YouTube brands don't evaluate your channel the way Instagram brands evaluate your grid.
They pull up your analytics, and the first thing they want to see is watch time. Not your subscriber count. Not your upload frequency. Watch time, audience retention, and click-through rate. The numbers that tell them whether people actually watch what you make.
If your YouTube media kit leads with subscriber count, you're already on the back foot. A creator with 40K engaged subscribers who hold 65% retention through a 15-minute video is more valuable than one with 200K subscribers and a 22% average view duration. Brands know this math. Your media kit should show it before they have to ask.
This guide covers exactly what to put in your YouTube media kit: which metrics matter, how to present your rate card for integrations vs. dedicated videos, and how to structure the whole thing so a brand can skim it in two minutes and know you're worth every dollar.
What Makes a YouTube Media Kit Different
Most media kit advice is written with Instagram in mind. Follower count, engagement rate, Story views — those metrics drive the conversation on photo-and-short-video platforms. YouTube operates on completely different signals.
On YouTube, the relevant metrics are:
- Average view duration / audience retention — what percentage of a video people watch through. Strong retention on a long video is the proof a brand wants. A steep drop-off early in a video is a problem, because many integrations land a few minutes in.
- Watch time (total hours) — signals channel authority and affects YouTube's algorithm weighting. Brands care because it correlates with content that actually gets surfaced.
- Click-through rate (CTR) — how often your thumbnails convert impressions to views. This tells a brand you have a real audience relationship, not just passive subscribers.
- Subscriber tier — still relevant, but as a baseline, not the headline. It sets the rate floor. The other metrics determine where you land within that range.
Your YouTube media kit needs to surface all four. If your kit only shows subscriber count and upload schedule, a savvy brand is going to feel like something is missing.
What Brands Actually Pull Up in the Meeting
When a brand's marketing team reviews your kit before a call, they're cross-referencing what you've sent against your YouTube Studio public numbers.
That means your kit shouldn't hide anything they can verify. If your average view duration is 55%, put it in the kit. If it's 28%, you'll want to contextualize it — show them your niche category benchmark or highlight your retention on videos similar to the sponsored format they're proposing.
Brands are used to creators sending kits that front-load vanity metrics. A kit that includes audience retention, watch time, and CTR alongside subscriber count reads as professional and transparent. That's the positioning you want.
Which YouTube Metrics to Highlight (and How to Present Them)
Your media kit should present metrics in a hierarchy: the numbers that answer "does this channel perform?" before the numbers that answer "how big is it?"
Tier 1 — Lead with these:
- Average view duration (as a percentage and as a time)
- Audience retention rate (at the 30%, 50%, and 75% marks if you have data)
- Unique viewers per month (more honest than raw views, which can spike from algorithm luck)
- Total watch time over the last 90 days
Tier 2 — Include but don't lead with:
- Subscriber count (with YoY or 6-month growth)
- Average views per video (trailing 12 months, not cherry-picked)
- CTR on standard uploads
Tier 3 — Context metrics (helpful for niche or specific brand asks):
- Audience demographics (age, gender, top locations)
- Device split (mobile vs. desktop matters for brands running concurrent social campaigns)
- Comments-per-view ratio (a proxy for audience engagement quality)
The layout matters. Don't dump this into a table and call it done. Group Tier 1 metrics in a highlighted stats block at the top of the analytics page. Brands skim — make the best numbers impossible to miss.
How to Price YouTube Integrations vs. Dedicated Videos in Your Media Kit
This is where most YouTube creators either undercharge or confuse brands. Your media kit needs to show two clearly distinct rate tiers for two clearly distinct products.
YouTube Integrations
An integration is a sponsored segment embedded within a video that exists for your audience's benefit — a cooking video, a gaming walkthrough, a travel vlog. The brand is buying 60–90 seconds of your attention, not the full video. Base rates for integrations by subscriber tier:
| Subscribers | Integration Rate |
|---|---|
| 25K | $700–$1,350 |
| 50K | $1,200–$2,400 |
| 100K | $2,200–$4,400 |
| 250K | $4,800–$9,600 |
These are base rates. Usage rights, exclusivity, and boosting rights are separate line items — not included.
YouTube Dedicated Videos
A dedicated video means the brand is the subject of the entire video.
A full review, an unboxing, a "I tried X for 30 days" format. The brand is buying your audience's complete attention for 8, 12, 15 minutes. That's a fundamentally different product, and the price reflects it. In Selah's pricing, a dedicated video runs about 2× the integration rate.
| Subscribers | Dedicated Video Rate |
|---|---|
| 25K | $1,350–$2,700 |
| 50K | $2,400–$4,900 |
| 100K | $4,400–$8,800 |
| 250K | $9,600–$19,200 |
Present both in your kit, side by side, so brands immediately understand their options. Label them clearly. Brands who have only worked with Instagram creators often don't know this distinction exists — your kit is educating them and setting the frame before they anchor low.
Build a rate card brands will respect →
How to Structure Your YouTube Media Kit
A YouTube media kit has five pages or sections. You can deliver it as a PDF, a Notion page, or a link to a media kit builder. The structure matters more than the format.
