Are you looking to use YouTube to generate revenue?
Because of the 30 million users that visit the platform every day, it makes sense to use it to generate revenue. Your content is sure to get views there in one way or another. What’s great is that the popular content creators on the platform also made it viable enough for brands and corporations to start running their ads on YouTube.
This gives you all the more reason to try your hand at video content creation. However, most people don’t know about the implications of YouTube CPM. This is what determines how much you get on the platform.
Understanding this helps you optimize your content to please your audience, the platform, and the corporations advertising on it. Read what’s below to learn all you can about YouTube today!
What’s the Difference Between CPM and CPC?
What you need to understand first is that CPM is different from CPC. The latter stands for cost per click. This is an advertising model that’s sure to payout faster than most methods.
However, most visitors don’t engage in the advertiser’s website enough to make it worth their while. Some ads still run this method on YouTube, but there aren’t as many as before.
This is why most advertisers now opt for CPM, which stands for Cost Per Mille. Mille is an adopted term that means thousands, making CPM the effective cost of every 1000 impressions that an ad makes.
This way, the advertisers get as much as they invest in the platform. YouTube takes 45% of the ad revenue you get for every successful engagement in your video.
What Counts as Impressions on YouTube?
Impressions on YouTube can vary depending on whether the ad you see is CPC or CPM. If it’s a CPC ad, then impressions are as simple as a click. Some advertisers ensure that their websites get traffic through an extra step, though.
For some ads, they’ll only count the click as an impression if the user visits their website. This way, they can guarantee their website at least sees an increase in traffic. It also allows them the chance to entice the user to browse their websites even more.
If the ad is a CPM ad, then impressions get a bit more complicated. It only counts as an impression if the ad doesn’t get disrupted before completion. This means that the ad needs to play in its entirety no matter how long it is.
Any skipped ad won’t help the channel generate any revenue. This is why you must be careful in considering what ads you show in your videos.
Types of Ads on YouTube
There are basic types of ads on YouTube. These are the skippable ads, and the unskippable ads. Based on their names, it’s easy to tell how they’re different.
What determines whether they become skippable or unskippable, though, is their lengths. Most ads that are 10 seconds or under have the chance of being unskippable. This bodes well for the advertiser and the channel as the ad gives exposure and can’t get disrupted before it ends.
Some unskippable ads don’t guarantee revenue generation, though. They’re the ones that often come as CPM and CPC ads at the same time. You’ll see the CPC variant of the ad after the unskippable CPM ad plays.
They’re often only static images that entice people to click on them. You’ll need to engage with the ad for it to count as an impression for the channel.
Skippable ads are the ones that are around 15 seconds or more. They’re a crutch for the channel as they take up valuable ad space but don’t guarantee revenue generation. This is often because the current YouTube demographic loves skipping ads to get on with their videos.
If the ad appears in the middle of the video, though, they’re often unskippable and short. They’re also called bumper ads by the industry, or midrolls by some.
Calculating Your YouTube CPM Rates
If you want to calculate your CPM rates on YouTube, you must first get a Google Adsense account. This helps you get the metrics and data collected from the activity on your linked YouTube account. It’s also a great way for you to know how much you can expect from your next payroll from YouTube.
There’s a process involved in checking your generated revenue. You first go to the “Payments” section in your YouTube account. You’ll see the number of monetized views you’ve gotten over the past month here.
Go to “YouTube Analytics” to see how many monetized views you have since the last month. Keep note of the general number, not the specific number. Most of these views won’t count by the end of the month.
Take your revenue from last month and divide it by your total number of monetized views. Multiply that by 1000 and you should know how much you’re getting per 1000 views.
You can also use a YouTube CPM calculator to make this easier for you. You’ll only need to input 2 values that the calculator asks for this way. It will generate your CPM rate for you.
What Affects Your CPM Rates on YouTube
If you want to ensure that your CPM rates are at an all-time high, you must know what affects them on the platform. Here are some of the biggest factors that can influence your CPM rates.
Your Content
The content you show on the platform must be user and advertiser-friendly. This means that you have to keep it clean if you want to increase your CPM rates. It’s because explicit content will get demonetized by YouTube’s bots and pushed down in the algorithm.
This means that you won’t get any monetized views from the video. As mentioned above, monetized views are important in increasing the revenue you get per 1000 views.
To prevent this from happening, you must not promote guns, drugs, sex, or violence in your videos. Even profanity can cross the line and cause your video to become demonetized. These are what the platform considers as “non-family-friendly” concepts.
YouTube also pushes your content further down the line. This makes it harder for viewers to find your videos off of one search on the platform.
YouTube SEO
Speaking of searches on the platform, YouTube SEO is another factor that influences your CPM rates. YouTube has its own search engines that it uses to look for videos within the website. This makes it important to optimize your videos to their specifications.
One way of doing this is by using the keywords that YouTube considers high-value. Placing them in your title and video description helps it rank higher on the platform. You can also use it in meta tags to help the search engine know where to place your video.
There’s a lot of work involved in doing this, but it’s a great way to increase your expected revenue. If you don’t have the time, though, it’s best that you hire professionals to raise YouTube CPM rates for you.
User Engagement
The effectiveness of the ads on your video depends on how engaged your viewers are. This all comes down to the types of ads that get placed on your video. If you’re a gaming channel, there’s little chance that your viewers will find interest in fashion ads.
This makes it important to steer your content to the ads that your viewers will find engaging. Again, doing this is easy with the help of YouTube SEO.
The placement of your ads will also affect your CPM rates. Viewers won’t want an ad the moment your video reaches a climax. You can avoid these by placing the midroll ads throughout your video by yourself.
Geographic Location
Even where you live can have an impact on your average CPM. This is because the advertisers will pay more to have their ads played in certain countries in the world. These are often the US, the majority of Europe, and New Zealand.
Even the United Arab Emirates has the highest CPM rate of 8% above the global average. This is because advertisers recognize that their economies are more stable than most countries. Their investments are safe here as there’s a higher chance the viewers will engage with them and do business.
Regardless of where you live, though, YouTube’s cut of 45% won’t change. This makes it all the more appealing to start a YouTube profile when you’re living in one of the mentioned countries. You’re sure to generate more throughout your career than most people will earn.
Your Definitive Guide to YouTube CPM
Understanding the finer points of YouTube CPM is a great way to ensure your financial success on the platform. Use the guide above to learn all you need to learn and create the perfect personality on YouTube today!
Do you want to learn more about YouTube and how you can use it to market yourself? Check out more of our posts to learn all you can today. You can even learn how to find financial success on other social platforms, too!
