Don’t be afraid of YouTube. Do this instead.
YouTube is the worlds’s most popular video sharing social network.
YouTube has 1.7 billion unique users each month.
According to Statista 92% of Americans use YouTube weekly and 98% use it monthly.
According to Hootsuite study of digital trends for 2022 YouTube is the world’s second most visited website only behind Google and slightly in front of Facebook.
694,000 hours of video are streamed on YouTube each minute according to Statista. In comparison Netflix users only stream 452,000 hours of video each minute.
Everyone of all ages is watching YouTube according to this survey:
15-25 years: 77% are on YouTube
26-35 years: 77% are on YouTube
36-45 years: 73% are on YouTube
46-55 years: 70% are on YouTube
56+ years: 67% are on YouTube
Churches, that means the majority of people in your churches each week and those that you want in your churches are on YouTube. So that means we need a strategy to reach these people to share the life changing message of Jesus on this platform called YouTube!
Most of the churches in America post their sermons each week on YouTube. (If you don’t, you should start today.) So in this blog I won’t cover that, but instead I want to give you one new idea of types of videos to post. And then one way to make your sermon videos and these new ways of doing videos better by creating better thumbnails. If you or church wants help with this check out this Church YouTube package. Contact me here to sign up or more info.
Create searchable videos
The beauty of YouTube is that it functions as a search engine. In fact it’s the second most popular search engine besides Google. And Google owns YouTube so as long as Google is the top search engine, YouTube will be the top platform recommended.
The other day after working out (new year, new me type of vibe) my hip flexor was sore and I immediately went to YouTube and searched “how to stretch my hip flexor.” People are doing this everyday searching for answers for problems in their life.
If the church can create videos answering these questions we can reach more people. Find out the questions that people in your church and community are asking relating to faith and God. And then provide those answers with short videos on YouTube.
How do you know what those questions are?
Survey your congregation. Have your staff and volunteers ask people what kind of questions they have. Listen in counseling sessions and small groups to find out what people are talking about and what their felt needs are. This is a great tool to use also to find out what people are searching for on the internet. Discuss these things among your staff and volunteers to find patterns. Another way to do this is to look at what hashtags are popular and trending.
One of the most popular hashtags last year was #exvangelical which defines a group of people who have left the evangelical church in the U.S. You could create some short videos speaking directly to this audience and sharing the Gospel truth with them in an effort to convert them back to Christianity. Deconstruction is another hot topic around the church that you could create videos for and help people understand that God loves them and whatever church or pastor has hurt them in the past is not God. Explain what the Bible says about the difference between religion and relationship. Become a valuable resource for someone on their faith journey as they are asking questions.
Parenting questions are always popular with people as well. You could have your pastor or Kids or Youth pastor do short videos helping parents navigate tough questions with their kid and students. There are so many ways to do this. I wrote another blog that shows some of the other ways you can share this type of content besides just on YouTube. You can read it here.
Get straight to the point in these videos. Don’t add a five minute introduction of the speaker or your church or the upcoming events. Answer the question that people searched for.
A great opening sentence for these kind of videos are “Today I’m going to answer the question ***Insert question.***
At the end of your video you can add a 15-20 second pitch pushing people to your YouTube page and asking them to subscribe or even suggest another video for them related to this topic that might be helpful.
The more interesting your content is then the higher your click through rate (CTR) will be. Having a high CTR will also help you in search engine optimization (SEO) as YouTube often prioritizes videos with high CTRs. The more YouTube prioritizes your videos then the more likely they are to put it in front of new people. That’s what I call digital evangelism.
Pro tip: You should probably keep track of your CTR for yourself as well because it gives you insight into what videos your audience likes and engages in and lets you know what’s working and what’s not working.
2. Create a thumbnail like MrBeast
Jimmy Donaldson, better know as MrBeast, has over 125 million YouTube subscribers is one of, if not the most popular YouTubers. Check out his page here.
