How do YouTube creators earn money? 5 ways to monetize a channel in addition to advertising

According to experts, only in 2020 in the United States, the earnings of YouTube influencers from advertising amounted to 5.5 billion USD, which is comparable to the GDP of Liechtenstein, Maldives, or Fiji. Take PewDiePie for example, his average annual earnings are more than $12 million. However, when we talk about the income of YouTube creators, we must understand that not all of the earnings come from brand integrations and monetization of advertising impressions. An influencer has many opportunities. mediacube team, which is one of the TOP partner networks in the world and works with YouTube around the world, narrates where else creators can earn in addition to advertising.

Sponsorship and Patreon

This is a good way to earn extra money if the influencer already has several thousand subscribers, but he has not yet become a YouTube star. Donations work on the crowdfunding principle: subscribers send small donations through the crowdplatform to support the channel. That way they let the creator know that they believe in them and their content, and also want to watch the channel in the future. This will work if there is a large loyal audience because the average donation check on one of the most popular Patreon platforms is $7. Therefore, the more people like the content — the more likely it is for a creator to turn donations into a real source of income. This format of earnings, as a rule, starts to work on channels from 20,000 subscribers.

It is great for those creators who make educational or socially-oriented content. For example, they talk about ecology, conscious consumption, draw attention to social problems, issues of inequality, etc. As a rule, those channels have fewer opportunities to monetize content through advertising contracts with brands. But they can boast of a loyal, dedicated audience that is willing to finance content that is important to them. For example, Nika Vodwood, who talks about feminism and activism, earns up to $ 900 a month on donations through the Patreon service.

In addition to the Patreon platform, the Sponsorship feature is available on YouTube itself. It can be enabled for channels with over 1000 subscribers and only if the channel participates in the YouTube Partner Program. This is another type of crowdfunding that allows you to make monthly contributions to support the channel. In return, viewers get a unique icon next to the comments they leave under the videos, custom emojis, early access to new content, special chat, unreleased materials, and so on. The channel creator can set up several levels of sponsorship with different types and bonus values.

For people who have signed up for a paid subscription, the creator can form a community and earn money.

IT products

Custom mobile apps and games from creators quickly break into the download tops for the obvious reason. They already have their own loyal audience, which instantly responds to the influencer’s call to try the app. For example, Vlad A4, one of the most popular video creators in the world at the moment, created the A4 Wheel of Fortune app, which can be used for games with friends. The influencer shows it in almost every video, using the functionality of the app to progress the plot. Another example: Dima Maslennikov created the Perfect Parking 3D! app, which he integrated into the plot of one of his videos: Get out of the coffin to win a car! Challenge.

In this case, monetization can take place using several models. Some of the most popular ones are paid downloads, in-app purchases, ads, and a free trial period with paid extensions.

Merch

“Merch is a really popular line of additional income for bloggers,” mediacube notes. “When we launched our own line of merch for creators, we could not imagine that this service would be so popular. In the first six months of operation, we generated more than $500,000 in revenue. We take care of all costs, design, production, delivery, as well as legal issues.”

On average, the partner has the opportunity to earn from 5 to 50 thousand dollars a month on merch, depending on the number of subscribers and how often the creator promotes their products.

There are two strategies. You can use the Teespring platform (the official partner of YouTube), which takes over the merch production. The second option is to make a merch yourself or in cooperation with Partner networks. However, despite the convenience of the first option and the ability for subscribers to purchase goods directly while watching the video, the service has its own limitations. Only creators from the “favorites” list of countries can use Teespring. The list is gradually expanding, but many countries (including the CIS) are still not in it. Therefore, Partner networks can help their influencers earn on souvenir products locally.

Donations from streams

During broadcasts, creators can use the Superchat feature. It allows viewers to leave paid comments that are highlighted in color and stay at the top of the chat longer, so they are more likely to be noticed by the streamer.

Sometimes we witness really motivating examples. So, one example is The Comedy Button who currently has 5,266 patrons paying them $13,129 per month. This is a YouTube channel that has around 24,500 subscribers.

Speaking of souvenir products, YouTube streams are quickly becoming a popular method of promoting them. During the live broadcast, influencers with a connected Store section can pin a product card with the ability to purchase it directly in the chat.

Music

You can earn money on music videos both in the traditional way, by monetizing advertising, and by using the “heavy artillery” in the form of a multi-channel network. If MCN has a music department, a creator or musician can get expert help to promote their work.

In the mediacube work with partners is carried out by agreement. The musician can choose whether they want to simply delegate individual tasks to the partner network or a comprehensive promotional campaign: creating lyrics videos, subtitles, translations, promotion strategies in other social networks and the press, album, or track cover. As well as systematic work with the YouTube channel (optimization, search for brands for collaborations, the release of singles, covers, duets, copyright protection), PR, distribution services, uploading tracks to sites and reports. All this helps you earn as much as possible on your music.

Thus, a responsible approach to maintaining a channel and increasing the means of earnings — this is how creators have the opportunity to significantly increase their profits. An influencer can organize additional ways of monetization independently, but often there are a large number of “pitfalls” that are easier to deal with by joining a partner network.