Best Type of Videos on YouTube to Make Money and Grow Subscribers
Regardless of the niche or genre, you create YouTube videos on, there is space and opportunities for growth for anyone and everyone on YouTube.
There is an audience for all types of content, and as long as you make constant efforts to optimize your video to reach this target audience, you can grow your YouTube channel.
However, the same cannot be said for how much money YouTubers create through their content.
There are stark differences as to how much a YouTuber earns through their content. This also comes down to the niche, and category on which they create the content.
If this is news to you, continue reading to find out what’s the best type of videos on YouTube to make money and grow subscribers.
Does YouTube Pay Equally for All Niches?
Before we go into the finite details of how YouTube pays the creators in different niches of the YouTube Partner Program, we need to get a better picture of how YouTube payments work.
Contrary to how monetization programs work for most of the mainstream social media platforms, YouTube has a structured monetization system that pays creators based on ad-revenue sharing.
The amount YouTube gets from a brand or company for an advertisement is split as 55% for the creator and 45% for YouTube.
Every time the ad gets played in the creator’s channel, they get 55% of the ad value per view or the amount the brand or company pays YouTube to host their ad one time.
For more clarity on the ad-value metric, YouTube has its own term called CPM (cost per millie)
CPM or cost per millie is the amount of money advertisers pay to YouTube per 1000 views.
Creators will have different CPM depending on several factors - like the advertisements that are running on your channel, the total views your videos get, and the brand value of the ad.
To further simplify how CPM works on YouTube, consider a scenario where your video gets 100,000 views, and your CPM is $7.50. This means that the video’s total revenue is $750, and you get 55% of the revenue YouTube generates, which is $412.50
Applicable taxes are also deducted from your CPM before you get paid, which will again slash a few more dollars of your total revenue.
Do All YouTube Niches Generate the Same Revenue?
There is no official confirmation regarding the same from YouTube.
However, not all ads pay the same for a creator, and not all views translate to ad revenue as YouTube calculates ad revenue through CPM or per 1000 views.
It is therefore technically safe to say that not all YouTube niches generate the same revenue.
For instance, when it comes to shopping seasons like Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Boxing Day, Prime Day, or Big Billion Day, channels that make tech-related content get a massive boost in their CPM because of the general increase in interest in tech products and gadgets.
However, this quickly comes down once the events are over, as people move over to other niches like food, lifestyle, and so on.
On the flip side, other niches get a boost in CPM, and creators that make content on the same get the boost this time.
Depending on seasonal changes different niches generate different types of revenue.
So it’s safe to conclude that different YouTube niches generate different revenue!
What are the Best YouTube Niches to Generate More Revenue?
The niche you can create high-quality content on is your strongest niche, no questions asked.
However, there are some niches that generally fall as comparatively easier niches or categories to grow your subscribers, and generate more revenue.
To make life easier, especially for creators that are just starting out, we have compiled a list of some of the best YouTube niches to generate more revenue and grow your following.
Let’s take a look at some of these:
1. Making Money Online
This is one niche that grew to superficial ranges in popularity, views, and overall search, especially during the pandemic, and the subsequent lockdowns.
As many businesses struggled, employees started losing jobs, and lockdowns increased social media consumption rates rapidly.
This also led to a massive boom in the number of creators, as people genuinely had more time to consider content creation - some as a hobby, others as a full-time profession and revenue source.
As people started exploring more ways to make money through content, it opened new gateways for the niche of making money online.
Today, there are plenty of creators and amazing content on different passive income streams like making money online through blogs, affiliate marketing, influencer marketing, and many more.
The best thing about this niche is that even after the pandemic settled down and normalcy returned, the drop-down on things like passive income and affiliate marketing is very minimal.
Therefore the making money online niche is set to become even bigger and definitely one of the best niches to generate more revenue and increase your subscribers.
2. Social Media Marketing
Almost all of the mainstream social media platforms are growing at a rapid rate, and there’s space for growth for creators on almost every single social networking platform.
This creates a lot of queries and concerns among the creators, and where do they look for answers?
Yes, Google or any other mainstream search engine can be a good source of information, but they don’t offer the flexibility and ease of video walkthroughs and that’s where YouTube comes into play.
At the end of the day, YouTube is a search engine for videos, and you can find content for almost any search query.
That’s why social media marketing is one niche, where you can find a huge collection of videos that answer questions like how to start a YouTube channel, or how to grow your following on Instagram, and many more.
You can find answers for almost every social media marketing topic and there are YouTube channels like Vidiq, and Think Media that create dedicated videos for YouTube education.
Social media marketing is a topic that also has unlimited potential as new updates, features, and even new social media platforms are being introduced every other day.
3. Tech, Gadgets, and Reviews
Want to buy a new smartphone, or not sure if the new iPhone is a worthy upgrade - where do you go for a second opinion?
Your favorite tech YouTuber of course or simply binge-watch multiple YouTube videos on the topic to see multiple perspectives, pros, cons, and a 360-degree walkthrough of the product.
As most of the latest tech products and innovative gadgets are all expensive, it is very normal for people to explore more about the product before making a purchase.
Most of the new tech products are also usually long-term investments.
It helps to have a better understanding of what the tech product is all about, and that’s where YouTube tech reviews help.
Tech creators who have an established audience are also considered to be reliable sources of information, and viewers will always come back to them for more information as new products launch.
Brands also know this, and usually give products to creators for reviewing purposes or as paid collaborations, in return for new customers.
This makes tech, gadgets, and reviews an ideal niche to grow your subscribers, and earn more money.
4. Cooking
As long as there are people on this planet, and as long as YouTube allows creators to upload videos, there will be cooking videos on YouTube.
Who does not love a new dish, or simply watch someone cook something completely new?
Another major advantage of the cooking niche is that there are no language barriers for cooking videos, as there is only one universal language for food.
You are not restricted to any geographical audience when it comes to cooking videos, and even if you don’t add subtitles, people will still watch you cook just to see the cultural differences in cooking.
Cooking videos are also evergreen content and even if you bake a Christmas cake once, it will continue to peak in terms of views with each passing Christmas.
If you are already in the YouTube Partner Program, you can expect a significant increase in ad revenue during seasonal events.
Cooking is a niche where you can also expect collaborations from brands that create cooking accessories, food items, and ingredients.
5. Fashion, Beauty, and Skincare
These are three different niches that often cross over each other and feature a line-up of creators that often make videos on all these three topics.
Fashion, Beauty, and Skincare are three niches that have the most potential for collaborations.
You can find collaborations for almost all of these niches from the get-go, even though smaller channels will usually only get smaller collaborations, and barter promotions in most case scenarios.
The best thing about fashion, beauty, and skincare as a niche is that followers you get in this niche are usually lifelong subscribers, and watch most of your uploads.
Fashion, beauty, and skincare have been such a strong niche that it is safe to say these influencers and creators on YouTube now contribute more than fashion magazines like Vogue and Cosmo in the fashion, beauty, and skincare scene.
Fashion, beauty, and skincare brands also reach out to creators on YouTube for paid collaborations which makes it an ideal niche to grow your brand and earn more revenue with every new video.
Best of the Rest
While these niches are some of the best niches to consistently grow your following and increase your subscribers, there are also plenty of other niches that do an equally impressive job.
We have rounded out some of the top-performing niches that can also help you establish a cult following and steadily increase your earnings on YouTube over time.
Let’s take a quick look at some of these niches:
- Education
- Movie Reviews
- Automobile Reviews
- Gaming
- Reaction
- Vines
- Travel
- Entertainment