Use this page now
Who this is for
This page is for brand teams and creators who want a short, honest sponsor report.
Do this in the next 10 minutes
Pick the main goal. Is it views, clicks, sign-ups, sales, or content the brand can use again? Then make a short report. For reach, show views, watch time, who watched, and what people said. For action, show clicks and each step after the click that the brand can share. For content, show what the brand can use again and for how long. The tool below will do the math.
Decision rule
Pick the goal before the video goes live. A big number does not help if it has no link to that goal. Share only the numbers that answer the main question. Say where each number came from and the dates it covers. If a number is missing, say so. Do not guess. End with one thing to try next.
Track the goal, creator fee, views, link clicks, and what people did next for the same time span. Use sponsor links and promo codes when you can. Remove repeats. Then use the calculator below.
It shows both sides what to track, who has each number, and what the numbers can prove.
Viewer trust comes first. Fair creator pay and strong brand results both matter. An ad that harms trust will hurt both sides.
A creator makes the content and sends people who may care. The brand owns the offer, page, and sales path. Both sides need to share data so they can learn. Do not fill a gap with a guess.
A creator can help drive sales. Most deals should not make the creator promise a set sales number. If a deal does, both sides should agree to it before the work starts.
This page shows what happened in a deal. This tool does not work out revenue, profit, return on ad spend, or ROI. For that, use our YouTube sponsorship ROI guide.
Set the plan before the video goes live
Good tracking starts before the post. Write down these five things:
Pick one main action, such as a visit, sign-up, or sale.
Write down the full fee paid to the creator.
Give the deal its own sponsor link and promo code.
Pick the dates used to count results.
List what the creator and the brand will each share.
A launch may need an early report. Our rule of thumb is to wait 60 to 90 days for most final YouTube reports. Some videos need more time. Write down the dates you use.
Know who can see each number
For deals we manage, we can see the creator's YouTube data. We ask the brand what happened after each click. At a bare minimum, we need clicks and the final result. When we can, we also get each step in between.
The path may look like this: views → sponsor link clicks → sign-ups or other steps → the brand's main result. The main result may be a trial, call, form, funded account, or sale.
| Data | Who can often see it | What to write in the report |
|---|---|---|
| Views, view time, percent watched, and viewer retention | The creator in YouTube Analytics | Add the video link, date, time span, and view count time. |
| Likes, comments, and shares | The creator in YouTube Analytics | Call this whole-video engagement. It is not just the ad part. |
| Unique sponsor link clicks | The brand or its link tool | Use clicks from the same time span as the views. |
| What people do after the click | The brand in its site, app, or sales data | List each step you can see, such as a sign-up, call, or sale. This shows where people left. |
| Promo code actions | The brand in its code or sales data | Join these with sponsor link actions when you can. Remove repeats so one person counts once. |
| Creator fee | The brand and creator | Use the full fee paid to the creator. Do not add staff or other costs. |
The key YouTube sponsor metrics (KPIs)
KPI is short for key performance indicator. It is the main number tied to the campaign goal. Pick one main KPI. Then use the other numbers to show what happened.
Use plain names. Keep the source and time span next to each number.
The views shown at a set date and time.
The average time watched and share of the full video watched.
The viewer percent just before the ad minus the percent near its end.
Start percent − end percent
Unique sponsor link clicks as a share of video views.
Clicks ÷ views × 100
Actions tied to the sponsor link as a share of its unique clicks.
Link-tracked actions ÷ clicks × 100
Likes, comments, and shares as a share of video views.
Engagements ÷ views × 100
Sponsor link actions plus code-only actions after repeats are removed.
Link actions + code-only actions
The creator fee for each 1,000 video views.
Creator fee ÷ views × 1,000
The creator fee for each link click or tracked action.
Creator fee ÷ clicks or actions
YouTube uses “impressions click-through rate” for people who saw a thumbnail and then watched the video. That is not the same as sponsor link clicks. This guide calls the sponsor metric link click rate so the two do not get mixed up. You can check YouTube's impressions guide for its terms.
A real lesson, with names removed
In one deal we handled, a brand tested paid YouTube work, shared an early report, and later chose more work. We removed details that could identify either side.
The early report showed two useful parts of the sign-up path:
About 2.5% of unique visitors finished sign-up.
About 82% of people who started sign-up finished.
These rates show an early part of one funnel. They do not prove a sale, profit, or return on the deal. The names, dates, and raw counts are private.
Our repeat sponsor guide shows how to plan the next deal.
YouTube sponsor performance calculator
Build a sponsor report and work out click, action, and fee math. This includes the fee per 1,000 views, often called CPM. The tool leaves a result blank when it needs more data. Your data stays in your browser. It is not sent to us.
Build your sponsor report
Use views, clicks, and actions from the same dates. Do not mix counts from different time spans.
How to read the calculator
There is no one “good” click rate, action rate, or cost for every deal. A free app and a high-price service are not the same. Compare deals with the same goal, product, country, video type, link setup, and time span.
