Here are some Frequently Asked Questions to questions about YouTube Consultants.
Should I hire a YouTube consultant or someone in-house?
If you’re a large business, it will be economical over the long-haul to have a YouTube specialist in-house. But full-time specialists with the right combination of experience and talent are hard to come by. You may find it helpful to hire a consultant for a time period, then learn the processes so you know how to hire for the role. Your consultant may also offer to train your team.
If you’re not a large business, you’d need to have someone in a hybrid role that handles YouTube plus other social media, plus maybe be a video editor or graphic designer. Note that these are all quite different roles, and doing YouTube right takes work and the ability to iterate frequently. Not everyone can do all these roles simultaneously.
How do I know if I need a YouTube consultant for my business? Or what kind? Or which duties they need to do?
The best way to know if you need a YouTube consultant for your business is to following this process:
- Write down some preliminary goals.
- Watch a lot of YouTube videos where the video style is similar to the videos you want to do. These don’t have to be direct competitors. Watch a lot of these videos on your phone, where most people watch YouTube.
- Spend a couple of months making videos with yourself and your current team. If you don’t feel comfortable publishing them, just publish them as unlisted. But go through the entire process.
- Write down questions as they come up.
- If you feel comfortable publishing, do so. After a few months, you’ll have a very good idea if you need a YouTube consultant, and what for.
How long should I work with a YouTube consultant?
You may need to hire a YouTube consultant for just a few hours, or on a regular basis. Over time, you may decide that you’re ready to train someone in-house to do the job.
How much does a YouTube consultant cost?
For a YouTube consultant to manage your YouTube channel, the cost can vary greatly, depending on time, talent, availability, and how much you believe that YouTube can be a successful platform for your business. You could start by hiring someone on Upwork for $25/hour and see how it goes. If that doesn’t work out for you, you may want to go with someone who has made a full-time business out of doing this. For small channels with fewer videos per week, professionals could charge $2500-$3500 per month, depending on what services they offer. For larger channels with more videos per week, $5500-$8000 per month is common.
How much is a 1-hour call with a YouTube Consultant?
Generally, you can book one-on-one calls with experienced YouTube consultants on their websites for between $100 and $1,000 per one-hour call. Some offer free 15-minute exploratory calls, which may or may not be with the expert themselves.
How much does a YouTube Ad Specialist cost?
For YouTube Ad Specialists, the minimum fee (minus ad cost) for running ads can be around $1,500/mo. or 15% of ad spend, whichever is larger. Many YouTube ad companies will not take on clients with ad spends of smaller than $30,000 per month, so the monthly fee on top of ad spend for something like this is around $4,500/mo. Alternately, you can hire someone on Upwork to manage your YouTube ads for $15-$40/hour, and they may do a great job. But it’s tremendously easy to run a YouTube campaign the wrong way so that you spend your entire budget (or even go over budget) with zero results. So proceed wisely.
How much is a 1-hour call with a YouTube Ad Specialist cost?
Generally, you can book one-on-one calls with experienced YouTube Ad Specialists on their websites for between $100 and $1,000 per one-hour call. Some offer free 15-minute exploratory calls, which may or may not be with the expert themselves.
What different kinds of channels are there?
Depending on what kind of YouTube channel you have, you may need a YouTube consultant with significantly different experience or expertise. So let’s ask what kind of business you have.
- Software, Online Service, or SaaS Business
Here you can benefit with a “how-to” channel, teaching viewers/customers things you know about your area of expertise. Only 20% of your effort should be about your own company. 80% should be about things your customers would be looking to find out, even if they didn’t know you existed. - Physical “Brick and Mortar” Business
If you’re a local business, you will be helped by HIGHLY-targeted YouTube ads to your customers. In some cases, a YouTube channel will also be helpful. For national or international businesses, a YouTube channel is essential. But make viewer need-centered videos, not videos about your services. Selling should be a very minor part of your videos, except for paid ads. - Entertainment or Content Business
If your business is about more people enjoying your videos, then you are an entertainment or content business. Also if your videos help promote or accentuate content that is somewhere else, you are a content business. - Creator or Coaching Business
If your business was born on YouTube or other social media, you have a creator or coaching business. You are part of the creator economy. You may make the bulk of your revenue from ads or brand deals. Or you may have your own products, like coaching or a paid community. - Employment Content
If you’re doing “corporate culture” or “we’re hiring” type of content on YouTube, these are best done as unlisted YouTube ads, or as videos on the company’s website. This type of content conflicts with the main content of a channel and sours the algorithm for future viewers. - Non-profit Content
Generally, non-profits can benefit by both YouTube ads and a YouTube channel. The biggest problem with these channels is usually that their YouTube videos are not set up to get clicks or audience retention, rather to spread a message irrespective of the viewer’s interest. When these areas are not in harmony, it creates the need for YouTube ad campaigns that are significantly more expensive than need be.
What is your internal team?
To know what you need from a YouTube consultant, you can first analyze who you have already on your team. Do you have:
- Someone who knows what kinds of topics can win on YouTube?
- Someone who can write scripts, or learn to write them better?
- Someone who is good at editing videos for YouTube?
- Someone who can set up a camera or use a phone for good video?
- Someone who likes being on camera or has experience with it?
- Someone who has optimized their own successful YouTube channel?
- Someone who is good at reading and reporting analytics?
- Someone who is good at managing projects
- Someone who is good at running YouTube ads?
- Someone who can make good landing pages?
How much time will YouTube take my team?
YouTube can have great long-term value for your business. But it takes time every week to plan, shoot, edit, and optimize your videos. And it must be something that your team buys into, so there is coordination involved. YouTube must be considered the type of thing that your business is committed to over time. A YouTube consultant can take some of that load off your company.