I recently wrote a blog about how much bloggers can make in Nigeria via the Google Adsense program.
Ever since then, I’ve received a flurry of messages about how much someone can make through YouTube in Nigeria.
There are so many questions that need to be answered on this issue.
Are YouTubers well paid in Nigeria?
Is YouTube a lucrative venture to start in Nigeria?
How much can you earn per month as a YouTuber in Nigeria?
How easy or hard is it to build a popular YouTube channel that makes money in Nigeria?
So, I’m going to try my best to give an overview or estimate of what level of earnings YouTube can give you.
Let’s dive in.
The YouTube Lifestyle
The truth remains that YouTube is a lucrative venture if you find the right niche where you can thrive.
While some people find it difficult to assume screen roles, others are natural in it.
If you enjoy acting a role or talking on screen, then the YouTube lifestyle may just be for you
Starting As A YouTuber in Nigeria
To start as a YouTuber in Nigeria, you have to find a niche that is good for you.
A niche is like a category where you can focus your content, or a particular topic that you love producing content around.
Most of the popular YouTubers in Nigeria focus on one of the following niches:
- Comedy
- Music
- Movies
- Beauty
- Making Money
- Recipes
- Lifestyle
That should tell you the niches that are thriving on YouTube in Nigeria, but should not limit you in terms of content ideas.
For more context, let’s consider some popular YouTube channels in Nigeria and what niche they focus on.
Most Popular YouTubers in Nigeria
- Mark Angel Comedy – Comedy Videos – 7.7million Subscribers
- Editorial Natural beauty 556 – Natural Beauty tips – 2.7million subscribers
- Samspedy – Comedy Videos – 2million subscribers
- Success Secrets TV – Success Tips – 1.2million subscribers
- Broda Shaggi – Comedy Videos – 1million subscribers
These are individual channels started from scratch without any mainstream influence.
There are other popular channels of Nigerian music and movie stars, but I have excluded them to make this list more authentic.
This is also to motivate you that if these YouTubers could start from scratch and build a solid following and income, then you too can do the same.
How Much Can You Really Make As A YouTuber in Nigeria?
Now, to the bone of contention, let’s take a look at how YouTubers earn their pay in Nigeria.
Most Nigerian YouTubers depend on the Google Adsense program to monetize their channel.
This means that they only earn when their audience views their uploaded content. If no one watches their videos, then they would not make any money.
Most of the top YouTubers in Nigeria earn millions of Naira monthly via Adsense on YouTube.
However, some Nigerian YouTubers make money via other avenues such as sponsored adverts, and Affiliate marketing.
Sponsored advert is when a company pays a YouTuber to make a video that showcases their products or services.
A sponsored advert could earn a YouTuber anywhere from 500,000 Naira to 5 million Naira depending on the company involved and the influence of the YouTuber.
Affiliate marketing is when a YouTuber proposes a product and mandates his or her audience to use his promo code while signing up to use the product.
The more people that use the YouTuber’s promo code, the more money he can earn and maybe get an endorsement from the company whose products are being referred.
YouTube Adsense Earnings
Before you can start earning on YouTube via Google Adsense, your YouTube channel must meet a number of criteria.
You must have at least 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time within the last 12 months. This is the minimum Requirement that enables you to get your YouTube channel monetized.
Once you’ve met this requirement, you can apply to monetize your YouTube channel and sign up for an Adsense account.
It is however, important to note that monetizing your YouTube channel is not the be-all and end-all of earning on YouTube. There are still other hurdles to consider.
For example, to earn money on YouTube and withdraw it via your Adsense account, you must reach a withdrawal threshold of $100.
$100 may look like easy money, but it isn’t easy to earn on YouTube. Many YouTubers have toiled and worked their ass off but couldn’t earn even 10% of that $100 withdrawal threshold.
Since the amount you earn on YouTube via Adsense depends on the niche you focus on, some YouTubers get luckier than the rest.
For example, the earnings per 1,000 views on some niches could be higher than those of other niches.
A channel that focuses on Business Success could be earning $0.15 per 1,000 views, but a channel on Entertainment could be earning $0.02 per 1,000 views.
So, you see that it would be harder for the Entertainment channel to reach the $100 dollar threshold.
How Much Views Do You Need To Earn $100 on YouTube?
If we use an average cost per mile (CPM) of $0.05, which is the amount a Nigerian YouTube channel earns per 1,000 views on average, it would require 2,000,000 views to make $100.
Likewise, to make $500 per month, you would need to get 10 million views across the videos on your channel. Moreso, 20 million views per month would earn you $1,000 per month.
You can see that it is not quite easy for a regular YouTube channel to achieve these milestones, but with persistence and providing content that viewers love, it is definitely achievable.