Hi Upview fam,

It has been exciting past few days here at Upview!

We started inviting our #waitlist members to try our newly launched platform. If you’re not on the waitlist already, register here.

Last week, we talked about the YouTube monetization checklist and the highest CPM countries.

I want to build on the CPM basics in today’s letter.

Because many creators under-utilize their CPM understanding.

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I want to change that in today’s letter.

CPM is far from some additional, “good-to-have” info.

It has practical value, directly linked to your content strategy.

Let’s see how

But before I move ahead, a quick recap on CPM.

“Cost Per Thousand” views (or “Cost Per Mille”) represent the amount advertisers pay for every 1,000 ad impressions on a YouTube video.

Creators and YouTube get 55% and 45% of the ad money, respectively.

Where do advertisers spend money?

Suppose there are only two categories of YouTube videos, X and Y.

When advertisers display their ad on category-X video and category-Y video, they observe that the ad on category-X performs better than that of Y.

“Performing well” means: the audience of that video is taking some action such as clicking on an ad, purchasing their product, etc.

Hence, advertisers want to pay more to display their ads on the category-X videos.

Direct link to content strategy

Understanding your content’s CPM can help you decide what changes you want to make in your content strategy if maximizing revenue is your goal.

Needless to say, these action points are not one-off tricks, they’re part of a long-term strategy.

1. What content category to focus on?

Different categories of videos have different CPM rates.

For example, YouTube videos focusing on topics around “making money online” have higher CPM than videos focusing on “video games”.

So, if the majority of your current content is low CPM category, you may want to review your focus.

2. Which demography to serve?

If you remember, in my last letter, I shared a brief list of the highest CPM countries.

In that list, Norway’s average CPM was around $43 compared to the USA’s $13.

This provides a rare opportunity for some creators to pivot their content if it is not performing well in other demographics.

But, there is a catch.

The volume of effective audiences (read views) may change drastically from one demographic to another.

For example, Norway’s population is 5+ million against the USA’s 300+ million. (Pls, note Norway’s per capita income is higher than the US with approximately $30k difference.)

3. What should be the content duration?

To maximize revenue, you need to consider how many more ads you can place in your video content.

Videos that are longer than 10 minutes can have multiple ad breaks.

This provides more opportunities for getting additional revenue.

Look at this example image, each yellow spot on the video timeline shows ad placement during the 50-minute-long video.

4. When to release new content?

Due to seasonal trends, CPM rates tend to change.

For example, the rates tend to be higher during the holiday season. Because the advertisers are keen on spending more to get more conversions.

This understanding allows you to time your content during the year.

5. Which ad format to choose?

Did you know there are six ad formats on YouTube videos?

Each format affects your revenue differently.

Probably I will cover it in future letters.

But for simplicity, ask yourself “Which ad format will get the viewer to click on it or watch it without skipping?”

The one with a positive response would be a suitable ad format for your video.

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So, did today’s letter change anything for you?

What does CPM mean to you, in terms of content strategy?

Hit Reply and share with me.

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Thank you for the warm response!

Thanks to everyone who could join the webinar last week.

Seeing everyone’s response, we will keep organizing such webinars in the future.

For the next few days, we are inviting our waitlist members to access the Upview platform for free. If you’re not on the list yet, don’t forget to register here.

Keep creating!

Bhavik Muni

CEO & Co-founder