In 2025, only lazy content creators aren’t monetizing YouTube videos. More and more companies and brands are looking for creators to promote their products and gain loyal audiences through content. YouTube has been monetizing video production for a long time. How to become part of YouTube monetization? In this guide, we will cover the requirements, challenges, and new trends in monetizing your content on YouTube. Keep reading!
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Before applying for monetization, you need to learn its intricacies and features. In this part of the article, we’ll talk about YouTube monetization in a simple way and why you definitely need it. One reason to monetize YouTube we know for sure. About 2 million creators are already getting money from monetization in 2024. Still think there’s not much money to be made from making videos on YouTube? In this case, numbers speak better than words.
What’s it like to monetize YouTube? How does YouTube monetization work in general? Simply put, YouTube monetization is all the activities on both the creator and video hosting side that allow content creators to generate revenue from their videos and then withdraw money from YouTube. Monetizing YouTube is definitely not just about the few-second adverts we see every time we watch content.
Generally, monetizing a YouTube channel can combine both directly earning from the platform’s internal advertising, as well as sponsorship and other sources of income. We will discuss them later. At its core, monetization turns a creative activity into a potential source of income, giving creators the opportunity to earn money based on viewer engagement and the popularity of their content.
Of course, to start monetizing YouTube videos, creators and their channel must meet some criteria set by the platform. Fortunately, every year, these requirements become more and more loyal to novice YouTubers. In 2024, the main requirements in YouTube monetization include:
These criteria are set so that only responsible and decent creators of high-quality content can effectively monetize YouTube. By the way, more information about YouTube Shorts monetization is already in our article.
If you really want to know how to get monetized on YouTube, then check out the following list:
By the way, to make the way to monetization even easier, you can always join Mediacube’s partner program.
All in all, there are several methods to monetize your content on YouTube. Not so long ago, we already explained YouTube monetization methods (for example, that YouTube does NOT pay for likes). Here, we will cover the most popular and functional options:
Probably the most common way to make money from videos is through monetized YouTube ads. YouTube adverts come in many different formats, these include:
According to statistics from YouTube, creators can earn between $0.01 and $0.03 per 1 view on advertising, depending on factors such as audience location and ad engagement. In fact, this figure can vary depending on the type of content and audience demographics. This forms the famous CPA (cost per action), which will partially influence your decision of how to monetize your YouTube channel.
Affiliate marketing is another quite lucrative way to monetize your YouTube channel. How to monetize YouTube videos through this method?
It’s pretty simple. Every time you advertise products or services in your videos, you can get paid (a percentage) for every sale that was made after clicking on the link under your video. Sounds tempting, doesn’t it? In fact, many creators have long been using platforms like Amazon Associates or ShareASale to find suitable affiliate programs for this purpose. At the same time, such offers can often come from advertisers themselves directly to content creators.
Overall, this method provides an impressive additional income and increases the value of your recommendations to your audience. Of course, only if you are recommending something that you could potentially use yourself. For example, if the creator of a travel vlog advertises a useful app with maps, then the probability of making money from this advertisement is much greater if they advertised something unrelated to the topic of their channel. By the way, there’s a helpful article on our Blog specifically for travel vlog creators.
A pretty standard way of how YouTube monetizes your videos. Nevertheless, let’s describe your benefits from this cooperation.
YouTube Premium is the same already familiar to us media hosting, but with advanced features. So your Premium subscribers are not shown ads, they can watch videos in the background and even download videos and music to discover your content offline. What’s the upside for the creator? It’s pretty simple: the more of your subscribers use Premium, the more cash bonuses you get. A favorable deal on both sides.
Premium prices are very different depending not only on the geographical location. For example, in the US, YouTube Premium will cost $13.99/month, a family subscription is $22.99/month, and students pay $7.99/month. However, once again, the Premium price varies from country to country.
