YouTube Sponsorships For Small Channels in 2023

youtube sponsorship

The rise of YouTube has given small channels a powerful new way to get their content seen by a wider audience. With the right sponsorship, small channels can build relationships with popular brands and create high-quality content that is promoted across the platform.

Sponsorships are one of the best ways to monetize your YouTube channel even if you’re not even officially monetized.

So today, you’ll learn how to get YouTube sponsorships for your channel even if you have less than 1000 subscribers.

We’re going to talk about what are sponsorships and different types of sponsorships, how to know you’re ready for sponsorship, then what to charge for that sponsorship, and lastly pitfalls to avoid for sponsorships.

Let’s get started.

What is YouTube Sponsorship?

Sponsorship on YouTube is when a company pays you to include its product or service in your YouTube video. This is a financial transaction where usually cash is exchanged.

And the term sponsorships can get a little confusing because what if a company sends you a product for free?

Is that a sponsorship? No, that is a gift.

What if you’re a travel channel and a company hosts you at their resort? That isn’t technically a sponsorship, that’s just a hosted event.

Yes, there is some gifting or an exchange happening, but a lot of times that is free. But specifically in this article, when I’m talking about sponsorships, I’m talking about when a company pays you to talk about their product or service in your video.

How Can Company Sponsor Your Video?

There are lots of different ways that companies can sponsor your video. Companies can send you their product in exchange for a review.

There’s affiliate marketing, where you can talk about different products and you get paid for purchases that people have.

You can be hosted at the company an event or a hotel, and then of course there are paid sponsorships.

For this particular article, I am going to be talking only about YouTube paid sponsorships.

I personally don’t consider YouTube affiliate marketing to be a sponsorship, even though there is a relationship with that brand.

Specifically, when I talk sponsorships, I’m talking about the brand paying you money in exchange for you doing a video about their product or service.

So that leads me to my next point, which is the different types of YouTube sponsorships.

YouTube Sponsorship Types

There are 3 different types of YouTube sponsorships and depending on the type of sponsorship you’re doing, the amount that you’ll charge will be more or less.

1. Sponsored Mentions

These are very common, especially with bigger YouTube channels. Basically, you just do a little blurb saying this video is sponsored by.

Depending on the deal, it could be as simple as that, or you might go into detail about that company’s product or service.

But as far as the content of the video goes for sponsored mentions, it does not necessarily have to relate to that product or service at all.

2. Full Sponsorship

In this situation, the company will pay you to talk about their product or service for the entirety of the video. So for example, if you are a tech channel and you review all sorts of tech gear, a laptop company could send you a laptop to do a full review and sponsor a video all about their brand new laptop.

YouTube sponsored video example

In these types of videos, typically you won’t be mentioning any sort of competitor’s products or even comparing them or talking about anything else other than the product or service at hand.

3. Partially Sponsorship

This is where you create a video on a certain topic, but you only talk about the sponsor’s product or service for a few minutes.

For example, I could make a video about how to start a faceless YouTube channel where I could mention and talk about the Tube Mastery Course.

And then for that point, I would mention that they are sponsoring this portion of the video.

These types of sponsorships really flow with the video content. They don’t feel like they’re coming out of the sky, or you’re being constantly bombarded with sponsors.

There are pros and cons to each one of these Youtube sponsorship types but I wanted to make you aware of the different types that you can do.

When Your Channel is Ready For YouTube Sponsorship?

The next question that you might ask is how do I know I’m ready for a partnership with brands?

Technically, you can get a sponsorship at any time. You can get a sponsorship, even with zero subscribers. It’s not as common, but it definitely can happen, because here’s what brands care about when they’re looking to sponsor a channel or a video.

They’re looking for the content quality, they’re looking for the reach of your YouTube videos, and lastly, they’re looking at your content’s relevancy.

That being said, more serious brands are really looking for at least 2000 – 3000 views in a 30-day period for them to actually consider sponsoring your video.

