The true potential of being a content creator on YouTube can only be unlocked when you monetize your YouTube channel. By using the power of YouTube analytics, you can leverage this to gain invaluable insights into your audience demographics and track your channel's performance
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In this blog, we will guide you on how to use YouTube Analytics to boost your channel's monetization.
Here are 5 steps you should follow to monetize your channel:-
Enable monetization from the YouTube Studio dashboard
To start earning from your videos you need to first enable monetization from your YouTube studio:-
Sign into your Google account to access YouTube. Once you're signed in, click on your profile picture in the top right corner of the screen and select "YouTube Studio" from the dropdown menu.
In the YouTube Studio dashboard, navigate to the left-hand menu and click on "Earn."
Read and agree to the terms and conditions of the YouTube Partner Program. To be eligible for the YouTube Partner Program you need to meet a few guidelines including-
1,000 subscribers with 4,000 watch hours in the last 12 months, OR
1,000 subscribers with 10 million Shorts views in the last 90 days.
An active AdSense Account to link to your channel.
Your channel has to comply with YouTube's terms of service and community guidelines
Your country has to be a region where the YouTube Partner Program is available.
AdSense is the program that will allow you to earn money from ads on your videos. If you don't already have an approved AdSense account, follow the prompts to set up your account
Ensure that your videos are advertiser-friendly by reviewing and following YouTube's advertiser-friendly guidelines. Videos that violate these guidelines may not be eligible for monetization.
To enable monetization for your videos, go to the "Earn" tab again and click on the "Start" button. YouTube will review your channel and videos to ensure that they meet the eligibility requirements and advertiser-friendly guidelines.
Once your channel is approved for monetization, you can set up your ads preferences, including the type of ads that are displayed on your videos and where they're displayed.
There are different ways through which you can earn on YouTube-
Ad Revenue: When you enable monetization on your videos, YouTube will display ads before, during, or after your videos. You earn money when viewers click on or watch those ads.
Channel Memberships: You can offer channel memberships to your subscribers, which gives them access to exclusive content, badges, emojis, and other perks. Members pay a monthly fee to access these benefits, and you earn a portion of the revenue.
Super Chat and Super Stickers: During live streams, viewers can send Super Chats or Super Stickers, which are paid messages or animated stickers that appear in the chat box. Creators earn a portion of the revenue from these donations.
Merchandise Sales: You can sell merchandise such as t-shirts, mugs, or stickers to your viewers through the YouTube merch shelf feature, and you earn a portion of the revenue from the sales.
YouTube Premium revenue: You will receive a part of a YouTube Premium subscriber’s subscription fee when they watch your content.
Super Thanks: Your audience pays to get their comment highlighted in your video’s comments section.
Track Watch Time and Subscriber Count
YouTube monetizes your videos based on the watch time on your videos and subscriber count.
Watch time refers to the amount of time users spend watching your videos and Audience retention refers to how long your audience stays engaged with your content.
Analysing these metrics helps you optimise your content to make it more engaging and relevant. By increasing the watch time and retention rate, you will increase your overall views and revenue earned through your content.
Subscriptions lets you analyse how much of your views are coming from your subscribers or from people who have not subscribed.
If you get a good amount of views from subscribers it means that your channel is still providing the audience with relevant and quality content. Subscribers ultimately add to watch time, which is why this is also an important metric.
You can check what your top performing videos are on the monetization tab and use it as a reference for your content strategy. You can use metrics like device type and traffic source to analyse your viewers and where they are coming from. This will let you optimise your content for various devices and platforms and attract more views.
Identify top performing videos.
Analysing your top performing videos on YouTube can help you identify which videos are generating the most revenue and can inform your monetization strategy.
On your YouTube Studio dashboard you can use the Analytics tab to get access to a large number of metrics to track your top performing videos.
Metrics like views and impressions help you identify which videos are most popular with your audience. Views is the number of legitimate views on your videos, Shorts,
and live streams. Impressions refer to the number of times the thumbnail of your video was shown to the audience on Youtube. These metrics tell you if your content and metadata related to it are performing well and attract viewers.
Engagement metrics, such as likes, dislikes, comments, and shares, show how viewers are interacting with your video. These metrics can help you understand which videos are resonating with your audience and which topics are generating the most discussion.
The traffic source metric can help you identify which promotion strategies are most effective for driving views on your video.
YouTube Analytics provides data on your video's ad revenue, including estimated earnings and monetized playbacks. This can help you identify which videos are generating the most revenue from ads and can inform your ad placement strategy.
CPM, or cost per thousand impressions, is the amount of money you earn for every 1,000 ad impressions on your video. It's a key metric for understanding your ad revenue and can help you identify which videos are generating the most revenue per impression.
Analysing these metrics will help you remodel your content and marketing strategies, effectively driving more views and increased revenue.
Analyse Audience Demographics
By understanding your audience demographics, you can develop a targeted monetization strategy that appeals to your audience and maximises your revenue.
YouTube analytics gives you information on the age range of your viewers which can help you tailor your content and monetization strategy. For example, if your audience mostly consists of younger viewers, you can focus on merchandise sales or sponsorships with brands that appeal to that particular demographic.
You can also find information on the gender of your viewers which will let you develop targeted ads and sponsorships that appeal to them specifically. The location of your audience helps you to identify new areas for growth and marketing.
If you have a large audience in a specific location, you may want to focus on sponsorships or ads that are targeted to that location.
Experiment with monetization strategies
After engaging with basic monetization for your channel, you should consider taking it to the next level by experimenting with different strategies and see what works best.
Experimenting with strategies will give you necessary experience to come up with the best way to monetize your content.
Test different ad formats: YouTube offers different ad formats, including pre-roll, mid-roll, and post-roll ads. Experiment with different ad formats to see which ones generate the most revenue and which ones your audience responds to best.
Develop targeted sponsorships: You can use YouTube Analytics to identify brands that appeal to your audience and develop targeted sponsorship opportunities. You can also experiment with different types of sponsorships, such as product reviews or sponsored segments within your videos.
Offer merchandise: The audience demographics data will help you to develop merchandise that appeals to your audience. You can experiment with different types of merchandise and pricing to see which items generate the most revenue.
Create exclusive content: You can consider offering exclusive content or early access to your videos for a fee. You can leverage YouTube Analytics to identify which types of content your audience is most engaged with and develop targeted offers and create an exclusive community for your content.
Use affiliate marketing: Experiment with affiliate marketing by promoting products or services in your videos and earning a commission on sales. You can use YouTube Analytics to identify which types of products or services your audience is most interested in and develop targeted campaigns.
Conclusion
With these 5 steps, you are ready to use YouTube Analytics to monetize your channel in a suitable manner. By diving into the world of YouTube analytics and making note of metrics such as your audience demographics, tracking engagement numbers, and experimenting with unique strategies — you can optimise your revenue potential and achieve your monetization goals. It is time to leverage YouTube Analytics to turn your channel into a thriving business.
