11 Best YouTube Monetisation Tips for Brands

In a space where creativity and business coalesce seamlessly, understanding the nitty-gritty of YouTube monetisation becomes imperative for brands looking to mint a substantial income from the platform.

At Little Dot Studios, we partner directly with YouTube on their accelerator programmes to help creators get the most out of the platform, because we really know our stuff. So, let’s dive into some tips and best practices for enhancing and monetising your YouTube presence

YouTube’s Monetisation Policies

In order to tap into YouTube's monetisation benefits, adherence to its policies is non-negotiable.

Eligibility Criteria

• Channel Size: A minimum of 1,000 subscribers.
• Watch Time: 4,000 valid public watch hours over the last 12 months.
• Adherence to Policies: Strict compliance with YouTube’s policies and guidelines.
• Location: Reside in a country where the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) is available.

Adherence to Community Guidelines

It is vital that the content does not infringe upon YouTube's community guidelines which involve maintaining the decorum and respect towards the entirety of the YouTube community.

Copyright Laws Compliance

Ensuring that your content does not violate copyright laws is paramount, as infringing materials can lead to demonetisation and legal consequences.

Who should aim to monetise their YouTube content?

The short answer to this question is, of course, everyone. But we have YouTube expertise across a few specific areas…

Brands: Enhancing Product Visibility and Consumer Engagement

• Product Showcases: Brands can use YouTube to showcase their products, create tutorial videos, and share user experiences, thereby establishing credibility and enhancing product visibility.
• Affiliate Links: Through creating content around their products, brands can embed affiliate links within video descriptions to drive sales directly from the platform.
• Brand Partnerships: Engaging in partnerships with influencers and content creators can expand reach and facilitate co-marketing opportunities.

Broadcasters: Maximising Content Reach and Viewer Interaction

• Content Snippets: Broadcasters can share snippets or highlights from their shows to drive interest and direct viewers to their full broadcasts or online platforms.
• Live Streaming: Engage viewers in real-time through live streaming of special events, interviews, or behind-the-scenes content, possibly using Super Chat for additional monetisation.
• Subscriber-Exclusive Content: Creating subscriber-exclusive content or memberships provides additional value to viewers, encouraging them to support the broadcaster monetarily.

Sports Organisations: Engaging Fans and Enhancing Viewing Experiences

• Highlight Reels: Sharing highlight reels or behind-the-scenes moments from games and events can keep fans engaged and draw attention to upcoming live events or matches.
• Merchandise Promotion: Using the platform to promote and sell official merchandise, incorporating links that direct viewers to their official merchandise store.
• Fan Engagement: Hosting live Q&A sessions, player interviews, or fan shout-outs can foster a stronger community among fans and the organisation, with possible use of Super Stickers and Super Chats during live streams as a revenue stream.

11 Methods and Tips for Monetising Your YouTube Content

1. Optimise Video SEO

Effective Video SEO is pivotal for augmenting your content's visibility and driving organic views to your YouTube channel and videos. Optimization requires researched keywords, which should permeate titles, descriptions, and tags to enhance discoverability by your target audience. 

Embedding relevant links and strong CTAs within descriptions further propels viewer engagement and drives external traffic.

Equally crucial is the design of visually enticing and relevant thumbnails that accurately represent your video content, thereby building trust and retaining viewership. Engaging with your audience by prompting interactions and responding to comments can significantly boost your video in YouTube’s algorithm, and amplify visibility. 

Leveraging end screens and cards to promote additional content and utilising the "About" section of your channel for keyword optimization also significantly impact your video SEO.

2. Consistent & Quality Content

Embracing consistency in your YouTube strategy involves establishing and adhering to a regular posting schedule, which aids in building and retaining a loyal viewer base.

Consistency also assists in forming a viewing habit among your audience, setting a predictable rhythm that aligns with their expectations and consequently, boosting your channel’s algorithmic favourability.

Balancing frequency with feasibility is crucial to avoid burnout and ensure that your publishing schedule is sustainable.

Quality, on the other hand, pertains to the creation of content that is not only visually and audibly appealing but also provides tangible value to your viewers, whether in the form of entertainment, information, or inspiration.

Investing in high-quality content production, from scripting to editing, ensures the value of your content, which is integral to building a credible and trustworthy brand on YouTube. 

3. Engage with Your Audience

Active and meaningful engagement with your audience transcends mere interaction, evolving into a strategy that fosters community and elevates brand loyalty on YouTube.

Engaging with viewers through comments, live chats, and community posts not only humanises your brand but also fortifies the relationship between creator and viewer. Initiating and participating in conversations shows that your brand values its audience, potentially converting casual viewers into staunch community members.

Leveraging live chats during premieres or live sessions further diminishes the virtual barrier, allowing for real-time interaction and the building of a dynamic and involved viewer base. Community posts, polls, and behind-the-scenes snippets shared in the community tab or on other social media platforms can keep the audience connected, even between video uploads.

4. Leverage Analytics

Harnessing the power of YouTube Analytics allows creators and brands to delve deep into viewer behaviour, offering valuable insights that can be pivotal in shaping a finely-tuned content strategy.

