YouTubers were on the warpath again last week, this time over the apparent censorship of their right to monetize potentially offensive content. The hashtag #YouTubeIsOverParty has become the rallying cry behind a wave of protests over the enforcement of measures aimed at making YouTube a safer environment for advertisers. YouTube’s renewed vigor in terms of restricting monetization can be read as roundabout censorship, but it should also be looked at from a brand safety perspective. The policy clarification is a reminder that YouTube is a business that exists to make money and must ultimately address the needs of advertisers and brands. Creating a stable advertising environment is at the top of the company’s agenda. But where is the line between freedom of speech, censorship, and brand safety? This isn’t the first time that YouTubers have been up in arms: the introduction of YouTube Red, licensing landgrabs, copyright conflicts – YouTube is a volatile, unpredictable place. And for advertisers, that’s a problem. Philip DeFranco, a YouTuber with over 4.5 million subscribers, is at the center of the demonetization scandal. The video below has already received almost two million views and is a response to the explosion in media coverage that followed on from his original video about the issue. Another update on Monday clarifies things even further and bemoans the media response, but watch this for a good summary of what happened: YouTube’s “advertiser-friendly content guidelines” are exhaustive, but unsurprising. Most advertisers are wary of being associated with any of the following, especially when they have only limited control over ad placement:
Sexually suggestive content, including partial nudity and sexual humor
Violence, including display of serious injury and events related to violent extremism
Inappropriate language, including harassment, profanity and vulgar language
Promotion of drugs and regulated substances, including selling, use and abuse of such items
Controversial or sensitive subjects and events, including subjects related to war, political conflicts, natural disasters and tragedies, even if graphic imagery is not shown
We’re not the first to point out that at first glance this is really about brand safety, not censorship. However, DeFranco makes a valid point:
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…if you really wanna hurt somebody, you hit em in the wallet. If you take away their money, you make the content that they’re making unsustainable and it’s just a slow death. It’s an eventual death. It’s an eventual shutting down. Philip DeFranco
YouTube can argue that it isn’t directly putting a muzzle on anyone, that the company is simply restricting their right to earn money from their content, but is that essentially the same thing as censorship? YouTube’s decision about what types of content can be monetized will certainly affect the type of content that gets produced. This is of concern from a subtle censorship angle, but YouTube has to address the needs of the people who pump money into the platform – the same group that funds the free internet: the advertising industry. Brands are touchy about context for good reason, both online and in the real world. From 26 of the most hilarious, unfortunate online ad placements to 27 Hilariously Misplaced Advertisements That Will Make You Face-Palm, lists of embarrassing ads are great clickbait. But laughter may not be the worst result for a brand. Ad misplacement can turn dark very quickly, with video often offering the most disturbing potential for bad press. The Internet doesn’t forget and being associated with graphic violence is a major worry for advertisers: This is not a new problem. There is the famous tale of how a GM ad ran alongside a report about the death of Princess Diana in a car crash. That was almost twenty years ago. Since then, advertisers have faced criticism for indirectly supporting violence, bullying and worse. Advertisers have good reason to be protective of their brands. An ad placed next to controversial content is a gift to both online and print media, providing them with a shocking image and triggering immediate outrage in readers. Ad misplacement is an easy target and it can be difficult and expensive for a brand to recover, no matter what statements the press department issues after the fact. So it isn’t surprising that advertisers have put pressure on Google – an advertising company – to enforce safeguards, especially when some serious money is flowing towards the more popular YouTubers. Ultimately, YouTubers – and anyone who offers space for ads – need to realize that advertisers have valid concerns about where their ads appear. The new guidelines are heavily orientated towards self-censorship, with content creators being forced to think about their profits before shock value. For YouTubers with a lot of subscribers, sponsorship deals can be even more lucrative than advertising – even offline. So it isn’t necessarily the case that YouTube will transform into a safe, unthreatening environment. Controversial content can still – within reason – be uploaded. It just can’t be directly monetized. There may be a lost opportunity here when it comes to YouTube’s rather blunt and relatively unsophisticated application of its guidelines: some advertisers would be more than happy to be associated with incredibly controversial content, as long as it attracts eyeballs. Sponsorship might fill this role, but of course that won’t be of much help to anyone starting out and hoping to build up an audience and make some cash. YouTube might in time find a way to fine-tune its advertising controls to deal with this problem. In fact, DeFranco’s latest video shows that he – and probably many other successful and savvy YouTubers – understand the issue:
As a businessman, I understand both sides of this. If you’re trying to sell makeup, you don’t want to have that next to some bomb going off on some kid. Philip DeFranco
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Brand safety is sometimes used as a blanket term to include viewability and fraud, but at its heart it refers to context and placement, which is where brands are most vulnerable, precisely because advertising is often about engendering a positive association. An ad shown next to controversial content might get a lot of attention, but it might not be the kind of attention that the brand wants. The press is always ready to pounce, but there are also the countless, unreported viewings by ordinary Internet users who may forever subconsciously view that brand with a deep-down slither of distaste. When it comes to YouTube’s guidelines, it’s in the interests of everyone involved to understand that this latest brand safety scare isn’t just a simple matter of censorship, but a case of a complex symbiotic ecosystem trying to find a state of balance.