You could write a whole book on what he does that makes his YouTube channel so successful but right now I’m going to focus on the thumbnail. He spends around $10,000 creating each thumbnail for his videos. Obviously I’m not suggesting your church do that, but it does show how valuable the thumbnail is to the overall success of getting your videos in front of people.
MrBeast wants his videos in front of people to create more views and revenue.
You and your church want your videos in front of people for the sake of eternity.
No one is going to watch your videos on YouTube unless they click on it and the best way to make sure they click on it is to create a captivating thumbnail that would make someone want to click and watch your video.
The old saying “don’t judge a book by it’s cover” doesn’t apply to YouTube. According to YouTube, 90% of the best-performing videos have custom thumbnails.
Here’s 9 tips to create a great, custom thumbnail to get your videos in front of people:
The key to a great thumbnail is having a great picture to use. Which means you need someone to take it. If your church has a photographer, bring them in on these conversations. If not, get really good with your iPhone and take a bunch of pictures so you have options. Use high quality images.
Use a picture of someone (or multiple peoples) face as the focal point of your thumbnail. Have minimal background behind the face and use colors that stand out. Using a face strengthens the emotional connection with the viewer making them more likely to click on it. These are easy for sermons you can use a picture of your pastor preaching. Or if this is another type of video like one answering a question that we talked about earlier get a picture of the speaker in front of the video set.
Use close shots of the face, not wide shots. Most people will be viewing this from their phone or tablet and the thumbnails will already appear smaller on a phone screen so use a close shot so people can grasp the content and details of the image.
Use pictures that show emotion. Think big smiles, laughter or faces of shock or anger. Pro tip: the best time to get a picture of your pastor smiling during a sermon is the first 5-6 minutes. Think about what kind of pictures you would be interested in to click on and watch. Think action shots too. This could be a picture of someone about to say something that would make someone want to click on it because they’re curious about what that person is about to say.
Choose a font that's easy to read in a small size on a phone, and consider picking a striking color that creates a contrast between the background image and the font. For example, if the background is primarily white, you might use black letters. Contrast can help viewers read the text quickly and clearly. It can also be visually appealing to your audience which would make them want to click on it.
Write a title that would make someone want to click on it. Be creative. Think about what kind of questions people on the internet are searching for. Title your video as the answer. Have a conversation with your pastor asking if you can change the title of his message for YouTube to try and get it in front of more people.
Create a template. Once you’ve created something that is visually appealing and easy to read save it and you can reuse it for that sermon series or season of your church, etc. The recommended YouTube thumbnail size is 1280 x 720 pixels and up to 2MB. For best results, upload a video thumbnail with a 16:9 aspect ratio.
Look at it on all devices. Statistics tell us that 70%+ of people will view your video on a mobile device so be sure to preview your thumbnail and make sure it looks good on mobile. And also check desktop to make sure it looks good there too. Adjust accordingly, but favor the mobile view.
Get help. I know as a church creative you are stretched. That’s where I can help. I offer a few different packages to help churches with their YouTube strategy. You can view the packages here. Contact me here to sign up or answer any questions.
In conclusion, remember this is a strategy that will take time just like anything else. Getting your videos seen by people is a process.
Be patient as the algorithm starts to understand your content and begins putting in front of the right people. Commit to this for 6 months and don’t measure your results until that time and you’ll be pleased.
Your results will compound over time.
Your job is just to be obedient to share what God is putting on your heart. Your pastor and your team have probably been sharing content like this forever in person, face to face at coffee shops, in the grocery store, in the workplace, in the lobby of church, etc. But now thanks to the internet you can reach more people and some of those people who used to be in the coffee shop or grocery store or now spending most of their time online.
Craig Groeschel says “To reach people you’ve never reached, you have to do things you’ve never done.”
If you and your church are serious about taking a next step and reaching more people on YouTube I offer a YouTube package for churches where we work together to leverage your churches social media to reach more people for Jesus.
You can find out more about the packages and cost here.
You can also subscribe to my newsletter that I send out every week with helpful articles, podcasts, videos and books that I’ve found useful. You can subscribe here.
Cheering for you!