YouTube is one of the most powerful platforms for personal and brand outreach ever created. A robust YouTube channel will be discovered easily and organically by your target audience—YouTube will even promote your content for free if it’s good! A single video that catches the YouTube algorithm will bring attention to your brand for years to come.
So what should you put on your new YouTube channel to engage your audience and build your brand? Here are some YouTube video ideas to get you started:
- First YouTube Video Ideas
- Easy YouTube Video Ideas
- Educational YouTube Video Ideas
- Product YouTube Video Ideas
- Creative YouTube Video Ideas
- Fun YouTube Video Ideas
- YouTube Video Ideas For Kids
- YouTube Video Ideas For Gamers
- YouTube Video Ideas For Teachers
- YouTube Video Ideas For Business
First YouTube Video Ideas
1. Introduce Yourself
An easy first video—introduce yourself. Share a little bit about your background, who you are, what you care about, and your big purpose in life. Give viewers an idea of what they will get if they follow your channel. A great video to “pin” as the default video at the top of your channel.
2. Introduce Your Brand
If you are creating your channel to promote a business, brand, or personal brand, share the brand purpose, mission, values, and future with a video promo. What impact do you want your brand to have on the world, and what do you want viewers to come away with? Also makes a great default video.
3. Tell Your “Origin Story”
Flex your inner superhero and tell your origin story, in-depth. This can actually be spread across several videos with cliffhanger endings. Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable—share the failures and frustrations that led you to where you are now and why you started this channel.
Easy YouTube Video Ideas
1. Start a Vlog
Do a daily video check-in. Don’t overthink it—think of it as a video diary. Share your daily thoughts or what you are working on today. This takes discipline (and easy-to-use video editing tools!), but consistent video uploads are one of the easiest ways to catch the algorithm and go viral.
2. Tour Video
Give a tour of your home, office, neighborhood, favorite stomping grounds … any place you know and love. When people connect with your brand, they enjoy attaching a “where” to the “who.” You will be surprised at how much engagement this kind of video gets once your channel gains steam.
3. Reaction Video
If an article, video, or another piece of content has gone viral, you can get a lot of attention on your channel by making a video where you are watching the viral content and giving your reactions to it. Just pay attention to “fair use” rules so you don’t get a “copyright strike.”
4. A Day in the Life
In the Instagram era, people love a peek behind the curtain. Film a day in your life—the places you go, the things you do, the people you spend time with—and cut it together into an appealing montage.
5. Listicle
A “listicle” is short for “list article”.” You have probably seen them as clickbait articles or blogs, but they make great YouTube videos too. Share your “Top Seven” or “Top Ten” picks for … anything you want!
6. Random Facts
People love to hear random facts about their favorite content creators. Share ten random facts about yourself. If you need prompts, find a “random facts about me” questionnaire online and answer it. When your channel takes off, your loyal viewers will love to dig this one up.
7. Show and Tell
Share a collection, an heirloom, a favorite trinket or gadget. Anything you are proud of or can’t live without—share it! Your enthusiasm will be infectious, and other people with the same hobbies as you will love to compare notes.
8. Interview Video
Interview an acquaintance, colleague, or local notable with an interesting story to tell or message to spread. Can be done in-person or by recorded video conference—easy. Can be great to use as cross-promotion for the interviewee, while the audio can be repurposed for a podcast if you have one.
Educational YouTube Video Ideas
1. Explainer Video
An “explainer video” gives a short, high-level explanation of a process or concept. You’re not trying to get your viewers to understand every detail … only to trust that you understand the details.
2. Tutorial Video
A “tutorial” video is more in-depth than an explainer video—it should actually show your viewers how to do something themselves. DIY videos for popular tasks are very popular—anything from how to wind a watch, to how to put on makeup, to how to fix a car engine, and everything in between.
3. Webinar or Presentation
If you give webinars or presentations, consider committing that presentation to video and putting it on your YouTube channel. You can often get several videos out of a presentation and use the videos to drive leads to a link in the video description.
4. Infographic Video
Here’s an easy one—explain an infographic. Infographics are a great way to communicate information. Make a screen recording with your face in the corner explaining the different points of that infographic.
5. Whiteboard Video
Another way to give a visual lesson is to draw diagrams on a whiteboard. You can point a camera at an actual whiteboard, record your webcam, or use a digital whiteboard tool.
6. Q&A Video
Collect common user or customer questions and then answer them in a video. A great source of questions—the comments of your other popular videos. A Q&A video also invites users to ask their own questions in the comments. Encourage them to do so, and answer any questions in the comments—the YouTube algorithm loves that.