Key metrics such as watch time, audience retention, demographics, and traffic sources provide a comprehensive view into how viewers interact with your content, which videos are outperforming others, and where your viewers are originating from.

By discerning patterns, peak activity times, and popular content, you can mould your upcoming content to echo the preferences and behaviours of your audience.

5. Create Marketable Content

In the YouTube landscape, creating marketable content is paramount in attracting lucrative advertiser partnerships and sponsorships. 

Marketable content typically encapsulates videos that are brand-friendly, relatable, and void of controversial or explicit material, ensuring they adhere to YouTube’s monetisation policies and are appealing to a broad advertiser base. 

This not only involves mindful content creation but also a strategic approach in showcasing your brand in a light that's amicable to potential partners, illustrating that associating with your channel adds value to their brand.

6. Collaborations

Embarking on collaborations with other YouTuber channels and brands serves as a strategic avenue for diversifying your content and simultaneously tapping into new audience pools. 

When creators collaborate, they effectively cross-pollinate their audiences, introducing their content to potentially like-minded viewers from different channels. Selecting collaborators whose content aligns with your brand ethos and viewer preferences is crucial to ensuring the partnership resonates positively with both party’s audiences. 

Brand collaborations can infuse your content with additional resources and provide opportunities for sponsorships, while also allowing you to create unique content that is mutually beneficial. 

Ensuring that collaborations are authentic, mutually beneficial, and centred around providing value to all engaged audiences will not only enhance your content diversity and viewer engagement but also strategically expand your brand’s visibility across different YouTube demographics and niches.

7. Don’t Forget YouTube Shorts

Once you meet the YPP eligibility requirements (1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours in the past 12 months), you can apply to join the program. Once you're accepted, you'll be able to earn money from ads that play before, during, and after your YouTube Shorts.

But there are other benefits to implementing a YouTube Shorts strategy. 

• Reach a new audience: YouTube Shorts are a great way to reach new viewers, especially younger audiences who are more likely to consume short-form video content.
• Increase brand awareness: YouTube Shorts can be used to showcase your brand's personality and values, and to connect with your audience on a more personal level.
• Drive traffic to your website or other social media channels: You can include links to your website or other social media channels in the description of your Shorts, or even create Shorts that are specifically designed to drive traffic to those pages.
• Build community: YouTube Shorts can be used to encourage your audience to engage with each other and with your brand.

For example, sports teams can use YouTube Shorts to share highlights, behind-the-scenes content, and interviews with players and coaches. Brands can use YouTube Shorts to showcase their products, share creative content, and connect with their audience on a more personal level. Meanwhile, broadcasters can leverage Shorts to promote their upcoming shows, share clips from on-demand content, and interact with their viewers.

8. Diversify Monetisation Strategies

Navigating through the multifaceted areas of YouTube monetisation demands a strategy that isn’t solely reliant on platform-based revenue, but is also enriched through external avenues.

Diversifying monetisation strategies by integrating methods like affiliate marketing, sponsored content, and product placements fortifies your revenue streams, providing a buffer so your monetisation isn’t strictly tethered to YouTube’s ad revenue.

Just be sure that all sponsored content is disclosed, and any product or affiliation aligns with your brand and content ethos.

9. Offer Value

Underpinning the success of any YouTube channel is the ability to offer genuine value through your content, fostering a community that is not only engaged but also willing to support the brand monetarily.

Whether your content niche is informative, entertaining, or inspirational, the crux of viewer retention and monetisation lies in consistently delivering material that addresses the needs, preferences, and challenges of your audience.

Producing content that resonates, adds value, and authentically aligns with your brand encourages viewer loyalty and may also motivate them to support your channel through various means, such as channel memberships, Super Chats during live streams, purchasing merchandise, or heading to your other digital channels to engage further.

10. Utilise Playlists

Playlists are a potent tool on YouTube, cleverly enhancing viewer retention and significantly boosting watch time by curating a seamless viewing journey through similar or sequential content.

Playlists not only offer a convenient and coherent pathway for viewers to consume multiple videos, but also subtly encourage increased watch time.

By grouping related videos together, you essentially create a streamlined content flow that naturally progresses viewers from one video to the next, minimising the chance of drop-offs and maximising engagement.

When viewers engage with a playlist, it elevates the cumulative watch time of your content, signalling to YouTube’s algorithm that your content is engaging and worthy of promotion to a wider audience. 

11. Promote Off-Platform

Using your existing digital presence on various social media platforms and websites to drive traffic towards your YouTube content can create a holistic and interconnected online presence.

Every platform, whether it’s Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, or your brand website, hosts a unique demographic and offers varied engagement tools. By tailoring promotional content to each platform’s specific audience and format, you seamlessly guide viewers across your digital ecosystem, funnelling them towards your YouTube content.

Think of your promotional content as a bridge that connects potential viewers with your YouTube channel. This involves creating compelling snippets, engaging captions, and providing direct links or using platform-specific tools like swipe-up features or bio links to facilitate easy navigation to your videos.

This amplifies your content's reach and helps you build a varied viewer base from different platforms, enriching your audience diversity.