A YouTube Brand Account is the ideal option for teams working together to create great YouTube content for their brand or business. It’s effectively a channel that gives you far more control and flexibility over how you manage your brand’s presence on YouTube, compared to using a personal account.
Each individual can keep using their Google account to access YouTube and edit, upload to, and manage the central Brand Account. You don’t have to share passwords or log-in details, so everyone’s individual Google accounts remain protected.
Setting up a Brand Account is a good choice if you're serious about growing your YouTube presence. You can easily switch between your personal and brand accounts, add or remove managers, and keep your channel's identity professional.
This setup works great for businesses, creators, and anyone who wants to build a strong YouTube presence with a team.
In this guide, we’ll take you through the steps to create a YouTube Brand Account and how to manage it effectively.
In this guide:
- What is a YouTube Brand Account?
- How to create a YouTube Brand Account
- Converting a personal YouTube channel to a brand account
- Benefits of using a YouTube Brand Account
- Managing your YouTube Brand Account
- Frequently asked questions about YouTube Brand Accounts
What is a YouTube Brand Account?
A YouTube Brand Account is a dedicated channel type designed for businesses, organizations, and content creators. You create it via your own Google account but it sits as its own entity, so more than one person can have managerial control over it.
The point of a Brand Account is to give businesses a central place to conduct their YouTube activity while enabling multiple people access. This way a team can build a professional brand profile without the need to log in via a central username.
Brand Accounts differ from personal YouTube accounts in several key ways:
- Multiple managers: You can add team members to help run the channel without sharing login details
- Business features: You can access advanced channel management tools and analytics
- Separate identity: Your business channel stays separate from personal Google accounts, which avoids conflicts and confusion
- Professional branding: You have complete control over your channel's appearance and messaging
Unlike a personal channel, which is designed for individual use, a Brand Account allows for collaboration and is tailored to business needs. These accounts work best for teams that need to collaborate on video content. The main account owner can set different permission levels for each team member who helps manage the channel.
Your team can use the advanced YouTube analytics tools to track channel performance and improve your video strategy.
How to create a YouTube Brand Account
You can create a YouTube brand channel in just a few minutes when following a few simple steps. However, you might need to do some preliminary work before you’re ready to create your account.
Remember, Google owns YouTube so creating an account means having a Google account first. This could simply be a Gmail account, a new Google account, or a full Google Business Profile. Confirming this new account is a crucial step before proceeding with channel management and migration to a Brand Account.
Prerequisites
You need an active Google account before you launch a brand channel on YouTube. This account will be the primary owner of your YouTube Brand Account. So, make sure you’re happy with this account being the primary owner. If you need to, you could create another Google account within your brand to act as the primary owner.
Make sure you're signed in to your Google account before starting the process. It’s important to note that your Google account must be in good standing without any current restrictions or violations.
Step-by-step YouTube Brand Account creation process
Here’s a quick breakdown of how to launch your Brand Account on YouTube:
- Go to YouTube.com and sign in with your Google account. This should take seconds. You can also do this via the YouTube app.
- Click your profile picture in the top right corner and select “Settings”.
- Your "Account" page will appear. Scroll down to "Your YouTube channel" and click "Create a new channel".
- Enter your brand name and your handle. Pick something that matches your business or content focus.
- Fill out the basic info for your channel, including your contact details, profile picture, and channel banner.
Your account is now active! The next step is to welcome more people to manage the account if you’re working as part of a wider team.
Additional tips for your Brand Channel
Be sure to use a business email for your brand account instead of a personal one. This ensures there’s no crossover between business and personal, and means it’s easier to hand over the channel to someone else if you step away from that responsibility.
Proper account management is crucial across various social media platforms – including Meta sites like Facebook and Instagram, TikTok, X, and LinkedIn – to enhance monetization opportunities and brand building.
So, while your Brand Channel is solely associated with YouTube, it’s important to use the good habits learned here across those other sites too.
With that in mind, you should add multiple managers to help run your channel and share tips on managing other platforms as well. You can control their access levels, so you stay abreast of everything.
Set up two-factor authentication to protect your account and stay safe online. This should be standard procedure for any brand activation on YouTube – or any other social media site for that matter.
Converting a personal YouTube channel to a brand account
You can also move your personal YouTube channel to a new or existing Brand Account. This is ideal if you own your brand or are working on setting up a Brand Account alone. Of course, you can still add multiple managers to help run your channel.
Eligibility criteria
Your personal YouTube channel must be linked to a Google account to start the conversion process. You can't convert if your channel is already connected to a brand account.
Make sure you're the owner of the channel you want to convert. You'll need admin access to make these changes.
Additionally, your channel must not have any active live streams or premieres scheduled during the conversion.
Conversion steps
Here are the steps you need to take to transfer your personal YouTube account to a Brand Account.
- Sign in to YouTube with your Google account as normal.
- Click your profile picture in the top right
- Scroll down and select “settings”
- Then click “Advanced Settings” on the left sidebar or “View advanced settings” in the “Your YouTube channel” section.
- Click “Move channel to a brand account”. You might have to log in again at this stage, for extra security.
- Pick a name for your brand account
- Select Create
The process might take a few minutes to complete. You'll get an email when everything is ready. After that, you can start to edit your brand account how you like it.
Stay signed in during the conversion to avoid any issues.
Considerations
Transitioning from a personal to a branded YouTube account is a relatively easy process but there are some extra things you should consider before you do it.
- Save your custom URL before converting: You might need to set it up again after the switch.
- Download a backup: You can keep a backup of your content and settings through Google Takeout. Do this first, just in case your data is lost.
