How Many YouTube Views Do I Need To Make $5,000 Per Month?
As an avid gamer and content creator on YouTube, I often get asked – just how many views do you need to make real money?
The short answer: 1 million views per month.
At average YouTube rates, 1 million monthly views yields between $2,000-$5,000 in AdSense earnings. To reliably earn $5k, you need at least 1 million views, preferably more.
But how does YouTube payment actually work? And what can you do to maximize earnings? I‘ll break it all down for you step-by-step.
YouTube Earnings Rate Per 1,000 Views
YouTube calculates payments based on CPM – that is, cost per thousand views. This is what advertisers pay to show ads on videos.
The average YouTube CPM is between $1-5. This means YouTubers get paid:
- $1 – $5 per 1,000 ad views
- Or $1,000 – $5,000 per million views
However, top gaming channels often make upwards of $7.60 per 1,000 views due to higher engagement.
With this YouTube earnings benchmark, here is the minimum monthly view volume needed to make $5k:
| RPM | Minimum Views Needed |
|---|---|
| $1 RPM (low end of average) | 5,000,000 |
| $3 RPM (mid range average) | 1,670,000 |
| $5 RPM (high end for gaming) | 1,000,000 |
| $7.60 RPM (top gaming channels) | 660,000 |
As you can see, the more optimized your channel, the fewer views you need. Top gaming creators only require ~650k monthly views – compared to 5 million at baseline rates.
Next let‘s look at the factors impacting your YouTube CPM.
Key Factors Influencing YouTube Earnings
As a passionated gamer sharing let‘s plays, tips & tricks, and news – the key factors that can boost your YouTube earnings include:
- Viewer Region: United States, Canada, UK, and Australia advertisers pay more per view
- Watch Time: Longer videos and higher audience retention earn more
- Optimized Ads: More clicks and conversions = higher eCPMs
- Loyal Community: Get viewers invested by personalizing content
Here are some best practices to optimize each:
Attract Premium Viewers
Focus your gaming content for maximum appeal to viewers in the United States, Canada, UK, and Australia. For example spotlight popular AAA titles like Call of Duty or FIFA. Consider collaborating with creators from these regions too.
Maximize Audience Watch Time
Shoot for over 8 minutes average view duration. Sprinkle bonus and bloopers content throughout your videos to entice continued watching. Cliffhangers and series formats also drive retention.
Strategically Place High Viewed Ads
Place ads before emotional highs and critical turning points in games to earn more ad revenue. Use attention-grabbing custom thumbnails and optimized video titles to increase click-through-rates.
Build An Invested Community
Share your gaming personality in videos and engage viewers in comments. Response videos, Q&As, behind-the-scenes footage etc help create a personal connection with fans.
Optimizing each of these areas contributes to higher YouTube earnings over time through increased eCPMs.
Gaming Channel Income Benchmarks
To give you realistic income expectations, here are some gaming channel earnings benchmarks at different monthly view volumes:
100,000 views per month
Potential Earnings: $100-$500
500,000 views per month
Potential Earnings: $500-$2,500
1 million views per month
Potential Earnings: $1,000-$5,000
10 million views per month
Potential Earnings: $10,000-$50,000+
As a baseline, top gaming creators like PewDiePie, Markiplier, and JackSepticEye easily drive over 100-200 million views every month – and pull in 7 figures in revenue.
While it may take time to build up, you can see the incredible earnings potential through loyal audiences at scale on YouTube.
Turning Views Into Income
Once you join the YouTube Partner Program and start monetizing views, there are several best practices to follow:
- Enable as many ad formats as your audience will bear
- Experiment with channel memberships
- Add shoppable overlays for recommended games and gear
- Prominently display email capture & social follow calls-to-action
Driving millions of engaged YouTube views requires relentless consistency, optimization, and patience. By providing elite quality commentary and analysis around gaming, you too can build a highly lucrative channel and earnings.
It takes time but stick with it! Let me know if you have any other questions around maximizing income on YouTube.
