Tips for driving brand deals

Partnering with brands can be another way to make money with your YouTube channel. Learn the fundamentals of working with brands.

How to price yourself?

What to Charge for Brand Deals? | Master Class #3 ft. Klein aber Hannah

First, be sure to assess what your costs will be (production crew, locations, product research, and so forth). Then, you can experiment with the pricing models below and see which one could be a good fit.

Cost per view (CPV)

• Is a fixed cost applied to the number of views a video receives within a given timeframe.
• Typically works best for creators who post on a consistent basis and have fairly consistent views.
• Estimate how many views branded content video may get. Calculate views from the last 30 days (or last 10 videos) and remove outliers to get an idea of the view count, but don’t make an estimate based solely on your top-performing videos.

Tiering CPV

• Is a way to get paid if you have frequent fluctuations on your channel because the cost per view will change based on a target number of views. For example, you could get 0.06 cents (USD) for every view up to 10,000 views. If your video goes above 10,000, you could get 0.12 cents (USD) for more views.
• This model can make the brand feel comfortable because the creator is going to do whatever they can to reach the next level.
• Try calculating a lower-tiered CPV based on your lowest performing videos, and then estimate a CPV for if you reach the higher threshold of views.

Flat rate

• Is content-based pricing. Instead of getting paid based on views, you get paid to produce the video.
• Consider calculating a flat rate by estimating the costs of the video and balancing this with both your number of subscribers and the number of views. For example, you could estimate that the video will cost $500 (USD) to make. You can then add an extra $100 (USD) for every 10k subscribers on your channel.

Affiliate links

• Are a lightweight strategy where creators get paid to embed links to brands, products, or services in their video descriptions. (You can maximise this by carrying affiliate links over from video to video.)
• Affiliate links are a popular way to get started with branded content. They often work for creators who don’t have enough of an audience for other types of pricing.
• They can drive conversions and lead to future brand deals. It’s usually a good way for brands to see how their products or services resonate with your audience.
• Creators can still choose a compensation rate in this model.

Content in exchange for product

• Is often a gateway to more sophisticated branded content deals. If you haven’t had a brand deal, this could be a great way to get started. However, it may not be beneficial if your videos have high production costs.
• This model could benefit channels that do product reviews or show how things work. As they’ll be able to get access to gear or products they may not be able to afford on their own.
• Keep the value of your time and production costs in mind if you’re considering doing a video in exchange for stuff.

Remember, even if you’re not getting paid by the brand, any time you get something in exchange for adding it to a video, you may have to disclose this.

How to build a relationship with the brand?

Partnering with Brands

Video pre-production tips

Navigating the partnership  

• What call to action are they asking you to share in your video? For example, do they want your video to drive installs or online orders? Will the brand give coupon codes to your fans?
• Share your script before you start filming. If you want to mention something about the product that’s different from their talking points, mention it. It’s a good idea to let them know your feedback ahead of time and ask if they mind.
• Let brands know when the integration of their product will occur in the video (at the end, 10 seconds in, 1 minute in, so on.) Brands sometimes think they’re getting featured in the entirety of a video, and that’s not usually the case.
• Let brands know that you will be using proper disclosures, if appropriate

Paid product placement and endorsement disclosures

When uploading, YouTube requires that you check the ‘content declaration’ box in advanced settings if your video contains branded content. After which, YouTube may replace an ad that conflicts with your brand partner with an alternative ad. When this happens, your video will be removed from the YouTube Kids app in line with our existing policies. If you choose to, you can use YouTube settings to inform viewers by selecting a visible text overlay disclosure that appears for a few seconds on your video. Checking the ‘content declaration box’ does not mean you’re opting out of AdSense for the video.

Next: check out YouTube Partner Program tips