The tool uses the creator fee only. It does not add staff time, tools, or other brand costs. The tool shows math. It does not grade the deal.
These sums do not set a fair fee. A fair fee also depends on the work, fit, deal terms, and where the brand can use the ad.
What long-term tracking can show
Our Coursera and Shane Hummus case study covers 38 YouTube videos over 53 months. Brand data recorded 546,461 tracked clicks and 24,744 tracked purchases. Those purchases had $1.35 million in tracked Coursera purchase value.
The same buyer may be in the purchase count more than once. The click count is not known to be unique. The case also does not have one matched set of creator fee, views, and retention data. That makes it a good long-term case, but not a fair sample for this calculator.
Keep viewer retention in its own check
This calculator covers clicks, actions, and fee math, including the fee per 1,000 views. Viewer retention asks a different question: where did people stay or leave?
Use our separate YouTube audience retention guide for that check. Do not mix a retention score into the math above.
Set up a link the brand can track
A brand may add UTM tags to a landing page link. These tags help its web data name the source and campaign. Google says the names are case-sensitive, so use the same spelling each time. Here is one simple naming plan. The brand may use a different plan.
- utm_source: the creator or channel.
- utm_medium: the type of traffic, such as creator or youtube.
- utm_campaign: the deal or launch name.
- utm_content: an optional name for the video or ad spot.
Read Google's UTM campaign guide before you make the link. Ask the brand to test the final link before the video goes live. Check it once more when the video is live.
Use a sponsor link and promo code when you can. Some people will use only one. If one person clicks the link and uses the code, count that person once in the total tracked actions.
How to measure many YouTube creator deals
A brand may run many creator ads at once. Use the same setup for each one so the report stays fair.
- Give each creator, video, and ad spot its own ID.
- Use the same field names in every report.
- Compare results at the same report age.
- Keep raw views, clicks, link actions, and code-only actions next to each rate.
- Mark data as missing when it was not shared. Missing is not zero.
- Split results when the offer, country, video type, or ad spot is not the same.
For the full group, add all tracked clicks first. Then divide by all video views. Do not take a plain average of each creator's rate, since a small video and a large video should not have the same weight.
Group link click rate = all unique sponsor link clicks ÷ all video views × 100
Say what the data cannot prove
Tracked data has gaps. A viewer may see the ad, search for the brand later, and buy without the link. A person may click on a phone and buy on a laptop. A promo code can also be missed.
That is why “tracked actions” is better than “all actions.” Google's credit guide shows how a data tool may give credit across a buyer's path.
A rise in searches for the brand can be a clue, but it is not proof that one ad caused the change. A sale, news story, or other ad may have helped too.
Do not turn a gap into a guess. Say what was tracked, what was shared, and what was not known.
Views, view time, percent watched, likes, comments, and shares come from YouTube Analytics. YouTube also gives the retention graph.
Creators Agency made the click, action, fee per 1,000 views, and fee-per-result formulas from those fields and brand data.
The UTM notes come from Google Analytics help. This guide does not promise a result.
Turn the report into the next useful step
Send the report on the date you set. Keep it short. If the brand and viewers are still a good fit, add one idea for a new video.
Use the next brand deal guide to pick the next step. You can ask this brand for a new test, get a warm intro, pitch a new brand, or help more brands find you.
Common questions
Track the creator fee, video views, view time, viewer retention, sponsor link clicks, and each step after the click. Track promo code uses too. Remove repeats before you count all tracked actions. Add the time span and source for each number.
Give each creator, video, and ad spot its own ID. Use the same fields and report age for each deal. Keep views, clicks, and tracked actions next to each rate. Mark missing data as missing, not zero. Split work with different offers, countries, video types, or ad spots. For a group rate, add all views and clicks first, then do the math. Do not take a plain average of each creator's rate.
Divide unique sponsor link clicks by video views. Then multiply by 100. Use views and clicks from the same time span. Call this link click rate, since YouTube uses click-through rate for a different thumbnail number.
There is no one good rate for every deal. Compare the same product, goal, link, country, video type, and time span. On this page, link click rate means unique sponsor link clicks divided by video views. It is not YouTube's thumbnail click-through rate.
The brand should share clicks and what happened after them, such as sign-ups or sales. If it can, it should join link and promo code data and remove repeats. If the brand does not share a number, mark it not shared. Never guess.
Use the audience retention graph in YouTube Analytics. Keep this check apart from click, action, and fee math. Compare the sponsored part with other videos from the same channel.
No. Performance tells you what happened, such as views, clicks, and tracked actions. ROI asks if the money earned was more than the money spent. Keep revenue, profit, ROAS, and ROI in a separate report.
Plan a creator campaign.
Tell us the goal, budget, and audience. We will help you build a clear plan.
Book a Strategy Call →Learn more about brand deals.
Follow us for plain tips on rates, reports, and sponsor talks.
Follow on Instagram →