Page 1: Introduction + Channel Overview
Your name, channel name, niche, upload frequency, and one sentence on what your audience comes to you for. Keep this tight. Brands don't need your origin story on page one — they need to know if you're in the right category.
Include a recent thumbnail grid (6–9 videos) so brands can immediately see your content style without clicking over to YouTube.
Page 2: Analytics Dashboard
This is the most important page in a YouTube media kit and the one most creators underinvest in. Lay out your Tier 1 metrics prominently, then your Tier 2 metrics. A screenshot of your YouTube Studio analytics overview can work here if the numbers are strong — just make sure it's legible and current (within the last 90 days).
Don't cherry-pick a 30-day window where you had a viral video. Brands will ask for trailing 90 days on a call. Show them what's real.
Page 3: Audience Demographics
Age breakdown, gender split, top geographic locations, and device split. If you have a strong first-party audience (newsletter subscribers, Patreon members, community tab engagement), note that here — it signals loyalty beyond the algorithm.
Page 4: Rate Card
Two columns: integrations and dedicated videos. Both columns show your base rate. Below the rate table, add a short note on the add-ons that cost extra and how each is priced — usage rights for the brand to run your video in their ads, exclusivity by category, and rush turnaround.
Most brands will ask about usage rights. If a brand wants to run your dedicated video as a pre-roll ad from their account, that's paid usage on top of your content fee. Don't leave it as a footnote — price it clearly so there's no ambiguity in the negotiation. Selah's rate card builds this breakdown automatically, including YouTube deliverable types, so you're not doing the math by hand every time a brief changes.
Page 5: Past Collaborations + Testimonials
A short list of past brand deals (logo grid is fine), and ideally one or two quotes from brand contacts or performance notes from past campaigns. If a past integration drove measurable clicks or conversions, include the headline number. This page closes the kit and answers the implicit question every brand has: has someone else trusted this creator and been happy about it?
For more on what separates a rate card from a full media kit — and why the distinction matters in brand deal negotiations — see what to include in your influencer media kit.
The Add-Ons to List on Your Rate Card
This is where most YouTube creators leave money on the table. The base rate is for the video itself. Everything beyond that is a separate line item.
- Usage rights — if the brand wants to repurpose your video or clip it for their own paid ads, that's paid usage. Price it as a percentage of your content fee by duration.
- Exclusivity — if they want you to avoid competing brands in a category for a period, that costs extra. Standard 30-day category exclusivity runs 30% of your content fee.
- Rush turnaround — delivery inside a week adds 50% to your content fee.
- Ad boosting / Spark Code equivalent — YouTube doesn't have Spark Codes, but brands sometimes ask to run your video as a paid ad from their channel. That's a distinct licensing arrangement. Price it accordingly and cap the duration.
A real deal breakdown for a 100K subscriber creator:
| Line item | Amount |
|---|---|
| 1× YouTube Integration | $3,300 |
| 1-month exclusivity | $1,000 |
| 3-month paid usage rights | $1,800 |
| Total | $6,100 |
Without the add-ons, a creator at this tier might have sent $3,300 and called it done. The full deal is worth materially more.
For a deeper look at how integration and dedicated video rates differ — and when each format makes sense for a brand — the full breakdown is in YouTube integration vs. dedicated video pricing.
Keeping Your Media Kit Current
A YouTube media kit should be updated every 90 days, minimum. Your analytics change. Your rates should grow with your channel. Sending a media kit with 6-month-old analytics to a brand who can see your public stats is a trust problem before the conversation even starts.
If you're pitching proactively, customize the intro section for each brand — one or two sentences on why your audience specifically is relevant to their product. The analytics page stays the same. The framing shifts. That small adjustment tells a brand you did your homework, which matters in a category where most creator pitches are copy-paste.
Your rate is not a secret. Put it in the kit. Brands who see pricing upfront self-select: the ones who move forward already know what they're signing up for. That's a better conversation than spending three emails discovering you're not in the same zip code on budget.
Build a rate card brands will respect →
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I include in a YouTube media kit?
Your channel overview, a full analytics section (prioritizing watch time, audience retention, and average view duration), audience demographics, a rate card with integration and dedicated video pricing separated, and examples of past brand partnerships. Subscriber count belongs in the kit but shouldn't be the lead number.
How is a YouTube media kit different from an Instagram media kit?
Instagram media kits prioritize follower count and engagement rate. YouTube media kits need to show watch time, audience retention percentage, and view duration — the metrics that tell a brand whether your audience actually watches. Brands running YouTube campaigns care far more about retention than raw subscriber count.
Should I include my rates in my YouTube media kit?
Yes. Listing your rates filters out brands who can't afford you before the conversation starts, and it signals that you treat this professionally. Include both integration rates and dedicated video rates as separate line items.
How often should I update my YouTube media kit?
At least every 90 days. Your analytics window should always be current, and your rates should reflect channel growth. Sending a kit with stale numbers to a brand who can pull your public stats in thirty seconds is a credibility problem.
What's the difference between a YouTube integration and a dedicated video for brand deal pricing?
An integration is a sponsored segment inside a video your audience is watching for another reason — typically 60–90 seconds. A dedicated video is an entire video about the brand's product. A dedicated video is priced at about 2× the integration rate because the brand is buying your full audience's attention for the entire runtime, not a window within it.