7. Mythbuster Video
Everyone loves to see a popular myth busted. If you can debunk a popular misconception, people will flock to it to be proved wrong and get set straight—especially if you can debunk a limiting belief that many people fall into to their detriment.
Product YouTube Video Ideas
1. Product/Service Demonstration
Show off your product or service, either in your YouTube studio or in the field. Nothing helps people understand the benefits of your product like seeing it in action.
2. Feature Demonstration
If you have a multifaceted product with numerous features, you can get multiple videos out of your product demonstration. Start with a high-level overview of the product, then make a separate video demonstrating each feature. Can be grouped into a series for more user time spent on your channel—good for the algorithm.
3. How-It’s-Made Video
A chance to give your viewers a peek behind the curtain. Show them how your product or service is made; how you fulfill orders; things your team does on the back- end to solve user problems. People have confidence in products when they understand the product, and it makes a big difference if you show them behind-the-scenes how your product comes to be.
4. Background Interview
Conduct an interview with one of the designers, developers, product managers, or product owners about the product—even the founder and CEO if possible. They will be able to shed insight into what problem they set out to solve in creating the product, and how the product solves it. This type of video is a great way to build brand trust through transparency and authenticity.
5. User Testimonial
Social proof is one of the most powerful sales tools in a company’s toolbelt. Record videos of user testimonials—customers who sing the praises of your product. These videos can be used on your product and landing pages as well.
Creative YouTube Video Ideas
1. Comedy Videos
Nothing goes viral like comedy. If you have the talent on your team, write a funny script and film a goofy skit. Be careful—failed comedy can become “cringe” … but with enough cringe, your video may go viral anyway.
2. Music Videos
If you write songs, consider making a simple music video. It doesn’t have to be complicated—it could even be a lyric video or backed by stock imagery/stock footage. Choose royalty-free stock media for your videos and ensure that you are authorized to use any music in your videos—if you didn’t write the music, make sure you have permission from the creator who did.
3. Prank Videos
Got a mischievous group of friends? Try pulling some pranks … on each other, or on the public. Use hidden cameras, but important—don’t break the law. Otherwise, you’re putting video evidence of a crime online.
4. Parody Videos
Make a parody of a popular song, movie, or viral video. These can be hilarious; they can also fall into the “cringe” category, but cringe can be hilarious too. Remember, the goal is to be creative. You may discover a niche audience you never even knew existed.
Fun YouTube Video Ideas
1. Product Reviews
Who doesn’t like to share their opinion? Give your unfiltered two cents on your favorite products, your least favorite products, or whatever happens to be in your Amazon Prime delivery locker this week.
2. Movie/TV/Book/Game Reviews
People love to hear opinions about pop-culture media, whether they are considering consuming it themselves or if they have already consumed it and just want to compare notes. Share your views on the latest books, movies, TV shows, video games, or whatever you like, and make sure to flex your personality while you do it.
3. Cute Videos
Cute sells. Think babies. Funny stuff your pets do. You just can’t go wrong with a cute baby or pet video.
4. Challenge Videos
Remember the Ice Bucket Challenge? If a fun challenge has gone viral, make a video to participate! Just stay away from the potentially fatal ones (looking at you, Tide Pod Challenge).
5. Blooper Videos
If you record a lot of videos, you will make a lot of mistakes you have to edit out. Plan for the future and don’t delete those bloopers forever! Edit together a funny blooper reel—your followers will love it.
6. Travel Vlog
If you travel frequently, consider a travel vlog. Show the airports and airline seats, tour your hotel rooms, and show off local sights and attractions. Tag the names of the hotels, airlines, and attractions in the video meta-content—lots of people are searching for behind-the-scenes peeks of hotels and travel services.
YouTube Video Ideas For Kids
1. Family Vlog
An aspiring juvenile content creator can start with a vlog of family life, getting siblings and parents into the act (with consent) to show their daily family life and share their thoughts. More peers are interested in this than you might think.
2. Favorite Places
Children often have offbeat favorite spots in their neighborhood. Consider this a juvenile version of the travel blog—showing kids and adults alike lesser-known corners of their own city.
3. Interview Videos
People like to give interviews to kids. Local business owners, bloggers, writers, teachers, friends’ parents … exercise some control over the content and the questions asked, and you have fun, local, family-friendly content that can even work as cross-promotion for the interviewees.
4. Culture Videos
Children are fascinated by the lifestyles of children in other cultures—and YouTube makes this content more accessible than ever. A day in a child’s life can become a fascinating cultural artifact for a young viewer across the world.
5. Song Videos
Kids can make video of them singing a song—any song—or by playing a song if they have musical talent. If the child is a prodigy, they can become legitimately famous. As mentioned earlier, just be mindful of copyrights and fair use rules.
