The Perfect SaaS Youtube Channel Cheatsheet

A Beginners Guide to Youtube for SaaS Companies

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Since its creation in 2005, YouTube has become more than the most known video-sharing-platform. It's become one of the most popular websites on the whole internet. Why is that so interesting?Well.. As a software as a service company, a huge amount of traffic can be gained if your SaaS Youtube Channel is setup correctly. There are over billion hours of video content being watched on YouTube every day. That is a huge cookie. And you could take a bite from it. By following our checklist cheatsheet below, you will be on track to create your perfect saas youtube channel.

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What are the benefits of Youtube for your SaaS company?

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By setting up your channel for success and continuously posting relevant content, you can get a huge amount of effortless leads to your business. But... It takes a while to get there, you will have to create content, optimize the content and make sure you do everything to grow your channel. There is no revolutionary way of doing it, but with this  SaaS Youtube guide, you will be well on your way with a surprising head-start. The benefits once you have a legitimate and active channel. The leads you start generating are extremely high quality and can lead to a whole new game for your saas company.

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So lets get started!

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The SaaS Youtube Checklist/Cheatsheet

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Starting off, create your channel by following the steps as seen in this official account setup guide by google.  Once your account is created, you can start following the checklist.

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SaaS Youtube Checklist Part 1 - Channel

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1. Use a banner

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First of all, you need to understand what a banner is before you can apply your saas digital creatives to Youtube. The nearest equivalent is a Facebook cover image. Are you running a Facebook page for your company? If that's the case, you know very well how important that is for your page. The same goes for Youtube, as it is decidedly one of the biggest features of your Youtube channel.

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Some good things to include are:

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• An image describing your service which your viewers can relate to
• Your saas company name
• An upload schedule to help viewers know your company

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YouTube Banner Size

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• Recommended photo size: 2560 x 1140px
• Minimum uploading dimensions: 2048 x 1152px
• “Safe area”: 1546 x 423px
• Aspect ratio on full-screen background imagery of a TV is 16:9
• Aspect ratio on a desktop web browser (as well as on a mobile device) is 6.2:1 – narrow horizontal panorama

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2. Add your SaaS profile picture

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This step is very important, since this will be a way of branding your channel and also make sure your viewers and subscribers find their way back. Make sure you keep it simple, and leave the details for your videos and other descriptive areas. As a SaaS company owner, you know branding is key to long-term success for the future of your company.

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Youtube Channel Image Size

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• The ideal size for your channel profile image is 800px by 800px (a 1:1 aspect ratio).
• YouTube will automatically resize your profile image to be displayed at 98px by 98px.
• Accepted file types include JPG, GIF, BMP, or PNG.
• If your channel is connected with a Google Account, then changing your YouTube channel profile image will automatically change your Google Account profile image to match.

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3. Write your about me page

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This will be a key step to make sure your channel SEO starts working in your favour. Here's a few things to keep in mind.  The first few sentences are the most important part of your SaaS about me page. A lot of channels don't consider that there's actually hover card that your viewers can see around various parts of Youtube. Most common ones are in the comments section and also in suggested channels. More on that later.

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Here are some more things to keep in mind:

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• Call out your target audience for your company
• Pitch your company and social values
• Describe your channel and your service
• Include keywords naturally in the text

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If you want more inspiration these topics, you can check out our 5 tips to succeed with your SaaS company.

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4. Apply your SaaS company email

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This section is self explanatory, adding your email will not only give you another pointing to your link, but also give viewers and potential leads an easy way to find your email. This is a no-brainer, but important to include. Onwards!

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5. Add social media profiles

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Go to your channel and add links to relevant social media profiles for your SaaS company. This is an effortless way to grow your social channels. The process can be hard if you have no history of using Youtube. Below is how you go about adding your social media profiles to youtube.

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1. Log into your Youtube Channel.
2. Select channel settings.
3. Select "Customize the layout of your channel" for advanced customizing features.
4. Choose "Edit links" on the top right of your Youtube banner.
5. Add social media links and website links.

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6. Add a website

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By following the step above you should know how to add website links as well. Make sure you follow along and implement the correct links for best results.

