Types of YouTube sponsorships, compared

Each format buys a different kind of attention and asks a different amount of work from the creator. Prices vary too much between channels to list, so this table compares everything else. For the money side, see how much to pay YouTubers.

An integration is a segment inside a video the creator was making anyway. The audience came for the video, not for you, so the segment has to earn their attention in the creator's own style. Ask where it will sit: viewers who leave before it never see it, and the creator can see from their retention graph in YouTube Studio where people tend to drop off.

A dedicated video is about your product from start to finish. You get far more time and detail, and a video that people searching for your product category may find for months. In return it's more work for the creator, and the whole video is advertising, so it needs to be labelled as an ad from the very start. Choose it when the product needs showing properly, or after an integration with the same creator has done well.

Shorts are YouTube's short vertical videos. They're quick to make and suit products that make sense at a glance. The catch is links: YouTube says URLs in Shorts descriptions and comments aren't clickable. For a reported brand deal, the creator can add a link to your site as a sticker and in the description. Otherwise, rely on a discount code or a short web address said aloud.

A livestream mention reaches the people watching live and anyone who watches the replay. It suits products that benefit from questions, such as gear the creator can demonstrate and talk through. Disclosure works differently live: the FTC's disclosure guide asks for it to be repeated during the stream, so people who join late still hear it.

Affiliate links

A tracked link that pays the creator a commission on sales. It can be added to a paid integration, or used alone by creators who already review products with affiliate links. Alone, it puts all the risk on the creator.

Discount codes

A code unique to the creator gives viewers a reason to buy now and gives you a way to count sales from people who never clicked. It's the simplest way to track Shorts and spoken mentions.

Product placement

Your product appears in use, without a dedicated pitch: the blender on the counter, the backpack on the hike. It's subtle, which is the appeal, but it still needs disclosing. YouTube's paid promotion setting names "product placement" alongside sponsorship and endorsement.

Pinned comments and description links

Cheap to add to any deal: ask for your link in the first lines of the description and a pinned comment, and agree how long they stay. On their own they get little attention.

A series or ambassador deal covers several videos over months, sometimes with the creator agreeing not to work with competitors. Repetition helps viewers remember you, and one agreement replaces several negotiations. The risk is committing before you know a creator works for you, and exclusivity costs the creator other deals, so it's priced in.

• Start with an integration, plus a tracked link and a code, with one creator. It's the cheapest way to learn your own numbers.
• Move to a dedicated video when the product needs explaining, or when the integration did well.
• Use Shorts for reach and long-form for explanation. If you need clicks, plan for a code or a brand deal link.
• Sign a series only with creators you've tested, and keep exclusivity narrow.
• Put the format in writing. Your creator brief should name the deliverables exactly.

The right format depends on what a channel actually makes. Nakodo flags channels where more than 60% of recent uploads are Shorts, so you know before you pitch an integration. It works out median views from up to 20 recent uploads, preferring long-form over Shorts, and gives every creator a fit score with its reasons in plain sentences. The full method is on how Nakodo works.