YouTubers who have millions of followers and subscribers don’t just get paid in likes and upvotes; they also get paid by brands, advertisers, and companies in order to show their products or services on their YouTube channel. How do YouTubers get paid? Let’s look into it!


Sponsorships

On YouTube, there are a variety of monetization options for channels. The first and most popular is through YouTube's AdSense program. AdSense allows viewers to click on ads as they watch videos on the site and the advertiser pays a fee to have their ads shown during the video. Sometimes, brands will sponsor a channel in order to promote their brand or product. These sponsorships come with perks such as early access to products or even free samples. 

The final type of sponsorship that can happen is called affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketers create a link between their content and an item that can be bought from an online store. They then get paid when someone buys the item from their link - this also means that if people buy items from other links, it won't affect them financially since they're not receiving any money for it themselves. For example, Mark has a Mark Watches series where he reviews different movies every week. Every time someone clicks on his Amazon links and buys something from Amazon (whether it was one of his movie reviews or something else entirely), Mark gets a percentage of what they spent back which can range anywhere from 5% to 15%. He earns more by referring more people so he often includes information about how much he earns per sale in his descriptions.


Affiliate Links

YouTube influencers can make money in a few different ways. Some of the most popular methods are through advertisements, sponsorships, and affiliate links. But what is an affiliate link? Affiliate links let you refer someone to a product or service by adding your own affiliate ID to the end of their URL. For example, if I want to recommend The Great Courses Plus from my YouTube channel, I might add this code: The Great Courses Plus (affiliate link). When someone buys that product using my code within 24 hours of clicking on my post, I get a commission on the sale. That commission usually ranges anywhere from 20% to 75%, depending on how much value I have added to that specific company's brand over time. In other words, the more traffic I drive to them and the more sales I help them close, the better they will pay me back. If they don't pay me well enough for referring people who buy something at their store, then they won't be seeing me as often. It's all about giving back-and-forth; it doesn't work if there isn't a balance between give and take. One way I balance it out is with sponsored posts, which are posts where brands would like to associate themselves with me in exchange for compensation. One thing to keep in mind is that while many YouTube influencers use ads as their main source of income, not every person makes the same amount of money with ads.


Adsense

YouTube is a powerful platform for advertisers because it offers a way to speak directly to their desired audiences. For the first time, YouTube has made it possible for brands and agencies to offer promotions that are more than just an ad. The Advertiser Spotlight allows them to communicate directly with the people who have subscribed to their channel, as well as those who have watched their videos. They can also reach new viewers by promoting a video or playlist to targeted demographics, such as moms or gamers. When viewers click on the Promoted Video or Playlist in their feed, they will be shown an interactive trailer before being taken straight into the advertiser’s content. Furthermore, YouTube's innovative TrueView ads let viewers choose if they want to watch the entire video or not. Viewers don't have to sit through ads; instead, they watch a short clip of the video and then decide if they want to keep watching. If not, then they simply close out of the clip. The advertiser only pays when someone chooses to watch the full video. As a result, viewers spend less time watching commercials, making this form of advertising more cost-effective. 

For many popular youtubers, their main source of income comes from sponsorship deals with large companies like Nintendo and Coca-Cola which they've established by building strong connections with their audience members over the years. These deals allow them to promote products to their loyal followers while earning money in return.


Merchandising

A lot of people ask me how I make money on YouTube. It's very simple, I have ads on my videos and you can click on them to go to the video advertiser's website. In this way, I am paid a small commission for everything that someone does after clicking on one of my videos. This is called inbound marketing and it is the best way for YouTube content creators to make money because we don't have to do anything but create our content. If a viewer wants to learn more about the product they just saw in an ad, they can follow the link and buy it online. The advertisers don't pay us upfront; instead they pay us based on how many clicks we generate for their products or services. One thing people are always asking me is where they should place their own ads so they can start making money too. I tell them to visit Google Adwords and search for what they're looking for so that Google knows what kind of ads will work well with their audience. Advertisers are willing to pay high rates for highly targeted audiences which means if you want to get started making some cash fast, all you need to do is enter your niche into the search bar! For example, Dog Training. Ads from multiple different companies will pop up showing who would be interested in purchasing space on your channel. All you have to do is click Yes next to the company you like most and voilà, there's your advertisement set up. The good thing about this method is that there's no cost for bidding as long as it stays within the budget allowed by each specific campaign.


Pay Per Click Ads

A YouTube channel is a great way to share your content and ideas with the world. However, if you want to make money from your videos, you need to know how pay per click ads work and how they can help grow your channel. In order for an ad to be displayed on your video, advertisers have to bid on keywords. The higher an advertiser bids, the more likely their ad will appear on related videos as well as yours. The winning bidder pays Google every time someone clicks on their ad. For example, if there are two bidders at $1.00 and $0.75 respectively, the $1.00 bidder wins because they bid more per click than the other bidders ($1 vs. $0.75). That means that anytime someone watches a video that has an advertisement associated with it through this method (and then clicks on it), the person who placed that ad gets paid - even if no one actually buys anything or subscribes to their service because of that ad! If you're using Google AdSense to monetize your channel, you'll find that it's easy enough to set up. You just go into AdSense and select the Clicks tab to turn on CPM-based ads and watch them generate revenue by simply doing what they already do best: watching YouTube videos.