How does YouTube monetization work in Ukraine and is it possible to make money on it?

Every Ukrainian knows for sure that earning money on YouTube in Ukraine is quite real. You can make a lot of money and even become a millionaire. Many people are interested in creating a channel for monetization, but not everyone understands that effective monetization of YouTube in Ukraine, as well as abroad, requires a whole team of specialists. Nevertheless, aspiring authors can start YouTube on their own. In this article, we will tell youщо  how to make money on YouTube and what to do in the first place. We will also consider all the technical steps that need to be taken to successfully monetize your channel.

How can you make money on YouTube?

There are many ways to monetize on YouTube. There are at least 8 ways to make money on the platform, but few people know about them all.

YouTube affiliate program

It is quite easy to earn money by participating in a YouTube affiliate program. The platform embeds advertisements in the author’s videos, and thus the channel owner receives a part of the income from these ads. The more videos contain advertisements, the higher the earnings. The only caveat is that users of the platform who have YouTube Premium Ukraine connected will not see any ads.

So, how many YouTube subscribers do you need to monetize? To join, you need to have more than 1000 subscribers on your channel and at least 4000 hours of public video viewing over the past year or 10 million Shorts views over the past 90 days. This is a standard affiliate program from YouTube that allows Ukrainians to earn money. But, in addition to the above requirements, you need to comply with the following:

• the channel has an exceptionally good reputation with no active warnings of rule violations;
• the author follows the rules of monetization of YouTube channels, does not violate them, and, first of all, does not use content that already has copyright (music, photos, etc.) in their videos;
• you have an active AdSense account.

Since 2022, YouTube has also launched an extended affiliate program that can be used in certain countries (unfortunately, Ukraine is not yet on the list). To join the extended program, you need to have more than 500 subscribers on your channel, 3 public videos uploaded within the last 3 months, and 3000 hours of video viewing per year.

Monetization is possible for any content on the YouTube channel that complies with the platform’s rules. You can receive your earnings at via bank transfer, to a bank card, or pick up through payment systems.

Sale of merchandise

If you have a large audience that trusts the author of a YouTube channel, merchandising becomes possible. This is the sale of merchandise with a logo and other brand symbols, such as T-shirts, mugs, caps, pens, etc. Merchandise will further popularize the channel and help you develop your personal brand faster.

To connect this method of monetization with YouTube in Ukraine, the easiest way is to create a website and attach a link to it in every video description. You can also mention your merchandise and website in the video itself.

Crowdfunding

This method of monetization appeared as a solution to the problem of a YouTube channel creator with the purchase and updating of expensive equipment, props, and other things to shoot interesting content. Revenue from YouTube advertising does not cover all expenses, so sometimes channel owners decide to ask the audience for funding for new ideas from time to time.

For example, to effectively raise money, you can prepare a short video message describing the whole idea and what is needed to implement it, indicating the exact amount that is missing. Everyone who contributes a certain amount to the account should receive some kind of bonus: merchandise or access to exclusive content on the YouTube channel, etc. Money should be raised openly (for example, through the Kickstarter platform), otherwise subscribers will not trust you and will not help with the collection.

Donations from fans

You can attract sponsors for YouTube monetization using the «fan funding» feature. Sometimes it is confused with crowdfunding, but these ways of making money are different. In this case, you just need to remind fans that the author is very grateful to fans and subscribers for donations, and encourage them to donate small amounts to help develop the channel.

You can get donations from YouTube through:

1. channel sponsorship: anyone can become a channel sponsor; pay a fee and receive privileges such as access to exclusive content, posts on the Community tab, icons, emoticons, etc;
2. super chat on live broadcasts: viewers can pay to have their comments highlighted in size and color;
3. super gratitude from fans: a viewer can make a small donation by thanking a blogger for a certain stream or video; here you can get a lot of money if you «grow» an engaged audience of a YouTube channel.

Influencer marketing

Bloggers who have been doing what they love for a long time in Ukraine or abroad and put their hearts and souls into their YouTube channels have a warm audience that trusts them. That’s why business owners invest in influencer marketing. The author recommends a product or service in their videos, i.e., advertises it natively, and gets paid for it.

Reviews, commercial promotional videos, and the integration of ads into your content guarantee significant monetization of YouTube.

To speed up the search for interested business owners, there are special platforms such as Crowdtap and Upfluence.

