Dioceses and third-party content creators can now create video content optimized for YouTube in Catholic Social Media. This helps parishes and schools schedule your video content to YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and other connected platforms without running into validation issues.
Creating a Video Post
- Log in to Catholic Social Media.
- Go to the Planner or Calendar.
- Click Create Post.
- Upload your video.
- Add a cover photo if you have one.
- Write your caption.
- This caption will also serve as the YouTube video description.
- Add any personalization parameters, URLs, or editor’s notes if needed.
Choosing Platforms
When creating a post, the available social media platforms will appear near the top of the post editor.
By default, all platforms are toggled on.
This means Catholic Social Media will check the content against the requirements for each selected platform.
Use the platform toggles to choose where the content should be optimized.
- Keep YouTube toggled on if you want parishes and schools to be able to post the video to YouTube.
- Toggle off any platforms the post is not intended for.
- Catholic Social Media will only validate the post against the platforms that are selected.
Adding a YouTube Video Title
When YouTube is toggled on, a YouTube video title field will appear.
- Find the YouTube video title field in the post editor.
- Enter the title you want to appear on YouTube.
- Review the title before publishing or saving the post.
All YouTube videos need a title, including:
- YouTube Shorts
- Standard YouTube videos
The caption you write for the post will serve as the YouTube description.
Scheduling the Content
- Choose the date you want the content to appear.
- Add or recommend a publish time if needed.
- Continue through the normal scheduling process.
- Catholic Social Media will validate the post to make sure the video, caption, title, description, and cover photo meet the requirements for each selected platform.
- Add a content tag if you want to organize the post.
- Save the post as a draft or click Publish.
Once the post is published, parishes and schools will be able to use the video content and schedule it to YouTube if they have connected their YouTube channel.
Validation for YouTube Content
When YouTube is selected, Catholic Social Media checks that the post is ready for YouTube before it is made available.
The validation process helps confirm that:
- The video meets platform requirements.
- The caption/description is supported.
- The YouTube title is included.
- The cover photo works with the selected platforms.
- The post is ready for parishes and schools to schedule without issues.
Best Practices
- Keep YouTube toggled on when creating video content intended for YouTube.
- Toggle off platforms that are not relevant for the post.
- Add a clear YouTube video title before publishing.
- Remember that the caption becomes the YouTube description.
- Use a cover photo when available.
- Preview and validate the post before publishing.
- Add content tags when helpful so parishes and schools can find related content more easily.
- Create video posts with parish and school users in mind so they can schedule the content quickly and confidently.