So even if you’re a small YouTuber, you still can get brand deals, even with just 2000 to 3000 views per video or less.

So let’s say a brand is approaching you and you might be wondering; how much do I charge for YouTube sponsorship?

How Much To Charge For YouTube Sponsorship?

If you’ve never done a brand deal before, it can be really overwhelming because you just don’t know what are the YouTube sponsorship rates and what is the baseline.

You may not have other people in your industry or other YouTubers that you can ask around so you can get a baseline.

If you’re just getting started with YouTube sponsorship, you’re in a bad position when it comes to negotiating with brands.

But luckily for you, I have there are a few amazing websites at helping you know your worth and know how much to charge for YouTube sponsorship.

YouTube Sponsorship Websites

Here are some of the best YouTube sponsorship websites:

I personally recommend BuzzGuru because, with this influencer marketing platform, you’ll be able to determine how much you should be charging for brand deals.

BuzzGuru

And not only just on YouTube but on your other social media platforms as well, like Instagram and TikTok.

BuzzGuru is your one-stop-shop for all things brand sponsorships. I think the biggest feature is that you can go in and you can connect your YouTube channel.

It’s going to look at your subscribers, your views, your reach, and your engagement, and it’s going to total all of those things up, and then it’s going to calculate how much you should be charging for a sponsored YouTube video.

Tips on How To Get a YouTube Sponsor

My last point is that brand deals and sponsorships on YouTube are so important. You want to make sure that you listen to this because these are pitfalls that you want to avoid when working with brands.

1. Be Realistic

When you’re looking for a sponsor for your YouTube channel, be realistic. It’s our tendency to think that we are worth so much more than we are, but you want to really stick with these numbers on the influencer marketing platforms because these are tried and true.

And just remember, it’s a starting place. You can go up from there, especially as you have more brand deals and more proof to show to future brands under your belt.

2. Avoid Unfair Deals

Another thing you want to avoid are companies that will send you their product in exchange for you doing an entire video, all about their product.

There are plenty of companies that are kind of shady and there’s nothing in it for you. They are just looking for easy ways to get reviews for their product. And this could end up hurting your channel in the long run, especially if it’s a totally random product that doesn’t relate to your channel or your audience at all.

I know when you get these emails when you’re first starting out, it’s super exciting because someone’s finally paying attention.

YouTube sponsorship email

Most of the time, these are just mass spam emails that they’re sending to hundreds of YouTubers, and they’re just hoping that someone will take the bait and do all the hard work for them.

3. Be Selective in the Brands You Choose

Another pitfall with sponsorships is doing a sponsorship with a company or a product that you don’t believe in. Maybe you’ve never even tested or tried the product out. They’re paying you a ton of money, or you just don’t like the product.

You will lose trust with your audience that way, especially if you’re doing it over and over and over again. You need to be selective in the products and the brand deals that you do end up choosing.

4. Prepare a YouTube Sponsorship Contract

A lot of new YouTubers that are having sponsorships are just trusting the brand to do everything for them, and that’s where you can get in a lot of trouble.

That’s where you’re going to end up where you’re not going to get paid, where you’re going to kind of get screwed over sometimes. So you absolutely want to avoid that.

And so that’s why it’s really important that you have your own contracts for sponsorships if you do YouTube sponsorship deals outside influencer marketing platforms. Having a contract will make everything super clear.

The timeline of deliverables, when you’re going to get paid, who owns what?

You want to make sure that you have that for every single brand deal. Please do not go into a brand deal without a contract. It’s just going to be bad news. Protect yourself before you even get started.

YouTube Sponsorship Final Words

In conclusion, YouTube sponsorship can be a great way to promote your brand or product. It can help you reach a new audience and grow your business. However, it’s important to do your research and choose the right sponsor for your channel. Choose someone who is a good fit for your audience and who you can trust to help you grow your business.

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