Affiliate marketing

This is a type of monetization where partners (affiliates or platforms) receive a commission for each action taken by a customer based on their recommendation (e.g., purchase or registration). A blogger looks for sponsors and chooses what to advertise on his or her YouTube channel.

Influencer marketing is more focused on building trust and recognition, while partnerships are aimed at achieving specific financial results.

Earning money from affiliate marketing on YouTube is just as beneficial for a blogger with a large audience.

Content licensing

If an author has managed to create a video that has gone viral and garnered thousands or even millions of views, this is a good chance to connect monetization, including in Ukraine. You need to grant the rights to use your video to media companies and earn money. To conclude such an agreement, you can use special platforms such as Jukin Licensing.

Access to TV and streaming networks

When a vlogger reaches a high level and has an audience of millions, it becomes possible to connect monetization by offering their videos to streaming platforms and even TV. This, in turn, adds even more popularity to the blogger’s YouTube profile and increases earnings.

Ways to monetize on YouTube in Ukraine

Above, we have reviewed all the popular ways of monetizing through YouTube. But not all of them are available in Ukraine. There are 4 most popular options.

Earnings from YouTube Premium Ukraine

Although paying for a subscription gives benefits directly to the subscriber, the channel owner can also earn money. YouTube has taken care of bloggers and offers to receive a portion of the payment of YouTube Premium Ukraine viewers when they watch content from a particular blogger. That is, the author of videos that are viewed most often by paid YouTube Premium subscribers receives such small bonuses to monetization.

Super Chat and super stickers

It is a relevant way of monetization for those Ukrainian authors who regularly conduct live broadcasts. Viewers pay to buy the color of chat messages and animated stickers. To activate the feature, you need to go to YouTube Studio, select Monetization – Supers – Get Started. You can track statistics in the Monetization section.

Sponsorship

Exclusive subscribers who decide to become sponsors of the channel in Ukraine receive benefits such as a loyalty badge, emoticons, and unique content. You can connect this monetization method through YouTube Studio – Monetization – Sponsorship and follow the prompts.

YouTube Shorts Fund

Shorts have been available for monetization in Ukraine since 2022. Bloggers receive a reward from the platform for content views, ranging from $100 to $10,000. The payment comes from the YouTube Shorts fund.

Stages of entering YouTube for monetization

Before creating and configuring the channel itself, you need to take a few important steps.

Registration of a sole proprietorship

It is necessary in order not to lose all the money earned at the most crucial moment. After registering their activities, bloggers will work officially, and this gives them such advantages as easy cooperation with sponsors and advertisers.

To register, the author just needs to go to Diia.

Submit documents online:

• a scan of your passport and TIN;
• application for registration of a sole proprietorship;
• a screenshot or photo of the receipt of state duty payment, if applicable.

To choose the right group of sole proprietorships for YouTube activities, you should carefully study the features of each or seek advice from an accountant. After the registration is completed, the blogger receives a certificate and can start official activities and monetization.

Activating your AdSense account

YouTube monetization is impossible without creating and setting up a Google AdSense account. After all, you can earn money from ads embedded in video content only after registering with this system. It is convenient because it automatically selects advertisers depending on the topic of the channel.

Creating a YouTube channel: a step-by-step plan

If you do everything correctly and consistently, the risk of problems with promotion and monetization is minimal.

STEP 1. Content strategy.

You need a strategy to start monetizing YouTube faster. A clear plan of action includes the choice of video types, the regularity of video releases, a content plan for several weeks or a month ahead, short-term goals, etc. To create a high-quality strategy, you can analyze competitors and create a product that will stand out from the crowd.

STEP 2. Choose a topic.

Decide exactly what the main and related topics will be and stick to this decision. In this way, subscribers will come and stay, and later many of them can donate to the channel’s development, recommend it to friends, and help increase the owner’s earnings.

The topic should be relevant to the chosen target audience and the author should like it, then there is a chance to create a really popular and interesting YouTube channel.

STEP 3. Create a channel.

When you create a Google account, you automatically get your own YouTube channel. You can view it by clicking on your avatar, which is located at the top right of the YouTube home page.

If the owner plans to promote a personal brand, you can keep this name, otherwise, create another unique name that reflects the channel’s theme.

STEP 4. Registration.

The Personalize Channel button takes you to the YouTube Studio page, where you can manage your content (posts, broadcasts) and view statistics.

Start by clicking the «Branding» button and uploading a pre-prepared cover and description.

