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Key Takeaways
- Not all YouTube experts do the same work: strategy, execution and growth support vary widely.
- Consultants usually diagnose problems, while managers and growth experts help implement solutions.
- Channel audits provide clarity, but ongoing support is often the driving force behind YouTube’s sustainable growth.
There are constant changes and developments taking place in the fast-growing creative economy. As a result, the terminology can be complex, with multiple names for the same type of service, or multiple services lumped together under the same term.
One sector where this is especially visible is YouTube video creation support services. After all, the platform does have that surpassed 2.5 billion monthly global users. Today, high-profile YouTubers are shaping popular culture and making billions in the process.
As a result, there are now a wide range of companies and freelancers who specialize in helping creators expand their reach.
In addition to having video editors and thumbnail artists available, many YouTubers now rely on YouTube channel managers, YouTube consultants, or YouTube growth experts for help with video creation and the day-to-day activities of running a channel. But what’s the difference between these? And is it worth renting one if you’re a canal owner?
Let’s delve deeper into some important facts:
- YouTube channel managers, consultants and growth experts offer an overlapping range of services, including one-time channel audits and ongoing support.
- The main goal of all these professionals is to help creators grow their channels, usually through organic content optimization to convince the YouTube algorithm. However, some are also in favor of advertising.
- Although the terms overlap, YouTube consultants often specialize in thoroughly vetting channels and providing data-driven strategy suggestions. YouTube channel managers focus on the day-to-day activities of running a channel. YouTube growth experts often go beyond these tasks to also provide support with monetization, video editing, and graphic design.
One-time channel audit vs. continuous guidance
Although the three terms, YouTube consultant, channel manager, and growth expert, are often used interchangeably, there are some nuances that separate them.
One of the ways they differ is whether the expert you hire provides an initial channel audit or ongoing support.
For a channel audit, a YouTube expert looks at, among other things:
- Your content performance
- Your channel analytics
- The demographics of your audience
- Trends in your niche and competitors’ performance
- Your channel branding and current strategy orientation
- Your overall goals for your channel
The goal? To determine what resonates with your audience and what doesn’t. Based on these insights, they provide detailed, data-driven suggestions to help you sharpen (or change) your content strategy.
For some, the transfer of this document means the end of their work for you.
For others, that’s just the starting point. Some YouTube experts will also help you implement these strategy suggestions. They handle the day-to-day running of your channel, including content uploading, video SEO, audience engagement, and analytics.
While there are exceptions, YouTube consultants often limit their services to one-time or periodic channel audits, while YouTube channel managers and YouTube growth experts provide more ongoing support.
Related: How AI is Completely Changing YouTube Content and What Creators Should Do Now
Channel metrics versus broader growth strategy
Another distinction between different types of YouTube experts is whether they focus on improving your channel metrics, or whether they also provide broader support for growth strategies.
YouTube consultants and, in many cases, YouTube channel managers focus on the analytics provided through YouTube Studio and third-party tools to refine content strategy suggestions. Whether it’s number of subscribers, number of views, average watch duration or audience engagement, their main focus is to get creators’ channel metrics to a predetermined point and drive growth.
YouTube growth experts – and some YouTube channel managers – often go a step further and offer support to creators when it comes to channel monetization, expanding to other social media platforms and larger brand strategy decisions that have synergistic interactions with YouTube’s growth.
Freelancers vs. Companies
Finally, there is the distinction between whether creators work with freelancers or with companies that specialize in providing organizational and strategic support for the day-to-day running of a YouTube channel.
Freelancers working in this field often call themselves “YouTube consultants,” while agencies tend to promote “YouTube channel management services” or “YouTube channel management services.”YouTube Growth Services“.
For the latter, there are also overlaps with terms such as ‘YouTube channel marketing’, ‘YouTube promotional services’ or ‘YouTube channel advertising’. In many cases, the latter types of services work with paid promotion: paying YouTube so that the creators’ content appears in the search results and recommendations of a precisely defined target group, at least in the short term.
However, some also offer the kind of organic growth services that YouTube channel managers and YouTube consultants offer, with the goal of optimizing content so it gets picked up by the YouTube algorithm.
Related: YouTube takes on TikTok with new tools: ‘You can build a business’
The bottom line
The terminology for services and experts to support creators in growing their channels varies. While there are some general trends, nuances will inevitably remain, especially given the ever-evolving nature of the creator economy.
If you decide to outsource some of your video creation workflows, the most strategic approach is to define their priorities and exactly what tasks they want to delegate before you start looking for experts to work with. This way you can be sure that you ultimately work with the person or company that can deliver what your channel needs.