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7. Create a channel trailer

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A channel trailer can really help you stand out from other SaaS Youtube Channels. For instance, in some cases by adding a channel trailer can increase your community subscribe rates by up to 30%. With a whopping 62 percent of businesses using Youtube as a channel to post video content. It's important you stand out from your competition. Don't have a channel trailer ready? Just use a video as channel trailer in the meantime.

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8. Feature content for returning subscribers

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Featuring relevant SaaS content for your returning subscribers hungry for more information or updates about your company, is a great way to re-engage your subscribers. This way you can make sure they get the exact message they are looking for. Which for instance could lead them to start using your service.

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9. Turn on layout customization

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To make your SaaS Youtube channel into the top of the crop, this setting needs to be turned on to access advanced customization features. To apply this feature, follow the steps in step five.

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10. Add more sections to your channel

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In your channel you have the option to add multiple sections. This is a great way to segment your channel into the most relevant things for your viewers to watch. As an example you can apply popular uploads to showcase your most popular videos. Or, your could add a playlist of a step-by-step guide on how to use your software. Even if you are just starting out, make sure you add multiple sections to your software as a service youtube channel.

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11. Create more playlists

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Using playlists can be a huge benefactor to the success of your company youtube channel. By adding relevant videos and creating series of videos that will help your audience, you are making sure that they don't leave your channel. If you have customers that need a walk-through of your service. This is the perfect place for it. Not only are you sharing extremely helpful material, but it will also help grow you channel instead of just sitting on the videos on your website.

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12. Feature other channels

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Featuring other channels or your own backup channels is a great way to start getting attention from those channel viewers. By featuring other partner companies, you might start getting a piece of their viewerbase recommended to your channel. This is a crucial feature to make expand your channel.

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13. Add channel tags

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Tags is the way to go. If you want people to find your SaaS company youtube channel that is. Adding tags to your channel helps youtube show your content to relevant people in your niche. Using Google Keyword Planner is a great way to help find keywords that are relevant to your SaaS brand.

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SaaS Youtube Checklist Part 2 - Video Setup

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1. Upload video as unlisted

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The first thing you should do once uploading a video is to make it unlisted in the uploading process. That way you are can make all changes to the description, tags and cards of the video without Youtube having to re-crawl your content. So once you make the video listed and published Youtube can get familiar with all the video elements of your SaaS company video without any trouble.

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2. Add the video to a playlist

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As mentioned before, adding videos to a playlist can help you gain more views, exposure and engagement across all your videos on your channel. This step is also important for your video SEO to help bring in more clicks and leads.

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3. Create an end screen

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In your video settings you have the option of creating an end screen for your video. Basically showing the viewer your channel button or more videos and playlists. Best practices are to show two videos and a subscribe button, or one video, subscribe button and a playlist. Everything will help the channel growth of your saas company.

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4. Adding cards to your videos

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You have the option of adding cards to your saas company videos which can help greatly with the engagement. By adding a simple question relevant to your viewers, you are able to generate a buzz around that topic. And as you might have guessed, the more buzz you have, the more views you get. Not only can it help with the buzz of your video, but it can also yield you a chance to keep the viewer watching. For example. Your viewer watches until the middle and is just about to click of your video. The card and question pops up and triggers their curiosity and decide to stay on your video. This gives you a higher video retention rate, and youtube loves when you have a high percentage video retention and favours your video ranking.

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5. Create and apply a thumbnail

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On your video you have an option to create a thumbnail for your saas youtube video. Make sure it stands out from your competition and grab viewers from other videos. An easy way of getting an idea of working thumbnails, just search for your target video keyword.

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In the example above you can see that I searched "top saas companies". And you can get a clear idea of what kind of thumbnail stands out the most. This works for all keywords, so get out there searching.

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If you'd like help getting a video and channel structure setup in more detail, don't hesitate to contact me at: tim@lunarstrategy.com

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6. Apply tags to your video

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Applying tags to your video can be daunting at first. There are so much you want to convey and so many people you want to reach. Our recommendation is to fill out the tag section with your best keywords. A great tool to generate a lot of tags for your niche is by using Rapidtags free keyword tool.

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7. Hastags works on Youtube too

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You are able to add up to three hashtags in your video description. This will spread your video to those hashtags on youtube, and also showcase the hashtags below your video which makes the video pop more overall.