- Add managers after the conversion: Don’t rush to add new managers. Take your time and learn about your account first before you add others.
- Explore and learn: Some features might look different in your new brand account setup. For example, you’ll find channel management tools under a new menu. Make sure you have a root around before uploading or publishing anything.
Benefits of using a YouTube Brand Account
YouTube created Brand Accounts in 2021 to give creators and brands more control of their channels. These accounts come with special features designed for content creators and businesses, which aren’t necessary for personal use.
Here are three benefits that brands often realize when they start using Brand Accounts.
Enhanced collaboration
It’s so much easier to collaborate with others when you all share access to the same Brand Account. You can add multiple team members to manage your YouTube channel. Each person gets their own login credentials, so you don't need to share passwords.
Team members can have different roles based on their responsibilities, and therefore different access within the account. Owners have full control, while managers can upload videos and respond to comments.
This makes workflows much smoother, especially when you’re creating and uploading content on a regular basis.
You can assign specific tasks to different team members so that one person can focus on creating thumbnails while another handles comment moderation.
Access to advanced features
There are also plenty of additional features available with Brand Accounts. Custom thumbnails help your videos stand out in search results and suggested video feeds. You can design eye-catching images that attract more viewers.
YouTube has its own analytics tool that shows you detailed data about your audience and video performance. You'll see watch time, viewer demographics, and engagement metrics.
You can also access more monetization opportunities once you meet eligibility requirements. This includes ads, channel memberships, and merchandise shelves.
Separation of personal and business activities
Separating work from life is really difficult at times. Most of us use social media personally, and brand managers also have to work on these platforms in a professional capacity.
Creating clear boundaries between personal and professional is crucial for managing YouTube accounts. No one wants to be looking at analytics data on a Friday evening when they’re trying to relax.
A Brand Account stays separate from your personal Google account. You can therefore choose not to see brand updates at times when you’re not working.
Managing your YouTube Brand Account
We’ve talked a lot about the flexibility that comes with a YouTube Brand Account – but how do you actually manage it? Well, you can do it all from the YouTube website. It’s possible to do certain things like upload videos on the YouTube Studio app but for the best management experience, it’s worth accessing your account via a browser.
Managing settings, permissions, and features help create professional YouTube channels that connect with viewers. Here are some tips for managing it all.
Adding managers on YouTube Brand Accounts
Adding team members to your YouTube Brand Account lets you share responsibilities without sharing personal login details. It’s really easy to do.
Go to your channel’s dashboard and then click Settings > Permissions > Invite. From here, you can invite new managers and assign them one of the following roles:
- Manager – These accounts can view everything, go live, manage permissions, and create, edit, and delete content.
- Editor – These accounts can view everything, go live, create, and edit content. Editors cannot manage permissions or delete content.
- Editor (Limited) – These accounts carry the same permissions as Editor but they are restricted from viewing revenue data.
- Subtitle editor – These accounts can add, edit, and remove subtitles.Viewer – Viewers can see everything but can’t alter or upload anything.
- Viewer (Limited) – These accounts have the same access as Viewers but they are restricted from viewing revenue data.
Customizing channel appearance
Managers and editors have the flexibility to customize how branded channels look. It’s important to use a high-quality profile picture that matches your brand logo or identity. Make it 800 x 800 pixels (1:1 aspect ratio) for best results.
You can create and upload custom channel art that covers the top of your page. The recommended size is 2560 x 1440 pixels. Make sure you include your brand colors and tagline here, as it’s likely the first thing people will see when they click on your page.
You can then optimize your page by writing a clear channel description explaining what viewers can expect from your content. Add relevant keywords to help people find your channel. Include links to your website and social profiles.
Now your channel looks professional and is ready to welcome viewers.
Using advanced features
Brand Accounts also have a range of advanced features that you can’t get with a personal account. For a start, the YouTube Creator Studio gives you access to a range of great tools for growing your channel. Track performance metrics like watch time, subscriber growth, and engagement rates.
This is important if you’re going to stick to a social media strategy and need to share your progress with others in your company.
You can also filter content into playlists to keep viewers watching longer. These playlists can often be the source of high engagement, as users watch multiple videos from the same series. It also makes your Brand Account page look much more professional.
It’s also possible to establish monetization features – so long as you meet eligibility requirements. You can then manage things like:
- Channel memberships
- Super Chat
- Merchandise shelf
- Ad revenue sharing
YouTube Brand Accounts are designed to improve a company’s image and house all your YouTube content in one place. Master Brand Accounts and you’ll have a professional, engaging channel that you can monitor, monetize, and continually improve.
If you’d like to know how to elevate your YouTube business even further, contact Brandwatch today and see how we can help.
Frequently asked questions about YouTube Brand Accounts
How do I create a new Brand Account on YouTube?
Sign in to your regular Google Account first. Then go to YouTube and click on your profile picture in the top right corner. Your "Account" page will appear. Scroll to the "Your YouTube channel" section and click "Create a new channel".
Pick a name for your brand channel and follow the setup steps. Your new Brand Account will be linked to YouTube.
What steps should I follow to recover a lost YouTube Brand Account?
If you lose access to your YouTube Brand Account then try signing in with your main Google Account first. Check if your Brand Account appears in the account switcher.
Contact YouTube Support if you still can't access your account. Have your channel URL and any proof of ownership ready. Remember to keep backup email addresses and phone numbers updated to prevent future access issues.
Can you explain how to manage settings for a YouTube Brand Account?
You can manage your account settings on your browser or via the YouTube Studio app. Click "Settings" in the menu. From here you can adjust privacy settings, manage team access, and control account permissions from the dashboard. Your ability to change these settings will depend on your level of access.
