According to Statista, YouTube is the second biggest social media in the world. So, it comes to no surprise that YouTube is a profitable platform for content creators. But how much do YouTubers make?
In this article, we will look at how much money you can make from YouTube and factors that can affect your income. Also, we will discuss other monetization methods that can help increase YouTuber earnings.
Without further ado, let’s read!
How Much do YouTubers Make per View?
YouTuber earnings can come from multiple sources. However, your first way of making money from YouTube is most likely on-video advertising.
Why is that, you may ask? Unlike other monetization methods that we will talk about later, you can start enabling ads on your videos with a fairly small number of audiences.
Yes, the advertisements that you see on YouTube content do not appear out of nowhere. You need to let the video platform display those ads by joining the YouTube Partner Program (YPP).
So, before getting to know “how much do YouTubers make from ads?”, you have to apply to YPP by fulfilling the following criterion:
- Live in a region where YPP is available
- Create a Google AdSense account and connect it to your YouTube channel
- Must be older than 18 or have a legal guardian above 18 years old to manage the AdSense account
- Have at least 1,000 subscribers
- Have at least 4,000 public watch hours in the past year
- Accept YouTube’s community guidelines
- Have no active community guidelines strike on your channel
YouTube will review your YPP application, which can take up to 30 days. Once accepted, you can control ads and use other YouTube monetization tools.
So, how much do YouTubers make from ads? Unfortunately, one can only estimate it as many factors can affect your YouTube channel earnings. We will discuss these factors later.
Also, to avoid confusion, it should be noted that YouTube pays creators for ad views, not video views. This means that skipped and blocked ads are uncounted.
Some sources say that YouTuber income is between $0.10 to $0.30 per ad view. However, the more standardized way to count YouTube ads revenue is cost per mille (CPM). This measures how much you can earn from 1,000 ad views.
How Much do YouTubers Make per 1,000 Ad Views?
It would be helpful to know how much you make for every thousand ad views. Sadly, there is also no exact number when it comes to CPM revenue. Nonetheless, you can get a rough estimation by using Google’s AdSense Calculator.
As you play around with the tool, you will realize that creators from various regions and niches have different CPM rates. By looking at these rates, it can be said that YouTuber income ranges from $4 to $24 per 1,000 ad views.
Now that you have an idea about “how much do YouTubers make?”, let’s use it to estimate your earnings. Let’s say that your CPM is $5. From 100,000 ad views, you earn $500. With YouTube’s 45% cut, you are left with $275.
If you think it’s little, do not get disheartened. Remember, the figure above is from one advertisement in a video only. That being said, you can gather more ad views as your channel grows with more content.
Apart from that, you can decide the number of commercials on each video. Though, you should be considerate enough to not spam viewers with advertisements. For example, a 10-minute video should not have more than two ads.
In conclusion, the answer to “how much do YouTubers make from ads?” mainly depends on the number of your videos and how many viewers they attract. The more people watch your content, the more ad views you can get.
It must be noted that your chance of using YouTube as a source of steady income in your channel’s formative years is small. Instead of gaining fortune, it is a period where you build a reputation to gather a fanbase, which you can turn into loyal customers through multiple ways.
Everyone starts small, even YouTube superstars with millions of views per video like MrBeast.
The content creator, whose real name is James Stephen Donaldson, started his channel in 2012 and would not start to gain fame until 2017.
How Much do YouTubers Make: Factors That Affect Your Earning from Ads
You now know the answer to “how much does YouTube pay its creators for ad views?” Nonetheless, it is important to understand some factors that can increase or decrease your earnings from ads alone, such as:
Channel Location
As we mentioned, your YouTube channel earnings are affected by your origin country. For example, according to some sources, CPM rates in the US can get as high as $13, while it tops out at $10.53 in Japan.
That is due to the different costs of goods and services in each country. The more expensive living costs are in a country, the more that advertisers have to pay YouTube for displaying their ads. That being said, you can get a higher CPM rate by starting your channel in a country with a high living cost.
