Rev Up Your YouTube RPM: Grow Your Profits In 5 Easy Steps
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Do you want to understand what YouTube RPM means?
In a nutshell, RPM on YouTube means the amount of money YouTube pays a content creator for 1000 views of a YouTube video.
But there's a bit more to it than that.
In this post, we'll break it down further and explain how you can increase RPM to improve your overall YouTube revenue.
We'll also look at some industry RPM averages if you're trying to choose a YouTube niche with high-income potential.
Let's dive in.
Contents
What is RPM on YouTube?
RPM stands for Revenue Per Mille, (mille is thousand in Latin), so RPM on YouTube is the total amount of revenue made per 1,000 video views.
As a YouTuber, you're able to see your RPM on an individual video basis or across your whole channel.
Furthermore, RPM is calculated by the total revenue share from multiple sources, including ads, Super Chat, channel membership, YouTube Premium revenue, and Super Sticker.
Here's the formula if you want to work it out yourself:
RPM = (Total Views/Total Revenue) × 1000
RPM is an important metric because it lets you see how much your channel earns per 1,000 views and which videos bring in the most money.
Knowing this can help you optimize your content strategy and increase your overall YouTube revenue.
YouTube RPM vs CPM: What's the Difference?
CPM is another metric closely related to RPM.
However, CPM stands for Cost Per Mille and is the cost per 1000 ad impressions that advertisers have paid.
This differs from RPM because it's an advertiser-focused metric that only includes revenue generated from ads and YouTube Premium and views from monetized videos.
CPM is also the earnings made before YouTube's revenue share.
RPM, on the other hand, is a YouTube creator-focused metric of the total revenue earned after revenue share.
As mentioned, RPM includes revenue from multiple monetization methods on YouTube and is calculated from the total number of views, including those that aren't monetized.
How Do You Find Your RPM in YouTube?
As long as you're a member of the YouTube Partner Program, you can find your RPM inside the YouTube studio, under YouTube analytics and the Revenue tab.
This video from VidIQ covers the steps in detail:
On the main Revenue Dashboard, you'll see your overall RPM for the last 28 days, and you can get individual video RPM data by clicking on the SEE MORE link.
You'll see a list of your videos with a column for RPM.
How to Increase Your RPM on YouTube
Here are 5 ways to increase RPM and achieve your financial goals on YouTube.
1. Turn Monetization On All Videos
The fastest and easiest way to increase YouTube RPM is to make sure ads are active on all your videos.
You never know which videos might bring in the most cash.
To turn on ads for specific videos, go to YouTube Studio > Content > Select a video you want to monetize and click Edit > Click Monetization > Select ON to switch on ads for this video.
That's it!
2. Turn on Mid-Roll Ads
Mid-roll ads are advertisements that show up in the middle of your videos and are eligible for videos longer than 8 minutes.
These can be turned on as default or for individual videos from the same location when turning on ads in the previous tip.
When you turn on mid-roll ads, they will automatically be placed in natural breaks as default.
This will ensure the optimal number of ads will be shown without being too intrusive for viewers.
Another way to add mid-roll ads is to use the ad breaks tool and add them manually. Plus, you can also edit automatically placed mid-roll ads if you feel the need.
Turning on mid-roll ads is another effective way to increase RPM and your overall YouTube income.
3. Turn on AltMon Features
AltMon features (or Alternative Monetization features) are other ways to monetize your YouTube channel in addition to advertising revenue.
These include:
- Super Features (Super Chat, Super Stickers, Super Thanks): Super features are ways your audience can pay you during a livestream or premiere. For example, users get the chance to pay you from 1 to 500 for showing their appreciation (Super Thanks) or having their comments highlighted in the video (Super Chat).
- Channel Membership: These are paid monthly subscriptions that give members exclusive videos, live chats, and discounts on products.
- YouTube Premium: This monetization method is automatic, as you'll get paid a cut of the revenue when premium members watch your videos.
So, adding a channel membership and offering exclusive content is one way to increase revenue.
Another way is to do more live streams and Premiers with Super Chat enabled.
4. Consider Your Audience and Niche
Later in this post, we'll look at some YouTube RPM statistics based on the niche or content type with a table of the highest-paying niches.
As your niche is one of many factors that determine your RPM rates, choosing a niche with a higher RPM can potentially increase your overall RPM and income.
Furthermore, make sure you're targeting audiences based in countries with higher CPM averages. See below.
