YouTube wants creators to submit their videos to brands

Over TikTokMore and more YouTubers are choosing to create content about brands that sell products on the platform’s digital store, hoping to earn a share of the revenue from affiliate marketing. YouTube doesn’t have an e-commerce hub of this scale, but it’s still encouraging DIY connections between creators and brands with a new update YouTube Studio.

Before, if a creator in the YouTube Partner Program uploaded an organic, non-sponsored video about a brand’s products (e.g. a mukbanger eats a restaurant’s entire menu, a beauty expert tries out a new foundation, or an artist tries out new software), the brand could be over Contact YouTube Studio and ask to link the video to your own system Google Ads. If the creator agreed to link, the brand would be able to see the video’s performance in Google Ads and would have the license to use the content in future marketing efforts.

With this new update, it’s not just brands reaching out to creators – creators can reach out to brands too.

“We are introducing the ability for YPP creators with more than 4,000 subscribers to send video link requests for Shorts to advertisers via YouTube Studio,” a YouTube spokesperson said in the platform’s latest release Creator Insider Video.

YouTube calls this “creator-initiated starred content” and says it will recommend participating creators’ videos to brands.

Creators don’t make money from these video link requests, but this could be another avenue for them – especially for newer creators who may not know how to reach brands themselves or have difficulty doing so from brands who are inundated with emails to respond to them – to connect with companies that could sponsor them for future content.

And while posting a YouTube short about a product or brand doesn’t generate immediate affiliate marketing revenue, creators are still enticed to create videos about brands they believe are using creator-led marketing. We see a scenario where a Shorts creator might choose one cleaning product brand over another when doing their regular household shopping because they know that brand sponsors the creator, and they hope that by making a video about it, they will also get sponsored by that brand becomes .

This change is now rolling out to creators in the YouTube Partner Program. Here at Tube filterwe will use ours Gospel Stats Weekly Brand Reports to watch for changes in brands paying for creators’ content.