Niche
When it comes to “how much do YouTubers make?”, the channel’s niche plays a big role. On average, creators who cover topics about making money online get $13.50 per thousand ad views, while those in the gaming industry earn $1.50 per thousand ad views.
Why is that? Some niches are more profitable than the others. Thus, advertisers are more likely to bid their commercials on videos surrounding those popular industries.
Topics
YouTube is against sensitive topics that they list in their community guidelines. Among them are adult matters, dangerous acts, and firearms. If any of your content involves the depiction or discussion about any of those, YouTube will limit or even omit ads from the particular videos.
The same can be said about channels for young children. YouTube is not allowed to collect personal data from kids, which makes it unable to place targeted ads on videos. Since this means less profit for advertisers, videos that are labeled “for kids” usually get less ads.
Audience Demographic
How much do YouTubers make from ads? Arguably, one of the reasons is the age range of your viewers.
Gaming channels are commonly geared towards teenagers and young adults, two demographics that realistically have not earned a lot in terms of finances. Creators who talk about business and marketing, on the other hand, tend to serve audiences who are already stable in life.
Between the two niches, more advertisers are likely to place their commercials on videos that talk about business. That is also why money-making related content has a higher CPM rate than niches like video games.
Types of Ads
Not all factors that affect “how much do YouTubers make?” are outside of your control. If you want to increase your YouTube channel, you can experiment with different types of advertisements.
There are five types of YouTube ads:
- Display ads (banner overlays)
- Non-skippable video ads (ads that are between 15 to 20 seconds long)
- Skippable video ads (longer ads that can be skipped after five seconds)
- Bumper ads (six-seconds non-skippable ads before videos)
- Back-to-back ads (two short non-skippable ads)
Each ad type has a different CPM rate, with the skippable and non-skippable ads commonly offering the highest revenue. That is due to their duration.
Nevertheless, the cost per mille rate of each ad type will differ between channels. So, you can change “how much do YouTubers make?” by trying different types of advertisements.
Ad Skipping, Ad Blocker, and YouTube Premium Users
Not all of your video views equate to ad views since there are audiences who do not watch those commercials for three reasons:
- Skipping ads
- Blocking ads
- Being a YouTube premium user
On a more positive note, YouTube claims that it shares the earnings from premium membership fee with you based on the number of premium users who watch your content.
That being said, how much does YouTube pay creators from their membership charge? Unfortunately, the video platform has not disclosed the amount.
How Much do YouTubers Make from Other Monetization Efforts?
How much money do YouTubers make from ads? Even though you will start little, your earnings will increase as you attract more viewers.
The good thing is, YouTube creators have multiple ways to make money. You can do these methods along with collecting revenues from ads as your channel grows. Below are some of the popular monetization strategies:
YouTube Memberships
Enabling channel membership tiers is one of the promising ways of increasing YouTuber income. Before we get into “how much do YouTubers make from membership subscription?”, let’s talk about what it allows you to do.
By opening a membership subscription to the audience, you can offer perks like custom emojis and badges that can be used during your YouTube live streams. Not only that, channel membership also lets you put videos and live broadcasts behind a paywall.
It is safe to say that not all of your existing audience may not be willing to pay for videos. However, you can entice them with higher-value content. Long-form videos that show your expertise on certain topics are a great example.
So, how much do YouTubers make from channel membership? The answer depends on how much you charge for the membership fee, but YouTube takes a 30% cut from it.
For instance, if your subscription costs $5 per month and you have 100 members, you will earn $350 while YouTube gets $150.
Super Chats, Stickers, and Thanks
Another method of making money through YouTube is enabling super chats, super stickers, and super thanks. All of them basically allow viewers to tip you within the video platform, but each works differently.
When viewers buy a super chat or sticker, they get to pin their comment or emoji on the chat of your live stream. Super thanks, on the other hand, are pinned to normal video comment sections.
How much do YouTubers make from super chats, stickers, and thanks? YouTube offers four tip options: $2, $5, $10, and $50. Thus, the amount depends on how much viewers are willing to spend.
