How To Get Sponsored on YouTube: The Ultimate Guide

Landing a YouTube sponsorship is a major boost for new and growing content creators. Whether you're just starting out or have been building your audience for a while, securing a partnership helps you monetize your videos and viewership.

Learn how to get sponsored on YouTube with actionable advice and insights tailored to your skill level.

What Are YouTube-Sponsored Videos?

YouTube brand deals connect content creators and companies, allowing them to collaborate. The result? Sponsored videos promoting brands, products, and services that align with the creator's content and mission, company's needs, and audience's interests.

3 Types of YouTube Sponsorships

Three types of sponsorships for YouTubers: affiliate partnerships, product reviews, and paid collaborations.

1. Affiliate Partnerships 

These entry-level sponsorships allow YouTubers with small followings to earn money through affiliate links or codes. For example, if you talk about a travel backpack in your video, you can share a link that lets viewers buy the item. When they do, you earn money. 

2. Product Reviews 

This is often how successful influencers get started — sharing products you support to build trust with your audience by offering honest feedback. Brands usually provide products and services free or at a discount for creators posting sponsored content.

3. Paid Collaborations 

Collaborations involve payment to feature a brand's product or service in your video. These YouTube sponsorships are coveted, profitable, and work best for established creators with significant followings. 

Paid collaborations offer solid financial benefits and the chance to forge long-term brand relationships. You can use sponsor networks like Grapevine and BrandConnect to find opportunities.

How Much Do Sponsors Pay YouTubers? 

You can get paid to make YouTube Shorts and videos, but just like on TikTok, you need to build your audience first. What you earn from sponsors depends on your channel's size, how much viewers like and watch your content, and the types of deals that come your way.

Here's a more detailed look at what you can expect to be paid, according to 2022 data from Statista:

• Smaller channels (1–10,000 subscribers): Entry-level sponsorships for these channels pay up to $850. If you're just starting out, this is an excellent way to collaborate with brands.
• Mid-sized channels (10–50,000 subscribers) — Your earning potential grows alongside your YouTube channel. These sponsorships can include more substantial payments, with deals reaching the low thousands. At this size, you might start to see more interest from brands in your niche that you already love or are interested in working with.
• Larger channels (50–500,000 subscribers) — YouTube creators with larger audiences earn higher rates, at over $5,000 per sponsorship. An established viewer base and proven engagement rates make these channels appealing to brands seeking high-impact collaborations.
• Very large channels (500,000–1 million subscribers) — Channels run by YouTube's most successful content creators receive the highest payments, often over $15,000 per collaboration. When your reach and viewership are this broad, you can afford to pick and choose sponsorships that suit your brand and audience.

Other crucial factors influencing getting paid on YouTube include the quality of engagement (comments, likes, and shares), your channel's niche, how many views you have, and the terms of the brand deal. Brands often seek partnerships with creators whose audiences overlap with their target demographic. This prioritization of quality engagement means smaller channels with highly engaged audiences can attract lucrative sponsorships, too.

7 Steps To Get Sponsored on YouTube

Landing a YouTube sponsorship is a strategic way to generate revenue and grow your online following, even if you only create content part-time. To attract brands to your videos, follow these seven steps.

1. Optimize Your Channel for Sponsorships

Brands want to work with popular posters who share high-quality content. Beyond basic setup and regular posting, closely examine your channel's details and how people watch your videos so you can make adjustments where necessary to increase engagement levels. 

Audit your personal brand, including your YouTube banner, channel description, and thumbnails, to encourage brand recognition and awareness. 

Chat with viewers through comments and live streams to boost engagement, promote your content across social media platforms, and optimize your videos for YouTube's algorithm. This shows your commitment to encouraging an interactive following who keeps climbing in numbers. 

2. Compile a Media Kit 

Use Canva's templates to create a one-page document detailing who you are and what you're about. This should include analytics on your channel's performance over time, who in your audience is most engaged, YouTube metrics like subscriber count, and case studies of past successful sponsorships (if you have them). 

3. Craft an Outreach List and Pitches

Learn what your target brands are doing and how they talk to their customers. Then, tailor your pitches to align with their current strategies and offer unique content ideas that integrate their products and services. Demonstrate a deep understanding of their brand and explain how partnering with you benefits their company. 

4. Join Sponsor Networks

Join and use networks that help YouTube creators find sponsors, like BrandConnect (owned by YouTube), Upfluence, and Neoreach. Regularly update your profiles with recent achievements, and actively engage with brands on whichever platforms you choose. You can also share your content on these networks to catch sponsor attention.

5. Reach Out to Brands

Focus on relationship building rather than sales during outreach. Share your genuine appreciation for the companies you're interested in and how they align with your vision and content as a YouTube influencer. Then, propose ideas for collaborations that highlight your skills as a marketer or micro-influencer and showcase how you'll get the brand's message out there.

6. Negotiate Your Rates 

As a YouTuber creating sponsored content, you need to demonstrate confidence to get paid what you're worth. Figure out how much money to ask for by researching standard rates within your niche and considering factors like the potential for long-term partnerships and each sponsorship’s requirements. Be transparent and willing to create custom packages for brands.

Here are a few different ways to price YouTube sponsorships: 

• Cost per mille — Earn for every 1,000 sponsored video views. 
• Cost per action — Earn for every action, such as a purchase of the sponsor's product. 
• Commission rate — Earn for every order through your unique affiliate link.
• Flat fee — Earn a flat fee for the sponsored video.
  

7. Do the Paperwork

Gaining clarity on every aspect of a sponsored deal empowers you to advocate for yourself and do your best work for your partners. Review your contract to ensure it includes information about the following:

• Deliverables
• Deadlines
• Payment
• Creative control
• How both parties will promote the content
• Cancellation
• Metrics for measuring the sponsorship's success

Edit Your Videos With Captions

As you work toward securing YouTube sponsors, enhancing video quality is always a priority. Thankfully, creating professional-grade material is easier than ever with Captions' AI-driven video creation and editing capabilities, offering you the tools to polish your content and make it sponsor-ready. 

Use Captions’ all-in-one creative studio to edit your videos 10x faster and open the door to new partnerships today.