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Creating Your Channel
on YouTube
YouTube Confidential
What’s a YouTube Channel?
A YouTube channel is…
• A page where constituents can
connect with you: they can send
you messages, subscribe to your
videos, and learn more about
your office.
• A place to highlight statistics
about you: channel views, how
long you’ve been on the site, how
many videos you’ve made, etc.
• A place that only you control:
nothing shows up on your
channel that you don’t put there.
YouTube Confidential
Getting Started
First Steps:
1. Sign up for a YouTube
account by clicking the “Sign
Up” button in the upper-right
hand corner of the site. You
may want to create a special
email account that is
connected to your YouTube
account so multiple staff
members can access it.
2. Once you’ve registered,
login to your account:
http://youtube.com/login
3. Click on the “My Account”
link.
YouTube Confidential
Channel Basics
Getting Started
We’ll walk you through the
following easy-to-use features on
your YouTube channel:
• Profile Information
• Branding
• on Channel & Watch Pages
• Channel Background Image
• Featuring Videos
YouTube Confidential
Adding Profile Information
Channel Info
1. In “My Account” click on
“Channel Info”. Fill in the
“Title” and “Description”
fields.
2. In “My Account” click on
“Profile Setup” and add
personal information to
your profile - also use
this space to tell people
why you’re on YouTube.
Suggestions:
• Add Your State/District
• Include a short
description of your office
and key issues.
YouTube Confidential
Adding a Banner
Channel Banner
1. In “My Account” click on “Edit
Channel” and then click on the
“Branding Options” link.
2. Upload your banner graphic,
sized 960 x 150 (or smaller), in
the “Channel Banner” section.
3. Make sure to include a URL
that your banner will link to - we
suggest linking back to your .gov
site.
A channel banner gives your channel page its identity
YouTube Confidential
Other Branding Options
Branding Options
Your channel icon is a still frame
from one of your videos. You’ll
have the choice to set your
thumbnail from a selected video.
The “Video Page Banner” sits on
video “watch pages” and helps
viewers return to your channel
by clicking the graphic.
1. In “My Account” click on “Edit
Channel” and then click on the
“Branding Options” link.
2. Scroll down to each branding
option and see the pixel-size of
the graphic required. Then
upload your image to spec.
YouTube Confidential
Channel Background Image
Channel Background
Personalize the background
image of your channel.
1. In “My Account” click on “Edit
Channel” and go to “Channel
Design”.
2. Under “Advanced Design
Customization,” add a URL that
contains the image you’d like to
upload.
Customize the
background color of
your channel.
3. You can also choose to
repeat an uploaded image by
opting-in to, “Repeat
Background Image”.
YouTube Confidential
Channel Featured Video
Channel Featured Video
Highlight your best or most recent
video to auto-play when someone
comes to your channel.
1. In “My Account” click on
“Channel Design” found in the
“Edit Channel” module.
2. Under “Featured Video” you will
have the choice of entering a
video URL (from any YouTube
channel) or setting your channel
to automatically feature your
latest video.
YouTube Confidential
Creating Playlists
Create Playlists
Think of Playlists as packaging your videos
into different categories. How are your videos
related?
1. Go to the "My Account" page and click on
the ”Videos, Favorites, and Playlists" link.
2. Click the “New” button and set the
properties (title, description, etc.) for your
new Playlist.
3. Click the "Save Changes” button. You'll be
returned to the "My Playlists" page and
can begin adding videos.
4. When you find a video on YouTube that
you want to add to the playlist, click on the
“Playlists” button and select which playlist
you’d like to add the video to.
YouTube Confidential
Uploading a Video
How to Upload a video
1.Click on the yellow “upload” button
on the upper right corner of any
YouTube watch page.
2.Upload your video file - any video
format should work, just make sure it
is under 1.0 Gigabytes.
3.Enter in all the relevant information
about your video in the title, tags, and
description so that when people
search YouTube, they can find it.
This step is very important - a lot of
people find videos on YouTube by
using search.
YouTube Confidential
How To Use YouTube
Here are 10 ideas to get you started on YouTube:
1. Research: Find out what your allies, opponents, and the general public
are saying about important issues.
2. Flood the system: People are searching for information on you, and on
the issues you care about - make sure the version you want people to see
is readily available on YouTube.
3. Instant Messaging: So much of YouTube traffic comes from daily search,
so post your take of the events of the day online so people can find it.
4. Crisis Messaging: Messages that damage your agenda will fester and
grow if left unanswered - head off poor press by uploading quick response
videos to crises that develop.
5. Message Testing: YouTube is a free focus group - list to comments and
rankings to see how your message is resonating.
(cont’d)
YouTube Confidential
How to use YouTube
Here are 10 ideas to get you started on YouTube:
6. Engage Your Constituents: YouTube is a two-way communication tool hold question-and-answer sessions with your constituents.
7. Explain Legislation: Make the complicated work of government easy to
understand by posting short videos explaining various pieces of
legislation.
8. Video Press Releases: Press releases on video provide a more
compelling message, and give the media something to play on TV.
9. Leverage the Community: Find people from your state or district on
YouTube, and reach out to them specifically. They can help spread your
message on the site.
10. Use YouTube as your video player: Use YouTube’s embed feature to
post your videos everywhere - it consolidates your video stats and saves
you time.
YouTube Confidential
Important URLs
youtube.com/househub - The House Hub on YouTube
youtube.com/senatehub - The Senate Hub on YouTube
www.citizentube.com - YouTube’s Political Blog
YouTube Confidential