Would you like to know the advantages of this monetization format on YouTube? In general, Channel memberships allow creators to offer exclusive chips and content in exchange for a monthly fee (the so-called membership). Everything can become exclusive chips: badges, emojis, or even chats and videos shown only to subscribers of a channel membership.
Like everywhere else, there is one ‘but’. To enable this feature, channels must have at least 30000 subscribers. In any case, when you reach this number of subscribers, you can discover a new method of monetization. So to speak, the motivation for creating content is to capture the attention of the audience.
Let’s talk about this pretty important kind of YouTube monetization. Brand deals can be a very significant source of income for creators. This means promoting a brand’s product or service in your video for a fee.
Overall, the success of such sponsorship deals often depends on how well the target audience of a product or service matches the content and audience of your channel. For example, it is completely organic and logical for a beauty blogger to cooperate with a makeup brand to show its products, and for a tech blogger who reviews new products from Apple to get a deal with the gadget manufacturing company. Based on the new YouTube rules, transparency in communicating with the audience about sponsored content is crucial to maintain trust and credibility. Therefore, such videos receive a special mark.
Is it possible to make money beyond YouTube? Of course, and quite successfully! Thanks to the well-known Patreon or Boosty, thousands of creators are already getting extra money from their subscribers. In fact, it’s quite easy to join this method of earning money. Every YouTuber can create a profile on one of these platforms, fill the page with exclusive content, and set any subscription levels they want. The most important thing in this case is to leave links to these services under each of your videos and mention the new platform with your content in the videos themselves.
This way, you don’t force anyone to watch ads on YouTube or buy goods/services. Instead, you literally earn money from YouTube by making the content you love in your spare time.
Many monetized YouTube channels find other ways of YouTube monetization. Of course, we will also tell you about the most popular of them now:
What could be better than the merch from the creator whose content you watch every day? Not every viewer has the opportunity to attend a meet-and-greet or a show. However, anyone can order merch to any country in the world without leaving home.
Surprisingly, you can make really good money from selling custom hoodies, T-shirts, stationery, and other items. Even Mr. Beast has his own online store with unusual merch. As for YouTube, in some countries, the host itself offers to show merch on “Product Shelves”. This way users will see all available merch right while watching the video.
Still haven’t made your merch yet? Now is the time to start thinking about it!
Overall, this is another pretty good way to monetize your active audience. Now, thanks to the Superchat feature, every viewer who signs up for this special subscription will be graphically highlighted in the chat, including all of their messages during live streams and video premieres. There is also one more popular feature called Super Thanks. It allows viewers to “thank” the creator for their efforts with a donation of any value. It’s hard to say how much a creator can make from this. It really depends on how active and loyal your audience is during live streams. Therefore, there are simply no limits to earning money this way.
Who said that you can only sell other people’s goods or services through advertising? Be bold and create your own courses, textbooks or other educational materials and promote them via YouTube. Unsurprisingly, viewers like to learn from people who make the content they watch.
This is quite an unusual way to additionally monetize YouTube videos. With the development of other websites, many representatives may offer to purchase a license to show your videos on another website. As was the case for Mr. Beast and Amazon, for example.
We’re sure few creators are aware of this opportunity. Back in 2022, YouTube gave creators the opportunity to get extra rewards for popular videos on Shorts. So, the YouTube team contacts creators whose videos have received high engagement and views and delights them with cash bonuses. You can read a bit more about it here.
If the Super Chats and Super Thanks features aren’t right for you but you want to support your creator, there is a cool solution. In general, there are many similar services for financial support of creators. At least the well-known PayPal, Streamlabs or Boosty, where anyone can donate any amount in support of their favorite influencer.
Of course, as in any other form of earnings, the monetized YouTube channel also has its own nuances and possible crisis situations. To make you ready for each of them, we will tell you about the most popular and at the same time unusual pitfalls of monetization.