It also should be noted that similar to membership fees, YouTube takes 30% out of your income from super chats, stickers, and thanks.
Merchandise Sales
Like any kind of artist, it is normal for YouTubers to sell merchandise to their audience. Long-time vlogger Emma Chamberlain, for instance, runs a coffee brand.
You do not have to start big, though. As the cost of starting a business can be high, you can begin by selling affordable items like apparels.
How much do YouTubers make from merch sales? It depends on factors like prices and number of purchases, but some sources state that YouTubers who typically sell six merchandise per month earn $70 on average.
The key to selling creator merchandise is to offer goods associated with your content or persona. As an example, Emma Chamberlain is known to appear with a cup of coffee in her vlogs. That way, her fans are not surprised when she starts selling coffee blends.
So, how do you sell goods as a content creator? Using a website is a good choice as it gives you full control over its policies and content. However, building a website can be expensive for new creators.
Instead, you can sell on Gank, a platform where content creators can start offering merch and other exclusive perks with zero cost.
Brand Sponsorships
YouTube is one of the most popular social media sites. So, it is common for brands to look for creators in the video platform to market their products or services.
How much do YouTubers make from brand sponsorships, you may ask? The amount ranges from $10 to $50 per thousand views, but it is usually negotiable. The more subscribers you have, the better your opportunity is to strike a bigger deal.
You do not have to wait until your channel has millions of viewers. Typically, you can already be confident to look for sponsors with 1,000 subscribers. To help find brands to work with, you should join influencer platforms like Grin and Aspire.
Affiliate Marketing
If your following is still small, affiliate marketing is a nice alternative to brand sponsorships. It involves endorsing certain products or brands too, but you can do it even with just a couple of subscribers.
Before we get into “how much do YouTubers make from affiliate marketing?”, let’s understand how it works first.
The first step is to join an affiliate program. There are many companies that offer such a program today, with Amazon Associates being one of the most well-known.
It is important to choose a brand that sells products related to your niche. Otherwise, it will be difficult to persuade viewers to buy the said goods.
Once you are registered as an affiliate, you will get an affiliate link. You need to entice your audience to buy from this link as it is the only way you will get a commission from each sale.
So, how much do YouTubers make from affiliate marketing? You can earn between 5% to 50% of the product price per sale. So, it depends on the affiliate program’s policy.
Crowdfunding
As you start to get a solid fanbase, it is possible to earn extra YouTuber income through crowdfunding. Doing so does not only enable you to receive monetary appreciation from loyal fans, but also ask for financial help to improve content creation efforts.
For example, you want to be able to make more visually appealing videos with a professional lighting set. So, you ask your subscribers to help realize that goal in return for better-looking content.
But how much do YouTubers make from crowdfunding? The answer is unlimited because fans may give whatever amount of money. Creators can earn hundreds to thousands of dollars per month if they manage to please their viewers.
Though, it should be noted that many crowdfunding platforms take a small amount of your earnings. Patreon, for instance, keeps 8% or 12% of your income depending on your account type.
On top of that, there is a payment processing fee of 5% + $0.10 for donations that are $3 or less and 2.9% + $0.30 for donations over $3.
Gank, on the other hand, allows you to accept crowdfunding with no platform fee. Thus, you can realize your content creation goals easier.
How Much do YouTubers Make: Conclusion
Making a living by being a YouTuber is possible through a couple of methods. The first way of getting YouTube channel income is by enabling ads, but it will take time until you get a significant earning.
The reason is that many factors can affect how much YouTube pays per 1,000 ad views. They are including but not limited to your location, niche, and audience demographics.
While building a solid following to increase revenue from YouTube advertisements, you can make money by opening membership subscriptions, selling merchandise, and joining affiliate programs among other monetization strategies.
With that in mind, the answer to “how much do YouTubers make?” varies between creators. Your monthly earning as a YouTuber depends on the efforts you make to capitalize your content.
We hope that this article can become a guide for you to start creating videos on YouTube. Be sure to subscribe to our blog for more insights around content creation!
