When most people think of monetising their video channels, they think of YouTube but there are other ways to earn money through your video content.
Yes, a lot of people have become start through YouTube earning millions in ad revenue. Many vloggers make money from company sponsorship. Many more receive free products in order to review them. Ethically, they should always let the viewer know this and provide a fair and balanced review.
PewDiePie is an example of someone who makes millions from YouTube because making money on YouTube is his day job. When it’s your day job you have to be constantly creating interesting and entertaining content to keep your audiences coming back. If you have more people coming to your channel you can charge more for ads that display on your page.
As younger people watch less and less TV they begin to rely on their favourite YouTube stars to make daily content and I’ve witnessed the fan fall out when the star is too tired to churn out regular content. Fans can make and break you. If YouTube is your aim, you need to decide how often you are going to put out content, be realistic and manage expectations to avoid fan backlash.
Other funding streams
Some vloggers and other creatives such as writers (which is how I discovered it) have Patreon accounts where their fans can donate to them directly and fund their creative works. So, if you enjoy a favourite vloggers content but use an ad blocker when watching their videos, you can donate and feel less guilty.
So how can you make money from YouTube as part of your marketing campaign? Well, your company may not become a star in its own right but you can still monetise your videos by inserting ads in them. You will not receive money if people skip the ads though.
Sponsored video ads
You can have sponsored video ads on YouTube with a call to action linking back to your website. The fact that you can draw people to purchase from your website using video is a form of monetisation. Your video is part of the customer journey. Just remember that many people now use ad blockers so may never see your video ad.
Having agreed that using video to pull your customer through the sales funnel to the point of purchase is a form of monetisation, we can now look at placing your videos on Facebook and Twitter. On Facebook, you can boost your video or alternatively, you can pay to have a call-to-action ad shown in the right-hand column alongside your video.
You can also create a video that presents a sense of urgency. Through live videos, you can offer money off deals that expire within a few hours after they have viewed the video.
Leave a Reply