How easier and highly convenient things have become for internet users. If you want to learn digital marketing, just go to YouTube and search for relevant videos. If you have an interest in history, open YouTube, type what you want to see, and boom, you will get hundreds of videos on a single topic. The best thing is that you can find YouTube videos in your preferred language.
YouTube is indeed one of the best video platforms and 2nd biggest search engine in the world. The platform helps content creators earn thousands or even millions of USD per month. Yes, those aesthetic, HD and full-of-value videos generate revenue for YouTube and YouTubers.
The question stands, who pays YouTubers? Does the platform itself pay the content creators on the platform? Does YouTube pay for every video you upload there?
Marketing Tutor has answered all your questions in this blog post. Let’s get you started right away.
Table of Contents
Does YouTube Pay Everyone?
Before moving to how YouTubers make money, it is essential to know that YouTubers have to fulfill specific requirements before starting to make money from YouTube. The first thing a YouTuber needs to do is to monetize their channel. They can monetize their channels if they have
- At least 4000 hours of watch time on their original video content. They cannot upload copyrighted content.
- At least 1000 YouTube subscribers on their YouTube channel.
YouTube is a massive platform for video creators and users. Every minute, YouTubers upload 400 hours of videos, and people from all over the world collectively watch YoutTube for over 1 billion hours daily.
Therefore, YouTube is not only a center of attraction for people, but it also attracts businesses from around the globe to advertise their products. It is also the primary source of revenue generation for YouTube. As YouTube content creators bring advertisers to the platform, the platform splits the revenue and shares with YouTubers. But how much?
YouTube/YouTubers Revenue Sharing Ratio
YouTube shares revenue with YouTubers in two major ways.
- The platform splits money in a 9:11 ratio. YouTube gets 9 shares, while the YouTuber gets 11 shares. That said, if an advertiser pays $1 for the advertisement to YouTube, the platform will keep $0.45 while the YouTuber will get $0.55.
- The top 5% of YouTubers or content creators get a higher percentage of the revenue. There is no definite ratio for it. These content creators are Google Preferred, and they get to advertise top brands and the biggest advertisers on the platform.
- YouTube also pays content creators for their content irrespective of the advertisement revenue-sharing model. YouTubers will get paid by the platform if YouTube selects them for subscription-based YouTube Premium. YouTube Premium is an inspiration from Netflix’s business model, and typical examples of content creators who get paid through this model include Paul Brothers, Poppy, and PewDewPie.
Top 5 Ways YouTubers Make money on YouTube
YouTubers have not restrained themselves to the orthodox YouTube payment methods. They generate revenue from other sources. Here are some of them.
Channel Membership
YouTube allows YouTubers with a significant number of subscribers to offer channel membership programs. Subscribers who opt for the membership program get emojis, badges, and other goods.
Moreover, there are different types of levels of membership, and the members enjoy various perks depending on their membership level.
The membership revenue goes to the platform as well as the channel owner. Currently, YouTube channel owners get 70% of the revenue from such memberships, while 30% goes to YouTube.
Sponsored Content
Businesses or service providers often reach YouTubers with a considerable number of subscribers and ask them to endorse or promote their products or services in their videos.
Remember, these are not exclusive ads, but the YouTubers slip in the brand message in their videos. Businesses get direct viewership from YouTuber’s audience while YouTubers make additional revenue. The payment is decided between the company/advertiser and the YouTuber independently.
Here is how they advertise sponsored content in their videos.
Product and Brand Placements
YouTubers place brands, products, or services in their videos strategically to give the company an organic reach through their videos. It is important to note that there is no direct advertisement or shoutout for the brand, product, or service.
For example, Post Malone promoted Rolls Royce and Mercedes in his music video in 2015. Similarly, Ariana Grande promoted Samsung Galaxy Note 5 in her music video.
Product and Brand Integration
Brand or product integration is a different concept compared to brand placement. In this model, the content creators make videos that entirely revolve around the brands, products, or services. A typical example of brand integration is videos from TVF (The Viral Fever), an Indian YouTube channel.
In-video ads or shoutouts
YouTubers also promote brands, products, or services directly in their videos. They either create small ads or talk about them in between their videos. For example, a famous Indian YouTuber, Dhruv Rathee, often gives shoutouts to Indian brands in his YouTube videos.
Product reviews
Many YouTubers make product review channels and review different types of products in their videos. They review mobiles, laptops, sports products, cosmetics, gadgets, and many other things. However, it is important to note that these reviews are often scripted; YouTubers review them without using these products. Businesses promote their products or services through paid product reviews.
Affiliate Marketing
Although we associate affiliate marketing with blogging, YouTubers are also earning handsome money through YouTube affiliate marketing.
The idea is just like affiliate blogging. YouTubers either create dedicated videos that revolve around reviewing a specific product. Or, they slip the product promotion in their videos and persuade the viewers to buy the product or service through the link given in the description or comments. Every sale through their affiliate links gets them a commission from the sale.
Memberships, Donations, and Bonus Content
A large number of users earn money from YouTube via sharing Patreon link in the descriptions of their videos. Users can donate money or get memberships by paying on Patreon (a subscription-based crowdfunding membership platform), and in return, they get exclusive videos, content, courses, or training material that is not available to other users.
Super Chat
Super Chat is another amazing option for YouTubers to earn money, and the best part is that they keep all the revenue generated through Super Chat. Super Chat allows the members to pin their comments or messages during live streams, and in return, they have to pay the content creator.
A dollar sign pops up in the chat window during the live streams. Users can click on that sign and enter the amount they wish to contribute. Once they pay, they can pin their comment for a few minutes to a few hours, depending on how much they paid.
Final Words
If you have talent, YouTube is one of the biggest platforms to earn money through your videos. Many YouTubers are making millions from YouTube annually. For example, Mr. Beast (Jimmy Donaldson), the highest YouTube earner, made $54 million from the platform in 2021. The best thing is that there are numerous ways to earn from YouTube, and most of them are mentioned above. Let us know if we need to include any.
