Over the last few years it has been touted that video will continue to rise as a form of media, above all others. Looking at some statistics on 2018, it becomes clear that video has even perhaps surpassed the industry’s expectations:

Over one third of all internet users use YouTube.

45% of people watch an hour or more of Facebook and YouTube videos each week.

One-third of online activity is spent watching videos.

More than 500 million hours of video are watched on YouTube each day.

Marketers who use video grow revenue 49% faster than non-video marketers.

Video drives 157% increase in organic traffic from SERP’s.

72 Hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every 60 seconds.

The undeniable leader in the video content world is Google’s Youtube. However, many people still don’t understand how simply making videos and uploading them to a free online platform can create an actual income, which in some cases, can rake in astronomical figures. For example, one of the most successful Youtube channels, belonging to a user called “PewDiePie”,

has over 60 million subscribers. The man behind the channel, by his real name, Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg, is estimated to have a net worth of between $30 million and $50 million.

So, what are some ways in which to monetize Youtube channels and videos? There are quite a few, starting from the basic ones Google provides, to going out further into more creative tactics:

Adsense: In order to even have a video eligible for monetization, it needs to be connected to Adsense. For this, Google’s minimum requirements are 1000 subscribers and 4000 watch hours, all within the first 12 months of setting up the account. This is the most basic way of monetization, based on ads revenue. Google takes a 32% cut of every click paid for by the advertiser, and the channel owner gets the other 68%.

Sales Funnels: For already established businesses, it can be very beneficial to invest in creating helpful or descriptive videos of the products/services. This can in turn yield a higher subscription/conversion rate than other channels.

Affiliate Marketing: A Youtube channel can be used to provide honest reviews on products, unboxing videos, presentation videos etc. Including an affiliate link in the description can mean a cut from the sale, hence extra revenue.

Brand Sponsorships: A large enough channel can start approaching brands for sponsorship proposals. As long as the sponsorship is properly disclosed to Google, according to their standards, it’s perfectly doable. This is perhaps the second largest income stream for large channels, after ads.

Merchandise: Once the channel has a large enough following, you can start creating and using your own branded merchandise. These can be t-shirts, mugs, or any other object that might relate to what the channel is about. This would be done through a personal website. For larger channels, this is also one of the biggest revenue streams.

In conclusion, it can be tricky to start and grow a Youtube channel, however, usually the work pays off, as once it hits a certain threshold, organic growth will take off, and so will profits. The whole model is based on ad revenue, but that can be substantiated with other practices as well, as mentioned above.