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8. A good video title

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When choosing a title for your SaaS company video, it's extremely important you create a perfect title. Include your main keyword and make sure to label the year to show it's relevant for your audience. Also, no emojis. Adding emojis have shown to impact your videos negatively, so keep the emojis to your description for formatting purposes.

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9. Place out hidden keywords

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The description is a great place to hide relevant keywords. It's very important you make it flow naturally and doesn't seem forced. A great way of doing this is by describing what info the video contains and segmenting up pieces of your video. That way you can include keywords that you talk about naturally. As an added bonus, Youtube seo also check your auto-generated captions, so matching your description to keywords in your captions is a great way of optimizing seo.

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If you need more tips on SaaS marketing practices - check out our SaaS Marketing for 2021 article.

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10. Specify video category and country

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In your publishing tools when uploading a video to your saas youtube channel. It's very important to specify your video category and country of origin. By adding these bits of information, youtube can show the content to relevant audiences. Don't worry. If you are targeting more than one country, this won't interfere with that.

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11. Add your video language

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Your video language matters, if it's in german there is no point in showing it to people speaking english. This might not come as a surprise.

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12. Grow your SaaS Youtube Channel with this trick

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So, you've setup your channel and your video is up to shape. How are you going to take your viewers and get them to subscribe? Well.. By adding premium content of course. Do you have a really good ebook or resource which can benefit your audience greatly? Add the download page url for your content to Boost.ink. This allows you to lock the content behind a subscription requirement and then providing the desired content to your viewer. It's effortless, and a value for value transaction sure to explode your growth once views start rolling in.

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4 Extra Tips To Grow your Youtube SaaS Channel

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1. Produce engaging video content

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A fine-tuned YouTube marketing strategy for your saas company won't yield much success if your videos don't offer the viewer a compelling experience. Sadly, many business to business marketers make the mistake of rushing into the platform head first.

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There are good news however, there are a multitude of ways to leverage video to create unique and great b2b content. A few examples would be:

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Vlogs: Your content strategy should already include blog posts, and really be a staple in your marketing. But, you can also package relevant content and similar blog posts into digestible and visually appealing vlogs. A vlog can help educate your viewer about your SaaS company values and what edge you have on your competition. Not only that, but also help the viewer get to know your company and the people representing it.

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A SaaS product demo. You know it very well, product demos in readable format is often quite boring and confusing. Instead, showcase your products with a video. A video explaining the value of your service and product in an entertaining and engaging format can win the hearts of many. You stand out from the crowd, and when you are competing for leads, this is a true edge for your saas company.

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2. Build your software as a service channel

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The Youtube channel you create for your company is more than just a collection of videos. It's like any other social media platform. Therefore, your approach to your channel should be with the same attention to detail that you would with your company website.

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Make sure you follow along with the checklist and cheatsheet above to make the best channel you can for your company.

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3. Consistent video posts

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One of the biggest mistake companies make when it comes to Youtube as a platform is this: They only get around to posting a video once in a while. Only when you stick to a consistent upload scheme, you are able to get the favour of Youtube, and start getting consistent views. People want organized content that always help them get forward with using your service.

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So if you have a great walkthrough guide showcasing your software, upload them every other day in an organized manner. That way you don't run out of content fast, and the bulk upload won't be penalized and instead show consistency.

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Creating a video to go with your premium content is a great way to get fresh engagement on your website and draw traction to your video. Offer your audience an ebook about your software, or provide an in-depth course about your service. Either way, if you have blog content, you also have video content to share.

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4. Engage with other accounts in your niche

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As YouTube is an online community just like any other social media platform. We recommend staying active within your niche Youtube community.

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That includes - following relevant accounts to your software as a service niche, leaving comments on videos and helping people find their way around different tools and ideas. That way you give value and in return you get value in form of engagement and following.

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Creating value for humanity should not be an afterthought but a core business strategy

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So that sums up the whole guide for your SaaS Youtube Channel and Video setup. I hope you found this article helpful and won't mind sharing it to your friends in a relevant space.

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If any questions still remain unanswered, please feel free to comment or sending me an email at: david@lunarstrategy.com and I would love to help you more.