6. Dance Videos
People also love cute, funny dances. Kids can get together with friends and make a family-friendly synchronized dance video that might go viral. There may be popular dances on social media that they can learn and contribute to the viral phenomenon.
7. Life-Hack Videos
Lots of life-hacks for kids can be sourced online—tips on how to do chores faster or just make life easier and more fun—and demonstrated by a resourceful young content creator.
8. Gadget Videos
Gadgets are fun. Who can possibly deny it? A child could make a robust YouTube channel out of demonstrating their favorite toys and age-appropriate household gadgets.
9. Demonstration Videos
DIY how-to videos aren’t limited to adults. Crafty or resourceful young content creators can make their own tutorial videos of crafts, toys, and other processes easily accessible to children.
YouTube Video Ideas For Gamers
1. Game Review Videos
Giving their opinion on popular games makes a great deal of sense for gamers. Review new games if you can, but don’t be afraid to give your honest opinion of older games. People are always looking for opinions on older products if they don’t have them yet—or just to hear what their favorite content creators think of games they have played.
2. In-Game Commentary Videos
Show your personality by talking through your gameplay while you record it. In-game commentary can be hilarious, entertaining, and enlightening.
3. Walkthrough Videos
A walkthrough video is a kind of commentary video where you explain the game as you play it, so people know what to expect from the game and improve their own game. A popular form of gaming content for YouTube.
4. Speed Run Videos
If you are a fast and skilled gamer, record a “speed run”—play through a level, or the entire game, as quickly as possible. There’s a big market for speed runs of popular games.
5. Modification Videos
If you make custom modifications to games, other game-mod enthusiasts may eat up the details of your mods. Document all of them, and make sure you explain how and why you did them.
6. Cutscene Videos
Want easy game content? Record the cutscenes that break up the gameplay and advance the story. Gamers love looking up cutscene content to relive their favorite story beats without having to go through the trouble of playing the game to that point.
If you’re looking to make gaming videos for YouTube, you’ll want an easy-to-use screen and webcam recorder like ScreenPal that can capture both mic and computer audio, and includes built-in video editing software with direct upload to YouTube.
YouTube Video Ideas For Teachers
1. Classroom Update
Inform students and parents alike with the goings-on in your classroom, including past and upcoming lessons, favorite moments, and anything else you want to share.
2. Lesson Reviews
Bolster your classroom content with lesson reviews online. You may end up unknowingly helping students you have never met, in different parts of the country or even the world.
3. Field Trip Footage
Make a documentary of your class field trips so students can relive them, and so other teachers can draw inspiration for their own classrooms.
4. “Behind the Scenes” Extracurriculars
Just like a “behind-the-scenes” video of a business, a “behind-the-scenes” look at extracurricular activities you run make great content for parents, kids, and the world at large.
5. School News
Keep your community up to date with developments at the school that are public knowledge, but that parents and students might not have been aware of.
6. Faculty Interviews
Highlight star teachers and administrators by interviewing them, creating synergy across classrooms and expanding the scope of school insight you are able to offer on your channel.
YouTube Video Ideas For Business
1. Brand Story Videos
Tell the story of how your brand came to be—how you discovered the problem that you solve, the source of your burning desire to find a solution, and how you found the solution. Spread it out over several videos with cliffhangers — a whole playlist!
2. Behind the Scenes Videos
Give customers a peek behind the scenes at your office, home office, or factory. Give them an opportunity to feel close and connected to what you do.
3. Tool Recommendations
Have a favorite business-building tool? Do a review of it. Of interest to your customers and potential business coverage.
4. Company Event Coverage
Company picnic, year-end awards, group outing to an escape room—document the fun side of your business and show it off. Good for brand connection and recruitment!
5. Tour Videos
Give a tour of your facilities. Showing where your product comes from will make people more likely to trust it and buy it.
6. “Meet the Team” Videos
You can get a ton of content out of interviewing your team members. Hearing their enthusiasm and why they love their jobs will help build enthusiasm for your products and services in your prospective customers who see the video.
7. Interviews with Partners and Vendors
Do a “podcast-style” interview (in person or by video conference) of one of your vendors, business partners … anyone else you do business with. It will provide your customers with industry insight and serve as cross-promotion for the interviewee, strengthening the business relationship.
As you can see, you have a lot of options. Ready to pick a few YouTube video ideas and get started? Try ScreenPal for free! ScreenPal makes screen recording, video editing, managing and uploading YouTube videos fast and easy.
Looking to get started making videos for YouTube? Check out our guides on YouTube marketing, how to start a YouTube channel, and how to edit YouTube videos for free.
Create engaging YouTube videos for free!Edit and share professional-looking videos for YouTube with ScreenPal’s easy-to-use free video editor.
