In case you don’t know what a food YouTube channel is, it’s a channel that focuses on the culinary arts in some form, whether by showing off fancy meals or providing tutorials for viewers to make their own dishes.
These channels can include how-tos, recipes, or even educational content.
It’s a really popular format, and it’s still gaining popularity in terms of viewership and subscriber numbers.
There are many reasons why people make food YouTube channels and there are plenty of good reasons why you should.
The real question is, how can your own food-based YouTube channel attract viewers and subscribers?
In this article, we’re going to walk you through some basic considerations for anyone hoping to start their own culinary YouTube channel.
We’ll talk about presentation, thumbnails, branding, and more, so join us for a quick YouTube bootcamp.
1. Presentation can make or break a video
In terms of YouTube videos, presentation involves a lot of different aspects.
The topic of presentation includes video footage, editing, post-production effects, and audio.
In the early days of YouTube, amateurish video and sound were the norm, and no one really expected anything better.
But today, it’s a very different story.
If you want your culinary YouTube channel to take off, then you need to present your content in an appealing way.
Make sure your video footage is of high quality, use a dedicated microphone to record sound, and take some time to learn editing software to make your videos look great.
There’s a lot to learn about video production, but if you want to make your YouTube channel your career, then it’s definitely worth the time and effort required to get better at creating and presenting your content.
2. Think hard about the name of your channel
Branding is a really big topic, but for now, we’re just going to talk about how important the name of your channel is to your brand.
We’ll talk about maintaining a specific focus on your channel in another section, but right up front, you should know what you want your channel to be called.
The name you choose should make it very clear what kind of content you provide to the platform.
Are you going to be focusing on pastries and desserts? Then your channel name should reflect that.
If you want to make videos about healthy meals, then make sure it’s clear from the channel name.
When you’re thinking of different names, you should also look around YouTube to make sure that the name you want isn’t already taken.
You should also say the name of the channel out loud to see if it rolls off the tongue. This is an easy step that can actually make your channel name a lot better.
it should be easy for people to type and easy for them to say, too.
3. Create enticing thumbnails, w/ advice from Vartan Kavafian (AKA VartanFresh)
If you’ve spent any amount of time on YouTube, then you already know just how important thumbnails can be to getting your attention.
The human brain processes still images very quickly, and there are certain ways to make your thumbnails more appealing to viewers who haven’t even heard of your channel.
One good rule is not to have too much text in your thumbnail. They’re called thumbnails for a reason, and you don’t want viewers struggling to read a bunch of text when images could communicate more clearly.
Also, since you’re creating videos about food, you should put the finished product of the video in the thumbnail. Who doesn’t like looking at a delicious meal?
In terms of color choice, yellow is a cheap and easy way to attract attention, just don’t go overboard with it.
A good test of a thumbnail draft is to save it as an image file and shrink it to a very small size in a view window.
Does it still get your attention when you can barely see the details? If you can, then it’s probably a decent thumbnail.
If you want some quick ideas, all you need to do is visit YouTube and check out some of the most popular videos and YouTube channels.
Pay attention to what they include in their thumbnails and how you could recreate these thumbnails, relevant to your own content, of course.
Tips from VartanFresh
Now we’ll hear some advice on thumbnails from food YouTuber and mukbanger Vartan Kavafian (AKA VartanFresh), whose channel amassed serious growth during the pandemic.
The VartanFresh channel currently has over 20 million views and more than 100,000 subscribers, more than 100,000 followers on TikTok, and a growing Instagram page.
The pandemic impacted his family’s business, a chain of burger restaurants called Fresh Burger in Toronto. Kavafian figured he would make the best of the situation by uploading mukbang videos to YouTube.
The results speak for themselves. As a successful YouTuber, we wanted to know how he creates compelling thumbnails for his videos.
“My thumbnails are each made of two different photos merged together. I’ve also learned over the months how to color grade photos. Making great thumbnails comes with repetition and experience from previous thumbnails.”
In terms of putting text in thumbnails, Kavafian urges creators to keep it simple.
“I’ve noticed that a bold font keyword in the thumbnail works for everyone. It should be a word that you think will grab the viewers’ attention that pretty much summarizes the video.”
Following these guidelines is easy, even for beginners. Just make sure to identify the core of each of your videos so that your thumbnail can reflect that concept in very clear ways.
4. Have a purpose and stay close to it
There’s no point in going about promoting your channel and product without a purpose.
Your channel name will help to set the tone for your content and help the audience get what you’re going to be about.
But you should also pay attention to the content itself and make sure that you stick to a certain theme so that viewers, especially returning viewers, know what they’re going to get from your channel.
This is another big part of branding. Coca-Cola doesn’t also make snack cakes and cars and construction equipment. People know what the brand is about and that’s good branding.
Keep in mind that the focus of your channel might change slightly over time. You might want to start including other types of dishes or do short documentaries about famous chefs.
You might need to change your name so that it stays accurate to the content you’re producing.
Just make sure that you don’t change your channel name when you’re just starting out. It’s best to do this when you already have a pretty big audience.
Also, don’t forget to listen to your audience. You shouldn’t let them completely control the kind of content you create, but you should listen to what they like to watch.
If you notice that a particular type of video has been doing very well for you, then you should consider making more content like that, as long as you can keep the quality high.
You can even start conversations with some of your dedicated fans in the comments as a way to get more info about what people like to see.
