- Set one goal and one market.
- Search channels by audience, not by size.
- Vet recent views and audience data.
- Contact the creator with a clear, short offer.
- Negotiate format, price, rights and dates.
- Send a brief with messages, claims and tracking.
- Approve the script and the final cut.
- Publish with a clear ad disclosure.
- Measure each creator and scale the ones that sell.
1. Set one goal
Sales, app installs, sign-ups or awareness. Pick one per campaign and write down the market: country, language and the customer you want to reach. A goal decides everything that follows: which creators, which format, which metric. A campaign with three goals ends up being judged by none.
2. Search for channels by audience
Start from your customer, not from a list of famous YouTubers. Ask what they watch: travel vlogs, personal finance, tech reviews, comedy, family channels. Then search YouTube for those topics in your customer’s language, look at who your competitors have sponsored, and note mid-sized channels that rank for searches your customers make.
Our creator network is strongest among Spanish-speaking creators in Spain and Latin America, which saves you this step if that is your market.
3. Vet the audience
This is where most money is lost. Before talking price, ask for:
- Median views of the last 10 long videos. Not subscribers, not the one viral hit.
- Audience by country, age and gender, as screenshots from YouTube Studio.
- Comments that show real conversation, not generic spam.
- Past sponsors: how often they run ads, which brands, and how naturally they presented them.
- Brand safety: topics, language and controversies your brand is not comfortable with.
4. Make contact
Most creators list a business email in the About tab of their channel, or work through a manager or an agency. Keep the first message short: who you are, why their audience fits your product and that you would like to talk about a paid collaboration. Ask for their rates and availability. A long first email with every condition gets ignored.
5. Negotiate the deal
Agree on paper:
- Format and placement: integration, dedicated video or Shorts, length of the mention and where it goes. See integration vs dedicated video.
- Price, translated into CPM so you can compare creators. Market ranges are in our guide on how much a YouTube sponsorship costs.
- Dates: script, draft, final cut and publication.
- Usage rights if you want to reuse the clip in ads, and for how long.
- Exclusivity: which competitors and for how many days.
- Payment terms and what happens if the video is delayed or removed.
6. Send the brief
The brief tells the creator what must be said and leaves them free to say it their way. It includes the product, the key messages, what you can and cannot claim, the call to action, the link and code, and the disclosure. Use our YouTube sponsorship brief template.
7. Approve the script and the final cut
Two approvals are enough: the script or talking points before filming, and the final edit before publishing. Check facts, claims, the link and the disclosure. Do not rewrite the creator’s jokes: their audience can tell, and an integration that sounds like an ad gets skipped.
8. Publish with a clear ad disclosure
A sponsored video must say it is sponsored. It protects your brand, and viewers trust creators who are open about it.
- On YouTube: the creator ticks the paid promotion option in YouTube Studio, which adds a disclosure label at the beginning of the video (YouTube Help).
- In the US: FTC staff guidance says the disclosure should be in the video and not just in the description, and that viewers are more likely to notice disclosures made in both audio and video (FTC, Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers).
- In Spain: the Code of Conduct on advertising through influencers promoted by AUTOCONTROL, aea and IAB Spain, in force since October 1, 2025, asks for clear labels such as “publicidad”, “publi”, “en colaboración con” or “patrocinado por”. On YouTube the label must appear from the start of the promotional segment, or be said out loud before talking about the product (AUTOCONTROL, 2025 code).
- Large creators in Spain also fall under the General Audiovisual Communication Law (Ley 13/2022, article 94). Royal Decree 444/2024 applies it to users with at least €300,000 in yearly income from video platforms and at least 1 million followers on one platform or 2 million in total, among other conditions (BOE).
This is a practical summary, not legal advice. Check the rules of each market you advertise in.
9. Measure and scale
Give every creator a unique link, code or QR code, and measure views, clicks, sales and cost per sale per creator. Do not judge on the first week: a YouTube video keeps getting views for months. Keep the creators that sell, replace the rest and turn the winners into recurring partners. Our guide on YouTube sponsorship ROI explains the metrics and the formula.
Do it in-house or with an agency?
You can run all nine steps yourself. It takes time: finding the right channels, getting real data, negotiating over dozens of emails and chasing approvals. An agency pays off when you want several creators, several markets or results fast. ICONX can run the whole process for you, from the shortlist to the report. See how we manage YouTube sponsorships.
Frequently asked questions
How do I sponsor a YouTube channel?
Set one goal, shortlist channels whose audience matches your customers, vet their recent views and audience data, contact them with a clear offer, agree deliverables and price, send a brief, approve the script and the final cut, publish with a clear ad disclosure and measure each creator with unique links and codes.
How do I contact a YouTuber for a sponsorship?
Most creators list a business email in the About tab of their channel, or are represented by a manager or agency. Keep the first message short: who you are, why their audience fits and that you want to talk about a paid collaboration.
Does a sponsored YouTube video have to be labeled as an ad?
Yes. YouTube requires creators to tick the paid promotion option, which shows a label at the start of the video. In the US, FTC staff guidance says the disclosure should be in the video itself, not only in the description. In Spain, the 2025 influencer advertising code of AUTOCONTROL, aea and IAB Spain asks for a clear label such as “publicidad” from the start of the promotional segment.
How long does it take to sponsor a YouTube channel?
Plan on several weeks from first contact to publication. Creators plan their uploads in advance, and the script and the final edit both need an approval round.
Should I sponsor one big channel or several mid-sized ones?
For a first campaign, several mid-sized channels usually teach you more: you can compare creators, find the ones that sell and scale them. One big channel is a bigger bet on a single video.