“Adpocalypse.” Sounds strange and unfamiliar, doesn’t it? In general, “Adpocalypse” refers to the events that led to the widespread demonization of YouTube channels (especially those that contain rather controversial content). At such times, several similar channels fall under monetization restrictions at once. This can happen either accidentally or due to violation of community rules. To avoid such situations, just keep an eye on YouTube’s policies.
This is the most common problem with which creators often call on Mediacube to deal with.
Using copyrighted music, other people’s video clips or copyrighted images without permission can get your channel a blocked video or even a strike. All of these can jeopardize your monetization status and bring you closer to a “yellow icon”.
That’s why it’s better to use copyright-free music or get licenses for any copyrighted material. Alternatively, try using materials that are originally copyright-free.
More and more YouTube creators upload music without copyrights, and the platform itself often replenishes playlists with non-copyrighted materials.
Definitely, every creator’s main headache is constantly changing YouTube algorithms. They determine how videos are recommended and discovered.
Of course, any changes in algorithms can affect views and the monetization of a YouTube channel. How to deal with this? The most effective solution for every creator would be to adapt to the changes and change development strategies as often as possible. Experiment with formats, video editing, and video description. This is the only way you’ll realize what kind of content the algorithms like.
What definitely remains unchanged is the importance of audience engagement metrics, such as the number of likes and comments. How to monetize YouTube channels with all these changes? Create a loyal community of viewers around you that will support your content despite the change of algorithms and other temporary difficulties.
Despite all the unpredictability of monetized YouTube, we can still speculate what awaits the creators next in the matter of earning money on the platform. Naturally, we can’t keep this info to ourselves, so we will be glad to share our thoughts with you.
Have you seen what Mr. Beast does? His videos have literally been translated into every popular language in the world. And unless you really know the voice of this creator, you can never tell that the audio track is AI-generated.
It’s true: dubbing has a great future. In general, the sooner you start adapting your videos to the world, the more audiences you can reach. And, of course, the more money you’ll get!
Indeed, short-form content is taking over the world. More and more brands and creators are favoring videos under 1 minute long. And that’s not a bad thing. This is how we learn to deliver information and grab attention even faster and more effectively.
Fans of long videos, don’t despair. It’s still possible to drive traffic to full-length videos through Shorts. We’re sure it will be highly relevant in 2025.
Of course, YouTube is changing a lot. And with innovations in hosting probably comes new alternative methods of monetization. Live streams, for example. You might think there’s no way to monetize them. In fact, that’s not the case at all. In addition to the fact that the viewers themselves can buy gifts on streams, the creator can advertise during their streams. Surprised at the number of new possibilities? Now you definitely realize that you should pay attention to live streams. Especially with the fact that they increase audience loyalty and bring in new subscribers.
We can no longer deny that Artificial Intelligence is becoming increasingly important for content creation. Social media is literally filled with videos with AI elements. Does this seem daunting to you? In any case, you shouldn’t be scared. Overall, AI is a cool tool that will make your videos stand out among hundreds of competitors. Why not start using it right now? You just need to take the first step in this new direction.
In 2024, it would be strange to deny that blockchain and cryptocurrency will be the future of the financial industry.
And in order to keep up with the time and its trends, our fintech application MC Pay with dozens of withdrawal methods, including crypto, and 24/7 support will always help.
Thanks to the monetization of YouTube, each creator is given a huge number of opportunities to turn their hobby and passion into a source of profit. After learning about all the subtleties, requirements, methods, and difficulties, you can gradually start navigating the field of YouTube monetization efficiently. And to make your path to stable income easier and more comfortable, consider using the MC Pay app to optimize payment processes and increase your income.
Want to monetize your YouTube videos? Just starting a business and don’t know how to promote it competently through YouTube? Or do you just want the whole world to see your creativity? Our big friendly team at Mediacube will help you with all these tasks. Together with you we will find unique tools for content creation and effectively monetize YouTube videos. Still pondering? It’s time to take action. Join our friendly partner network.
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