational aspect of your channel into the videos to foster a sense of community. People want to feel like they are getting to know you, trust you, that you’re credible, and that they would enjoy spending time with you in person. People are drawn to authenticity and can relate more easily when you demonstrate your humanity and vulnerability.
 
Your content strategy should ultimately serve to support your ministry’s goals for being on the platform. Refer to the section on “Developing a Strong Foundation” to determine what those goals are and possible key performance indicators.
 
Next Step
Identify five other YouTube channels that create the type of content that you are looking to create and start watching their content. Consider this activity market and competitor research.

As odd as it might sound, to reach a large audience, you must stop trying to reach everyone! Think of your YouTube channel as a TV channel. Each channel has a purpose and an intended audience. For example, ESPN focuses on sports, the Cooking Channel on food, etc.
 
What is your channel about, and who is your channel for? Is it for women? If so, how old are these women? Are they single? College-educated? What type of hobbies do they have?
 
The more you can clearly define your target market, the more success you’ll have in breaking through the noise and reaching your audience.
 
Next Step
Refer to the “Understanding Your Target Audience blog” and write a three- to five-paragraph description of your ideal audience member.