If you already have a channel and your RPM is low, consider researching other channels similar to you that share income reports.
This can give you insights into content you can create that tends to have a higher RPM and help you increase YouTube subscribers.
5. Diversify Your Revenue Streams
This last tip won't increase your RPM directly because it involves adding monetization methods outside of YouTube.
One of those methods is affiliate marketing, where you promote products you love and add affiliate links in the description. This is a great option for new YouTubers because there are tons of affiliate marketing programs for beginners.
Paid sponsorships are another option to diversify your income on YouTube. This involves working with brands who pay you in advance to mention their products in your videos. This method will usually require an established channel with significant viewership.
Another way to diversify your income on YouTube is to offer a membership on a platform like Patreon, Buy Me a Coffee, or Ko-fi. These platforms allow you to share exclusive content before other subscribers and interact with them directly.
Lastly, if you have over 10,000 subscribers on your channel, you can sell merchandise and display it on a dedicated merch shelf under your videos.
This is an excellent way to offer loyal followers the merch you've created and bring in some extra cash.
YouTube RPM Statistics
Here are some stats on the average RPMs for specific niches and by country.
YouTube RPM by Category or Niche
Gathering some numbers from our post on How to Find Your YouTube Niche and a Tasty Edits post, here is a table to show the average RPM by niche:
| Niche | Average RPM |
|---|---|
| Affiliate marketing | $22.00 |
| Making money online | $13.52 |
| Social media marketing | $12.52 |
| Crypto | $12.00 |
| Weight loss | $10.00 |
| Educational | $9.89 |
| Photography | $7.31 |
| Cars | $4.32 |
| ASMR | $3.50 |
| Lifestyle | $3.47 |
| Beauty | $3.00 |
| Cooking | $2.50 |
| General tech | $2.39 |
| Travel | $2.00 |
| Fitness | $1.60 |
| Video Games | $1.40 |
| Comedy | $1.00 |
YouTube RPM by Country
The best way to determine which countries offer the best RPM rates is to look at the average CPM by country.
Looking at this number tells us how much advertisers are spending per 1000 views.
Thus, the countries with the highest CPM will generally result in a higher RPM on YouTube.
Here are the stats according to multiple sources online:
| Country | 2022 - 2023 CPM |
|---|---|
| Norway | $43.15 |
| Germany | $38.85 |
| Moldova | $29.50 |
| Algeria | $24.50 |
| South Korea | $17.00 |
| Sweden | $18.18 |
| Finland | $14.90 |
| United Kingdom | $13.75 |
| Canada | $13.50 |
| United States | $13.00 |
Note that these CPMs are an average across each country. Therefore, just because the average CPM in the US is only $13 doesn't mean you can't earn a higher RPM on some videos.
Highest YouTube RPM
YouTube channels with the highest RPM fall under finance, business, digital marketing, or even educational.
The averages range from anywhere between $9.89 to $22. But numbers can be much higher for some of these niches, as these are only averages.
For example, Ali Abdaal shares his YouTube revenue on one of his videos, where he gets a whopping $48.68 RPM on a video on how to build a website.
What is a Good RPM on YouTube
According to Clash Panda, the average RPM on YouTube in 2023 is between $1.25 and $2.50.
That means anything over $2 would be considered a good RPM. However, this is a statistic across the whole spectrum of niches and content types.
If you choose the right niche and optimize your content well, you could get a much higher RPM on YouTube.
Why is My YouTube RPM So Low
There are many factors that explain why your RPM on YouTube is low.
One reason could simply be that your niche doesn't have enough advertisers spending a lot of money on ads.
Other reasons might come down to the type of audience. For example, students or a younger audience might not have as much money as business owners or entrepreneurs.
Therefore, your audience can greatly impact the amount your channel makes.
Lastly, consider making content that is engaging and offers quality over quantity. The more people who watch your videos, the more data you'll get back to help you determine ways to improve.
For more help with analytics that can help grow your channel, check out TubeBuddy. This game-changing tool will help you achieve your goals and boost your revenue.
YouTube RPM in Conclusion
Now you have more clarity around YouTube RPM, and you'll be better equipped to produce content that fetches more revenue and discover ways to optimize your channel overall.
To recap, RPM on YouTube is the total amount of revenue you earn per 1000 video views. YouTube shares this metric with creators to help them create better content and earn more income.
For more YouTube tips, check out our article on the best time to post on YouTube.
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