To get YouTube sponsorships, offer brands a clearly defined slot in the videos your audience already watches: decide between an integration and a dedicated video, make your channel findable through YouTube Creator Partnerships if you are in the Partner Program, pitch a specific sponsor read, and agree in writing how views that keep arriving after the campaign are priced. Then tick YouTube's paid promotion box on every sponsored upload.
Integration, dedicated video or Short
YouTube's tips for getting brand deals describe brand integrations as finding a way to feature a product naturally inside your videos, and list formats such as hauls and lookbooks, comedy skits, gameplay, tutorials, unboxings and mini ad-breaks. For planning and pricing, sort every offer into one of these shapes.
| Format | What the brand gets | What it asks of you | Watch-outs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Integration | A segment inside one of your normal uploads | A script for the segment and an approval step | Viewers can skip it, so agree exactly where in the video it sits |
| Dedicated video | A whole upload built around the product | Full production and usually more review rounds | The whole video is an ad, so check it fits what your subscribers come for |
| Shorts sponsorship | A short vertical piece built around the product | Fast turnaround and a strong opening | Creator Partnerships lets you set a separate desired rate for Shorts deals |
| Live stream mention | Mentions or a segment during a stream | Disclosure repeated through the stream | The FTC says live-stream disclosures should recur for viewers who join late |
| Description or pinned link | A link or discount code under the video | Little production, but ongoing upkeep | YouTube's branded content policy covers descriptions and comments too |
What YouTube allows in a sponsor slot
YouTube's branded content policies define branded content as anything influenced by a brand in exchange for something of value, wherever it appears: videos, descriptions, comments, live streams, Shorts and other features. Three rules shape every sponsorship.
- The read must be yours. YouTube's page on embedded third-party sponsorships bars promotions for third-party advertisers in formats YouTube already sells, such as pre-roll, mid-roll and post-roll video ads and bumpers, and says YouTube may disable monetisation or remove videos that include them. A brand's finished TV spot dropped into your upload is out; your own segment about the product is fine.
- Some categories are off-limits or conditional. The policy prohibits branded content for things like recreational drugs, weapons, hacking software, counterfeit goods and essay-writing services. Categories such as alcohol, gambling, financial services and healthcare are restricted: you must confirm the brand holds any Google certification needed and apply age or country limits.
- The whole video counts. The policy applies to the entire upload, not only the sponsored minutes, and YouTube may remove or age-restrict content that breaks it.
The paid promotion box and what it changes
If a video contains branded content, YouTube requires you to declare it. On a computer, open the video in YouTube Studio, select Show more and tick “My video contains paid promotion like a product placement, sponsorship, or endorsement”. In the mobile apps the setting sits under Paid promotion and brands. Once it is on, YouTube's policy page says it will:
- show viewers a disclosure at the start of the video;
- try to avoid running ads from your sponsor's direct competitors;
- remove the video from the YouTube Kids app;
- let you set an overall minimum age and country-specific age limits, which YouTube's disclosure labels help page explains for new and existing videos.
Ticking the box does not stop a Partner Program video from earning ad revenue, YouTube says, and if its systems detect undisclosed branded content it may apply the label itself and notify you.
The box is not the whole disclosure, though. The FTC's Disclosures 101 says a video endorsement needs its disclosure in the video rather than only in the description, and that saying it and showing it together reaches more viewers. The CMA's creator guidance says ads in videos must be disclosed at the beginning of the ad. So say it at the start of the segment, put “Ad” on screen while you say it, and keep the box ticked.
Getting found: Creator Partnerships, Media Kit and insights
YouTube Creator Partnerships is the platform YouTube's official blog says was formerly known as BrandConnect. If you are in the YouTube Partner Program in an available country, YouTube's Creator Partnerships page says brands can discover you and you will see a Creator Partnerships tab under Earn in YouTube Studio.
- Under Preferences, set desired rates for long-form and Shorts deals, and add a business contact if a manager handles your deals.
- Download your Media Kit from the Earn page. YouTube's Media Kit page says it is available to Partner Program creators on desktop, and that you can feature up to four videos and five audience categories on a card.
- Decide on channel insights sharing, found under Settings, Channel and Advanced settings. YouTube says it is off by default and shares aggregated statistics with brands and Google-approved tools.
- When an inquiry arrives, treat the amount shown as the brand's opening figure; YouTube says it is not a final offer.
Not in the programme yet? Sponsorships are still open to you through direct outreach, which YouTube's own tips encourage through brand websites, LinkedIn and X. Our guide on how to pitch brands as an influencer covers the angle, YouTube monetisation requirements explains the routes into the programme, and the 2027 monetisation changes summary notes what changes next February.
