Understanding YouTube Revenue Reports: How Much Money Are You Making, and How to Make More

Have you crossed that magical YouTube threshold yet? You know, the coveted line that means the difference between toiling away for hours on videos with nothing to show for it and a nice check landing in your bank account? 

We’re talking about the YouTube monetization threshold here. Once you’ve grown your channel enough to have 1,000 subscribers and a total of 4,000 watch hours over the last 12 months, you can officially apply to the YouTube Partner Program. In other words... FINALLY, you can start earning a profit from your videos!

So now the question is… how much of a profit are you actually making? It’s time to arm yourself with some valuable data and understand just where your money’s coming from and how.

Remember: when it comes to YouTube, knowledge is more than just power… it’s money. YouTube has a lot of different metrics available for you to understand how your videos are performing, from average view time to user demographics and more. (You can learn more about these in our article 13+ Key Metrics to Track How Your YouTube Videos Are Performing.) All these metrics matter, but in this article, we’ll focus on the one that may matter to you the most as a YouTube creator: how much you’re earning! 

The good news is that earning money on YouTube is not just all about the ads anymore.

YouTube now offers a lot of different ways to make money. In YouTube-speak, alternate monetization methods are known as “AltMon” and include revenue streams such as memberships, tips/donations, and merchandise. (By the way, we’re focusing here on monetization options through YouTube — but of course many influencers also earn money through brand partnerships too, which are often arranged separately).  

Keep reading to find out what to look for in your YouTube revenue reports, and some tips to use that information to increase your earnings and make more. 

Part 1: How Much Money Are You Making Right Now, Anyway?

Perhaps it was Roman lyrical poet Horace, or perhaps it was Cuba Gooding Jr. who once coined that timeless adage, “SHOW ME THE MONEY!”  The phrase’s origins may be lost to the mists of history, but here’s how YouTube tries to live up to its spirit.  

Where Should You Be Looking to Understand Your Earnings?

YouTube’s Creator Studio Analytics section provides you with a ton of valuable information about your videos and your channel’s performance. The Revenue tab in particular should be the first place you check out.

Here are a couple things to look out for particular when reviewing your revenue reports in YouTube Studio: 

• Estimated monetized playbacks: This is the number of times someone views your video and they see at least one ad (also known as an “impression”). 
• Estimated revenue: This is your total estimated revenue for everything — all the money you make from both ads and other AltMon transactions. You can sort these by time period and region. (You can also dig deeper and look at specific metrics for ad revenue versus transaction revenue). Keep in mind your total estimated revenue isn’t always going to be the same as what you’ll actually be paid (‘finalized revenue”) because YouTube may make some adjustments before transferring them to AdSense.  
• CPM and RPM: More on these below! 

Note: If you’re just starting out in the world of YouTube monetization, you won’t actually get to hold any of those earnings in your hand until you reach the first payment threshold for your region. (For example, in the U.S., you’ll be eligible for your first payment after you earn your first $100.)  

What Are These CPM and RPM Metrics You Keep Hearing About, and What’s the Difference?

Both CPM and RPM are metrics demonstrating the rates at which you’re earning revenue. These rates are important to know because they show not just how much money your videos make but also how effective your videos are at making money. There’s a slight but important difference there. 

Think about how much time and effort you put into creating a single video. You want each video to be as profitable as possible so you make more money with less effort, right? That’s why you should look at their monetization rates, or your CPM and RPM. 

CPM stands for “cost per mille” — and “mille” is just a fancy (a.k.a. French) way of saying “thousand.” CPM is the amount your video earns per 1,000 ad impressions. Keep in mind that impressions are different than your number of views — an ad impression is each time an ad on one of your videos is viewed. YouTube takes a pretty big cut of this (recently around 45%).  

Meanwhile, RPM is based on the total number of views, not just ad impressions. RPM made headlines as the new and long-awaited metric YouTube introduced just last year. It stands for “revenue per mille,” and it shows your total revenue (both from ads and from other monetization methods) per 1,000 views after YouTube’s cut. 

Why Should You Care About Your RPM?

Ok, just a warning, and don’t let this fact bum you out: your RPM is likely going to be lower than your CPM (unless you are pulling in a huge haul from AltMon sources). RPM is going to be less than CPM because  (1) it counts all views of your videos, not just the monetized views, and (2) it’s calculated after YouTube takes its cut.   