1. Cover.

It should be simple, easy to remember, and show the main point of the YouTuber’s activity. For example, the cover of the WEDEX agency looks like this:

Nothing more.

And this is how the cover for the music channel is designed:

The topic and directions are clearly understood.

2. Description.

You can change the name and description in the Basic information tab. The description is needed so that viewers, subscribers, and advertisers can learn more about the channel. Search robots also crawl this information and help promote it if you have the right thematic keywords. As an example, the description of the WEDEX:

STEP 5. Publish content on YouTube.

Before you start posting footage to your blog according to your content plan, take care of shooting and editing. This concept includes:

• a smartphone or a separate high-quality camera, a lapel microphone, and additional lighting;
• writing the text and script of the video, rehearsal;
• creating a visually appealing background and overall composition of the frame;
• shooting video with a change of plan – changing the close-up, distance, and middle plan together better keeps the viewer’s attention;
• editing the video, creating a unique cover for it, a short interesting preview, a description with keywords, and selecting tags.

It’s best to shoot several videos at once to follow the schedule of your content plan.

STEP 6. Promotion.

As soon as the author starts actively promoting his or her own videos, the question of how to make money on YouTube disappears. The basis is the correct description with keys and tags. Other effective methods of YouTube promotion are as follows:

Participation in the YouTube monetization program

When all the necessary steps are completed, you can move on to setting up YouTube monetization. So, once again, we check whether the channel complies with the YouTube monetization rules:

If all the requirements are met, you need to go to the Monetization section of YouTube Studio, submit an application, and wait for the platform to check and decide.

Setting up ad units on the channel

The next important step after receiving approval from YouTube is to set up ad units. They become available in  YouTube Studio and are used to select the types of future ads that the creator wants to see on the channel. The owner needs to find a balance between viewable and non-viewable ads, banners, etc.

Restrictions on YouTube monetization rights for Ukraine

Since the start of the full-scale invasion, many Ukrainian channels have faced restrictions on monetizing their content. Popular bloggers explain this by saying that the authors wanted to cover the events in Ukraine, and YouTube was not ready for the brutal truth. Over time, the platform’s policy changed slightly because these new rules meant supporting the aggressor. In 2022, the rules were updated:

Content creators from Ukraine should be careful not to talk about topics prohibited by the platform’s rules in their blogs, so as not to lose the opportunity to earn money from advertising.

While Ukrainian bloggers are trying to reveal the truth to the world, YouTube itself is also waging its own «battle» against those who block ads in videos. Users who use ad blockers on YouTube slow down videos, show pop-ups, and so on. The only way out is to watch videos with ads or buy YouTube Premium Ukraine.

How much can you earn on YouTube

Earnings on YouTube are the total amount that an author receives from the platform. Most of the money is usually earned from advertising (pay-per-view) and influencing, and the specific amount often depends on the number of subscribers and audience engagement.

According to the WebFX marketing platform, bloggers from the United States earn an average of $1,800 (with 1,000-10,000 followers) to $18,000 (500,000-1 million). Celebrities with more than a million followers earn approximately $24,000 per month.

In Ukraine, a similar study on the cost was published by the media platform Ekonomichna Pravda. They found out how much YouTube pays for 1000 views:

• for 1000 views of a promotional video of a few seconds in length that YouTube adds at the beginning of the author’s video, the payment is UAH 200-500;
• for 1000 views of a still image of a product or logo appearing in the frame, the payment is UAH 100 – 300;
• Influencers from Ukraine with 150 thousand views or more set the price of advertising at an average of UAH 25,000-70,000.

The amount of money earned also depends on the region, country of origin of the target audience, and the relevance and popularity of the topic.

The time to make money on YouTube is now

Monetization on Ukrainian YouTube is a real opportunity to turn creativity into a source of stable income. By joining the YouTube partnership program, bloggers have a chance to earn money through advertising, sponsorship, bonuses, super chats, and other features.

To activate monetization, a YouTube channel must gain at least 1000 subscribers and collect 4000 hours of views over the past 12 months. Successful monetization requires creating high-quality content and attracting a wide audience. It is important to keep in mind that for Ukrainian authors, due to the challenges associated with the full-scale invasion, monetization may be more difficult, but remains available.

Remember: regular checking for rule updates is essential. This is the only way to stay one step ahead and make the most of the platform’s capabilities.

Pavlo Vlasiuk

CMO

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