YouTube Channel Art: It's Time to get Creative

It’s disappointing to see the number of YouTube channels that don’t take advantage of channel art. Most brands, for example, resort to using the channel art to display a giant logo.  Frankly, this undermines the value of channel art. Channel art should be customized to display a brand’s personality and provide information to the viewer. The best part of all, channel art can be changed as often as you like. Below are some examples and tips on how to get the most out of your YouTube channel art.

Align your channel art with the seasons. Doing so will let your viewers know that you regularly attend to your channel and implies that you release time-relevant material.

Tip: Use your channel art to advertise holiday sales to drive more traffic to your website.

Beats by Dre ever so subtly suggests that speakers or a pair of headphones would make a lovely Valentine’s Day gift (I agree).

Footlock skips the cheesy Valentine’s sentiments and celebrates February as the month for new arrivals.

Toyota encourages viewers to celebrate their dad by tweeting up to four pictures of him.

Take advantage of trends and current events and find ways that your brand can tie in. In the below examples, Forever 21 and JCPenney reinforce the fitness trend that kicks off the start of every new year. When this is fresh on a viewers mind, the channel art serves as a reminder that the brand can in some aspect meet the viewer’s consumer needs.

Tip: Change the link in the bottom right of the channel art from home page to a landing page that is most relevant at the time . In the two examples below, linking to a fitness clothing page would be ideal.

Forever21 reminds you to get your fitness on even though you look good enough to go out in public in just a sports bra.

Although this channel art is also seasonal, JC Penny is promoting the fitness frenzy that everyone falls victim to every year.

This screen shot was taken prior to the super bowl. Aligning your channel art with current events is a great way to imply the relevance your channel has to the topic at hand.

Tell your viewers what your channel is about. When first viewing the channel, the channel art is the first thing they are going to sure. Assure your audience that your channel has valuable content. This is especially important since hardly anyone reads a channel’s ‘about’ section.

As expected, Martha Stewart’s channel is about recipes, craft how-tos, and essential tips.

According to their channel art, Betty Crocker is your guide to mastering your kitchen, one recipe at a time.

Increase the chance of someone subscribing and coming back to your channel by telling them when you release new content. It’s also a great idea to let your viewers know if your channel features multiple web series, like in the example below.

Tip: Have an upcoming series or episode that will be released soon? Tell your audience by promoting it in your channel art to build up hype and to give your audience an incentive to check back.

Metal Floss has multiple series and they use their channel art to advertise their series’ weekly schedule.

Think of your channel art as free advertising space, because essentially that’s what it is. Advertise products that your audience will find relevant.

Tip: Provide a direct link to the product or service you are promoting.

If advertising a product, its a good idea to provide a direct link to that product on the bottom right of the channel art.

Channel Art is a great way to advertise events, new products, sales, etc.

The most common call to action on YouTube is to subscribe. However, the goal of your channel may be to drive visitors to your site, engage with other social media channels, etc.

Tell your viewers what you want from them. Whether its to subscribe, comment, go to your site, send a tweet–whatever your heart desires.

BONUS!

Create connection between your channel art and your channel trailer!