At the same time, RPM is a more helpful metric for creators than CPM. Your CPM will often fluctuate for reasons you can’t control — it depends on the rates advertisers are paying at the moment, and they pay different rates depending on factors like the time of year, the topic, and location. Advertisers typically pay more around the holiday season, for example.  

If you judge your success just based on your CPM, you’ll hit a frustrating wall. (Creators have called this “one of the worst times on YouTube for those who are trying to make money from advertising” for a reason.) 

But your RPM will give you a more reliable picture of your overall monetization rate over time, which can help you start strategizing how to improve it and make more money. 

Part 2: Now That You Know How Much You’re Making… Use That to Make More!

The inevitable follow-up to “show me the money!” is “show me MORE money!” Yeah, we’re right there with you. More is more! Here are a few ways to get started increasing your YouTube revenue now.

Branch Out Into Other Revenue Streams

If there’s one common theme you hear from YouTubers trying to make a living (or a respectable side hustle) from their content, it’s that ad revenue isn’t reliable enough on its own. Ad rates fluctuate sometimes arbitrarily, and things like an unexpected copyright claim or a content rules violation could derail your video’s earning opportunities entirely.   

To boost your RPM — and therefore make more money in general — you should start looking into some of the AltMon methods YouTube offers:

• Super Chat and Super Stickers. This YouTube monetization feature is going to make you want to start creating some YouTube Live videos, if you’re not already. Super Chat and Super Stickers give your viewers the ability to purchase chat messages that stand out during live videos — and potentially pin those messages to the top of the chat feed for more visibility. More broadly, it’s like your viewers giving you a tip or a donation — a way to show their support and appreciation of your videos with their money, while also letting them get something out of it too (the recognition in the chat and from you.)  
• Merchandise. YouTube lets your partner with TeeSpring to sell your own branded merchandise from your channel, like t-shirts, mugs, and more.  Merch can actually be more profitable than you think. Analysts say that a YouTuber with 11,000 subscribers average sales of about 6 merch items a month — which adds up to $70/month, $840 per year. (Note: your revenue from merch doesn’t get included in your RPM rate.)
• Channel Memberships. If you have at least 1,000 subscribers and are in the YouTube Partner Program, you can offer paid channel memberships to give your best fans exclusive ways to engage with you. They can purchase monthly memberships at various levels to support you, and in exchange, you can reward them with irresistible perks. 

Interesting fact: if you’re in the Partner program, you will also earn extra money from every view from someone who has a YouTube Premium membership. This extra revenue stream is automatic. 

These AltMon methods may not all be right for you, but the more you can implement, the less you will have to depend on the fickle mistress that is ad revenue alone. 

Figure Out Where Most of Your Ad Revenue Is Coming From (and When), and Then Pump It Up

When you’re looking at your YouTube analytics and revenue reports, your ultimate question shouldn’t be “how much money am I making?” It should be, “WHY am I making as much money as I’m making?”

Once you figure that out, you can figure out how to make more.

This is where your other YouTube analytics data comes in, partnered with the revenue data. When you look at which videos are earning the most ad revenue, you may discover that they have more in common than just their number of views. In fact, two videos could have the same number of views but vastly different ad revenues.

That’s why you need to take a closer look. Maybe you’ll see you’re earning more ad revenue from videos that have a higher audience in a certain country or in a certain demographic. That means advertisers find viewers in that location or demographic particularly valuable — which means you’ll earn more if you start targeting more of your videos to those audiences. The same goes for things like the topic/content of the videos, the timing of your videos, the keywords used, and more. Look at it all to see where you’re getting the most response. 

It may all sound a bit complicated right now… but trust us. You’ll be well on your way to earning a nice pay day the more you practice and master these tips. Good luck and have fun!

TL;DR:

YouTube offers a few key metrics to help you understand how much money you’re making from your videos, including the new RPM, which measures the rate of revenue you’re earning per 1,000 views. There are also more ways than ever to monetize your videos on YouTube — you no longer have to rely solely on revenue from ads. To diversify your revenue streams, you can now introduce options like channel subscriptions, viewer tips/donations, merchandise, and more. You should also pay close attention to your overall YouTube metrics to understand which videos are earning more money and why — so that you can apply those lessons to future videos and make more! 

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