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Cash. Dinero. Moolah. Dolla dolla bills yo!
Money – it’s why you’re a member of the Grapevine Community. You’ve started a channel on YouTube and are at a point where you have enough traction to take things to the next level: the world of brand sponsorships.
Firstly, give yourself a big pat on the back. While anyone can start a YouTube channel, it’s really hard to get your first 1,000 subscribers. That’s a huge feat in and of itself. Congrats!
Brand sponsorships can mean a lot of things. Extra money to invest into your channel and the chance to not only do what you love, but make a living off of it too. But before you start daydreaming of making it rain with all the money you’ll be bringing in, you’ve got to figure out how much to charge for a video sponsorship.
It’s tough to price your personal time and effort, we get it. The question of how much to charge for a video sponsorship is one of the most common ones we hear. You want brands to value the time and effort you put into each of your videos, but also offer a price that’s competitive enough to beat the competition and get booked on the campaigns you want. It’s a tough balance, but luckily we’ve come up with a formula that works pretty darn well. Let’s get to it!
Our Tips for Determining How Much to Charge for a Video Sponsorship
Step 1: Figure out your Average Video Views
We look at video views instead of total subscribers because it’s a better indicator of how many people will see a product that’s featured in your videos. As a creator, your goal should not only be to grow your channel’s subscribers, but also grow the engagement, or number of people who are watching, liking and commenting, on them as well. Brands love creators who have high engagement stats so you should always be thinking about maximizing the amount of eyeballs on your videos.
Phil Defranco Sponsors
Take a look at the last 10 videos you’ve uploaded and average the amount of views the videos have received. Be honest with yourself. If you have a video that went viral and is really outside of the norm (like over 2x higher than most of your other videos videos), don’t use it to calculate your video pricing. Keeping stats that aren’t representative of your typical channel metrics will set expectations at a level you may not be able to achieve. This can hinder relationships with brands, and make it harder to strike up lasting relationships. It’s way better to set an achievable bar and blow your brand partners out of the water, than vice versa.
Here’s an example of a creator’s last 10 videos. You’ll see there’s one that received significantly more views than the others (video #2), but it’s still within 2x of their other best performers. In this case, the creator can leave video #2 in the mix. If the video views were 20K or higher, we would recommend they use a different video that’s more in line with typical channel performance:
This creator has generated over 75K total views on their past 10 videos. On average, brands can expect this creator to have about 7,575 views on their future videos.
Step 2: Determine your CPM
Philip Defranco Merchandise
CPM = Cost Per Thousand Impressions. Basically, it’s the cost for every 1,000 people who watch your video. This is a standard metric that most people use in the YouTube world.
At Grapevine, we recommend a CPM of $20 – $30. This is a price that is not only fair for creators, but also one that typically aligns with brand expectations. Remember, most partnerships also provide complimentary products, so the flat fee we’re calculating here is icing on top of the cake! Bingo multiplayer game.
Step 3: Calculate your Video Price
Once you have your average video views and have determined the CPM you’ll charge for your videos, you can calculate what your video price should be. Here’s the formula you’ll need to use:
Philip Defranco Watch Sponsor Guide
Going back to the example above, let’s use the 7,575 average view count and a CPM of $20. Here’s how we would calculate the video price for this creator:
In this example, the creator’s recommended video price is $151.49 (we recommend rounding down to a whole number – so $150). It’s as easy as that!
Math not really your thing? No problem – we’ve created this downloadable Excel template that will help you determine how much to charge for video sponsorships. Plug in your video views, select your CPM and voila, we’ll tell you what we recommend for pricing. Remember, this is only a suggestion and you never know what brands will accept or deny. But, it should give you a good idea of how to competitively price your videos.
Philip Defranco Watch Sponsors
Now you’ve got this figured out – the sponsorships await! Get going and head to the marketplace and start applying for campaigns. Good luck out there!