The integration brief template
Agree these fields in writing before you script anything. YouTube's tips for driving brand deals recommend telling brands exactly when the integration appears, because brands sometimes assume they are featured throughout the video.
| Field | What to agree | Example wording |
|---|---|---|
| Placement | Where the segment sits in the video | “After the intro and before the first chapter, starting near [timestamp]” |
| Length | Target duration of the read | “Around [number] seconds, give or take [number]” |
| Talking points | The few points the brand needs covered | “[Point one]; [point two]; where to buy” |
| Claims | What you cannot say without evidence | “No health or performance claims beyond the brand's substantiated wording” |
| Call to action and links | Link placement, code and any QR | “Link in the first line of the description and a pinned comment; code [CODE]” |
| Disclosure | How the sponsorship will be labelled | “Spoken and on-screen ‘Ad’ at the start of the segment, paid promotion box ticked” |
| Approval | What the brand reviews, how many rounds and how fast | “Script, then rough cut; [number] rounds; [number] working days each” |
| Publish window | When the video goes live | “Between [date] and [date], at a time the creator chooses” |
| Usage and boosting | Whether the brand may reuse the video or run it as an ad | “Brand partner access for performance data only; boosting quoted separately” |
| Exclusivity | Competitors excluded, and for how long | “No other [category] sponsors for [number] days after publishing” |
| Reporting | Which metrics you send, and when | “Views, segment retention and link clicks at day [number]” |
| Payment | Fee, schedule and invoice details | “[Share] on signing, balance on publishing, paid within [terms]” |
Brand partner access lets a brand see a video's organic and paid performance and boost it as an ad, and YouTube's brand partner access page advises creators to agree usage rights with advertisers separately. Put boosting in the usage line and price it; the paid-usage lines of the rate card worksheet apply directly.
A sponsor read viewers sit through
- Move out of your content in your own voice, without a jarring cut.
- Disclose straight away, for example “This part of the video is sponsored by [brand]”, with “Ad” on screen.
- Explain why you are talking about it, using only what you have actually experienced.
- Show the product doing its job instead of describing it.
- Give one call to action with the link or code.
- Return to the video promptly and finish what you started.
The FTC's guide is blunt about honesty: if you thought a product was terrible you cannot call it terrific, and you cannot make claims that need proof the advertiser does not have. Share the script with the brand before filming, as YouTube suggests, and flag anything you want to say differently from their talking points.
Pricing a video that keeps getting views
YouTube's tips for driving brand deals set out several pricing models: cost per view estimated from recent videos with outliers removed, tiered cost per view that rises once a view target is passed, a flat rate built from your production costs and audience, affiliate links, and product in exchange for content. The figures in its examples illustrate the models; they are not market rates.
Long-form uploads complicate every model because views keep arriving after the campaign ends. Settle these points in the brief so neither side is surprised later:
- Measurement day: the date on which views are counted for the report and for any per-view fee.
- Long-tail value: whether a flat fee covers views after that date; write it down either way so nobody assumes.
- Link life: how long the description link and code stay up, and what happens if the brand ends the offer.
- Paid boosts: priced as usage, separately from the organic integration.
- Your inputs: typical views on comparable videos at the measurement day, production cost, and the usage and exclusivity add-ons from your rate card.
Some offers will not fit your channel at any price. YouTube's brand deal tips say it is fine to tell a brand no and suggest keeping an eye on how often you publish branded content.
Paid promotion compliance checklist
- The brand and product are allowed under YouTube's branded content policies, and any restricted category has its certification and age or country limits in place.
- No advertiser-supplied ad or bumper is embedded in the upload.
- The sponsor read is your own content and every claim in it is one you can stand behind.
- Spoken and on-screen disclosure opens the segment, and repeats during live streams.
- The paid promotion box is ticked before the video is published.
- Description links and codes match the brief, and the disclosure is not buried beneath them.
- Brand partner access is shared only if the contract covers it.
- Screenshots of the published video, its label and its settings are saved with the contract.
Limitations of this guide
YouTube changes features, eligibility and country lists, and its Creator Partnerships page says the experience can differ by region. The disclosure points summarise YouTube's policies and US and UK regulator guidance for general information; they are not legal advice, and the FTC says US rules can apply to creators abroad when US viewers are a foreseeable audience. The pricing section helps you build a quote from your own numbers, but it cannot tell you what a brand will pay. For the stages around the integration, from prospecting to invoicing, see how to get brand deals and the influencer marketplace comparison.