If you are a beginner-level YouTuber, do you believe you can attract sponsorship for small YouTube channels? Competition is stiff and only set to increase in the coming years. However, the brand sponsorship opportunities have also grown through the past 3-5 years. Let’s discuss how to get sponsorship for small YouTube channels, the different types of sponsorships, and the best 3 tips to help you earn brand sponsorship opportunities.
What is YouTube Sponsorship?
YouTube sponsorship is one of the most popular monetization strategies, where brands pay creators in exchange for product promotion. As a YouTube creator, you can promote a brand, product, or service and earn a commission in return. The details of the brand product are seamlessly integrated into the content. However, the brands you collaborate with for YouTube channel sponsorship must be relevant to your niche, genre, channel topics, and interests.
Types of Sponsorship
As a YouTube content creator, you can make additional revenue through the following types of brand sponsorships for small YouTube channels.
Affiliate Sponsorship
This is the simplest form of sponsorship, but the returns received from this sponsorship are low. In this type of sponsorship, you post links and discount codes for your users. But you do not receive the returns directly. The brand that you have partnered with decides the number of returns on the basis of the traffic and products sold through you.
Paid Sponsorship
Paid Sponsorship is the highest form of sponsorship for small YouTube channels. In this type of sponsorship, you get paid to promote or advertise the product of the brand.
Product Sponsorship
This is one of the best sponsorship for small YouTube channels. All you have to do is post product reviews and tutorials for brands to notice you. Remember, you just need to approach brands that you genuinely use. This will help you to gain the trust of your audience and the brand that you are promoting.
Step By Step Guide on How to Get YouTube Sponsorships For Small Channels
As I stated earlier, there are many ways to monetize your YouTube video content through brand sponsorships. Let’s walk together through the steps you can follow to attract YouTube sponsorships if you are a beginner creator with a decent subscriber base.
Start Small
There’s great power in taking small but consistent initiatives to attract brand sponsorships. Do not target large-scale brands, but you can definitely try out medium-scale or other beginner-level brands who are looking forward to creator collaboration. Ensure the brand you’re collaborating with aligns with your channel identity. Don’t limit yourself to financial returns from these small sponsorships. Remember, you are building a brand for the long term.
Give your Channel a Professional Look
First impression is often considered very significant when looking out for YouTube sponsorships for your channel. Your channel must be looking great, no doubt. But is it optimized to attract the ideal brands you wish to work with? Are your playlists organized? Does the banner image give a hint of what your channel is about? Take time, but cross-check that all the information stated is complete and that the channel looks professional.
Track Analytics
Sometimes, less is actually more! What do I mean? You don’t need to have tons of subscribers to get your first brand sponsorship on YouTube. Even if you have 1000-2000 subscribers who can be ideal potential customers for the brand, they are likely to onboard you as their sponsorship partner. Brands are more interested in knowing the ideal behavior of their audience, watch time, video viewer retention, subscriber growth over the period of time, engagements, and potential revenue that can be generated. The more specific channel analytics you can provide, the better it is to convert them.
Approaching Small Sponsors
This is the final yet most important step in acquiring YouTube sponsorships. Brands will not come to you initially. You must create a list of the brands you want to collaborate with, craft an appealing email, and pitch yourself. Do not waste time in formal greetings. Simply present your analytical numbers, and show them the value you can bring to their company. You can also get yourself listed on various sponsorship platforms that help creators connect with sponsors.
3 Simple Tips to Earn Sponsorship for Small YouTube Channels
Try these three simple tips to earn sponsorship for your YouTube channel:
Try reaching out to Brands Directly
Reach out to small companies since they will have a limited budget to spend. You can reach out to as many companies as you can and ask them to view your content. You can reach out to their marketing team or drop a mail. Also, post unique and quality content on your YouTube channel.
Make Use of Sponsorship Platforms
Grapevine is one of the best platforms to get sponsorship for small YouTube channels. You need to have a minimum of 10,000 subscribers but do not hesitate even if you have 2,000 subscribers. Grapevine will still provide you with sponsorship.
Famebit also rebranded as YouTube Brand connect offers sponsorships to over 65,000 YouTube creators. Your YouTube channel needs to have a minimum of 5000 subscribers.
Content BLVD is the best option for small YouTubers because they not only sponsor your channel but also allow brands to search for the right content creators for their brand! Isn’t that great? This platform will assist you to connect with the right brand according to your channel’s content.
Attend Events and Exhibitions
You can meet other content creators that will help you to search for brands for your channel. You may also meet brand managers who will offer your channel sponsorship.
Conclusion
Attracting sponsorship for small YouTube channels may require consistent efforts and patience. The one thing sponsors pay attention to while selecting an influencer is checking their subscriber base. The decent subscriber base is around 1000 to 10k. If you don’t fall into this range and have less than 1000 subscribers, you must promote video on YouTube through Google ads.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. How many YouTube subscribers do you need to get sponsorships?
You must have a minimum of 1000 subscribers before you reach out to any brands, but having 10,000 subscribers or more will increase the chances of getting brand sponsorship for small YouTube channels.
Q2. How do YouTubers find sponsors?
Finding your first sponsors can be possible if you do it right. Here are the things you need to keep in mind to prepare your YouTube channel for sponsorship.
- Get familiar with YouTube guidelines.
- Decide your niche
- Generate 1000 to 10k subscribers at least
- Make your channel look professional
- Create a media toolkit
Q3. How much do sponsors pay YouTubers?
Sponsors pay between $10 and $50 per 1000 views, and the pay increases with viewership. If you are a big YouTuber with a viewership of around 1 million, you will get $10000 to $50000.
Q4. What are the rules for sponsorship on YouTube?
The only rule here for sponsorship on YouTube is having a decent number of subscribers. Let’s say between 1000 and 10k subscribers to get selected. If you don’t have this many subscribers, you can buy YouTube views and direct users to your channel to subscribe.
Q5. What is the easiest sponsorship to get on YouTube?
Affiliate sponsorship is the easiest sponsorship opportunity to attract for your YouTube channel.
