YouTube media kit: what sponsors actually look for (with a one-page template)

A media kit is the document a brand asks for after your pitch lands. Its job is simple: let the person on the other side decide, in two minutes, whether your channel fits their campaign and what it would cost. Most creator media kits fail that job because they are built to impress rather than to answer questions.

This guide covers what a brand checks when it opens your media kit, a one-page template you can copy, how to present rates, and the mistakes that quietly cost creators deals.

Who reads your media kit, and what they need

The reader is usually an influencer marketing manager, a creator partnerships lead or someone at an agency running a campaign for the brand. They are comparing you with other channels on a shortlist and often have to justify the choice to someone else.

They need four answers:

• Who watches this channel, and are they our customers?
• How many people will actually see the sponsored segment?
• What exactly can we buy, and what does it cost?
• Is this creator easy and safe to work with?

Everything in a good media kit serves one of those questions. Anything that does not can go.

The numbers brands care about

Subscriber count is the number creators lead with and the number brands trust least. A subscriber is someone who once clicked a button. A sponsor pays for people who watch the segment.

Lead with these instead:

• Average views per long-form video over the last ten to fifteen uploads. Use the median if one viral video skews the average, and say which one you used.
• Views in the first thirty days, if your videos keep earning views for months. That shows a brand the long tail it gets for free.
• Audience geography. Brands selling in specific countries care a lot about where viewers are. Your top three countries from YouTube Studio are enough.
• Age range and gender split, from YouTube Studio analytics.
• Average view duration or retention for typical videos. It tells a brand whether viewers are still there by the time the mid-roll integration plays.
• Engagement, such as comments per video, if your community is unusually active.

Use real numbers from YouTube Studio, and update them every month or two. A brand that checks your channel and finds views far below your media kit will not ask a follow-up question. It will just stop replying.

Show the audience, not just the channel

The most persuasive section of a media kit is often one or two sentences about who your viewers are and why they watch. "Beginner home bakers in the US and UK who watch to learn one technique per video" tells a kitchenware brand more than any chart.

If you know something specific about your audience, include it: they are students, they are buying their first camera, they travel on a budget, they build their own PCs. Comments, community posts and polls are good sources. Keep it honest and concrete.

Proof: past sponsors and results

If you have worked with brands before, list them. Logos are fine, but a short line for each is better: the product, the format and one result you are allowed to share, such as clicks on the tracked link or uses of the discount code.

If you have never had a paid sponsor, do not invent one and do not pad the list with affiliate links you were never paid for. Instead, show a video where you naturally recommended a product and how viewers responded, or a past collaboration with another creator. Brands sponsoring small channels expect a short history.

It also helps to know which brands already sponsor channels like yours before you send anything. If a brand regularly sponsors creators your size in your niche, say so in your pitch and tailor the media kit to the format it usually buys. You can check any brand's sponsorship history on its public brand page, or see who sponsors a similar creator with the free channel sponsor checker.

Packages and rates

Brands buy placements, not channels. Spell out what they can buy:

• Integration: a sixty to ninety second segment inside a regular video, with a tracked link in the description and a pinned comment. This is the standard unit most deals are priced in.
• Dedicated video: the whole video is about the product. Usually priced well above an integration because the creator gives up a slot.
• Shorts mention: a short placement in a Short. Cheaper and lower commitment, useful as a test.
• Add-ons: usage rights for the brand to run your segment as an ad, category exclusivity, extra link duration, community posts.

Whether to put prices in the media kit is a judgement call. Listing a starting price per package saves time and filters out brands with no budget. Leaving it out keeps room to negotiate on a large deal. A common middle ground is "integrations from" with one number, and a full quote after the brief.

Base the number on views, not subscribers. The sponsorship rate calculator gives a starting range from your average views and niche, and the guide to YouTube sponsorship rates by channel size shows how views and rates relate across channel sizes.

A one-page media kit template

You can build this in a doc, a slide or a simple web page. Keep it to one page, or two at most.

• Header: channel name, handle, a one-line description of what the channel is about, and a profile picture.
• Audience in one sentence: who watches and why.
• Key numbers: median views per video for recent uploads, monthly views, top three countries, age range, gender split, average view duration. Add the date the numbers were taken.
• Content: niche, typical video length, upload frequency, two or three links to recent representative videos.
• Formats and pricing: integration, dedicated video, Shorts mention, with what each includes and either a starting price or "quote on request".
• Past partners: brands, formats and one shareable result each, or a note that you are taking your first sponsors.
• Terms in brief: how many rounds of edits, how long links stay up, payment terms you prefer.
• Contact: a business email you check daily, and your manager if you have one.

Export it as a PDF with a clear file name such as "ChannelName-media-kit-October-2026.pdf", and keep a web version you can link to in emails. Update the file name and the numbers together, so a brand never receives a kit older than the date in its name.

Common media kit mistakes

• Leading with subscribers. If your views are low relative to subscribers, a brand will find out in thirty seconds. Lead with views.
• Out-of-date numbers. Date every figure and refresh it regularly.
• Ten pages of design. Brands skim. A clean one-pager beats a beautiful magazine.
• No packages. "Let's work together" makes the brand do the work of designing your offer. Tell them what they can buy.
• Inflated history. Listing brands you only used affiliate links for, or that never paid, is easy to check and ends conversations.
• One kit for every brand. You do not need a new document each time, but swap the example videos to match the brand's product, and mention the format it usually sponsors.
• A hard-to-find email. Put your business email on the kit, in your channel's About section and in the pitch itself.

How to send it

Do not open a cold pitch with a PDF attachment. Many partnership inboxes filter attachments from unknown senders, and a long first email rarely gets read. Instead, send a short pitch that names the brand's recent sponsorships, the video you have in mind and the placement you are offering, then link to the media kit or offer to send it. The pitch templates on this blog show the structure.

When a brand replies and asks for your media kit, send it the same day. Speed matters in sponsorship: deals often tie to a product launch or a campaign deadline, and the creator who answers first with clear numbers and clear packages often gets the slot.

Pair the kit with the right brands

A strong media kit makes a good pitch better, but it cannot rescue a pitch to the wrong brand. The fastest route to a first sponsor is a short list of brands that already pay channels your size in your niche, a pitch that shows you know that, and a media kit that answers the brand's questions before it asks them.

If you want that list built for you, DiscoverSponsors ranks the brands that sponsored similar-sized channels in your niche, with the sponsored videos as proof and a business contact where one is available. You can preview the first page of results with a free account, then send your kit to the brands most likely to say yes.