Hey, creators
let’s talk about Channel Memberships
a feature that lets your most loyal fans support you
by joining your channel for a monthly membership fee.
They can help you earn more money
and in return, you can offer exclusive member-only perks
like badges, emoji, members-only videos, and more.
We’ve seen all types of creators be successful with memberships
no matter what type of content they create
how big their subscriber base is, or where they’re located.
Remember, that turning on memberships doesn’t mean you need to change your channel
or your relationship with your viewers.
It’s just an extra benefit for your fans
who most want to support you and your awesome content.
So, let’s walk through how to set up and manage Channel Memberships
and some best practices for using them.
First, how can you set up Channel Memberships for your channel?
To set up Channel Memberships, your channel first has to become eligible.
You must have over 1,000 subscribers, be in the YouTube Partner Program
be over 18 years old, be in an eligible country
and your channel cannot be made for kids.
You can check out the full list of eligible countries and requirements
in the Help Center article linked in the description.
Once you’re eligible, you can turn on Channel Memberships
by going to the monetization page in YouTube Studio
then Memberships
where you’ll be led through a Getting Started flow.
What do you need to set up Memberships?
First, you’ll need to set up your membership offer
with the levels and perks that will be available for your members.
You can add up to five levels with different names
and each level will have a different monthly price that you set.
We recommend having at least three price-point options
for potential members
low, middle, and high, but the choice is really up to you.
Be sure to pick your lowest price carefully.
For example
would you attract twice as many members at $2.99 as you would at $5.99?
If not, you may earn more revenue by setting the price at $5.99.
Within each level you set
you’ll need to have between one and five perks.
Note, that perks build on each other
meaning the highest level members will have access to the perks available
from previous levels as well.
For perks, you can offer things like exclusive videos and live streams
members-only community posts, live chats, or polls
member milestone chats, and shout-outs.
You can also get creative with third-party platform integrations
who offer members-only perks, like members-only chat rooms
or tools to engage with your members.
Just keep in mind that you’re responsible for delivering on the perks that you offer
so consider what’s feasible for you and still valuable for your fans.
Many creators start off slow
and then add new perks based on the feedback from their community.
Your levels and their perks will need to be reviewed before going live
which takes about a day.
Once the review is done
you’ll see it update in the Memberships Tab in Studio
and you’ll receive an email confirmation.
Keep in mind that once your levels are approved
you won’t be able to change their pricing.
Instead, you’ll need to create a new level.
Note, that you can delete levels
but doing so will cancel all existing memberships at that level.
With memberships, you can also create custom badges and emoji
that only your members can use.
Badges show up next to members’ usernames
and help them stand out in comments and live chats.
You can add up to six personalized ones
that will update depending on how long they’ve been members for.
Custom emoji are a great way for members to express themselves.
They’re exclusive for your members
and can be used in video comments, posts, or live chats.
The more members you have, the more emoji you can upload.
When designing badges and emoji, choose visuals that are personalized
and relatable to your audience
that will make members feel more connected to you.
Visual consistency also helps
so think about having them designed by the same artist.
If you’re not sure where to start with designing
services like Fiverr, Upwork, or Freelancer can help connect you to design experts.
Once everything is set up and ready to go
we suggest you promote your memberships on your channel.
You can create a dedicated announcement video
to raise awareness of your offerings, and get your fans excited about joining.
Or you can mention memberships in your regular uploads
add it to the description of your videos, talk about it in the Community tab
or promote it across your social media.
We found that creators who regularly talk about their memberships
to their audience, do a better job of getting viewers to become members.
Even thanking your current members
helps promote Channel Memberships to your audience.
You can also add /join to the end of your channel URL
to create a link to your membership offer window.
As a final step
we encourage you to create a few members-only community posts
that fans can see as soon as they join.
You can thank your new members for joining
or post a behind-the-scenes, or sneak-peek photo you think they’ll enjoy.
These posts will give new members a warm welcome
and will help show the value of their membership right away.
Once you’re all set up, you can turn on Memberships.
Your viewers will now see a "Join" button at the top of your channel
and members will be directed to the dedicated Memberships tab
on your channel homepage, once they sign-up
where they can keep track of their exclusive perks.
Now that you know what’s required for set-up
let’s go through some best practices for Channel Memberships.
First, make sure your offering is scalable.
Getting more members is great
but not if it means you can’t deliver your perks.
So, be sure to dedicate some time to properly design and plan your offerings
and avoid offering perks that will take too much of your time
to deliver as you get more members.
Next, make sure your offering is valuable.
Think about what would motivate your viewers to become members.
For example
if a viewer’s motivation is to feel closer to you
they might find members-only Q&As or personal shout-outs and videos valuable.
Or, if they just love your content, consider giving them early access to videos
or, exclusive videos just for members.
Knowing your viewers' motivations will allow you to design the most relevant
and valuable perks for your channel members.
Next, remember that perks are recurring.
Members pay every month and can cancel at any time
so, make sure you keep them happy for the long-term.
Be sure to use existing YouTube Community features
and think about how your perks can sustain members’ interest and satisfaction
while making sure they can be delivered on time
on a monthly basis.
And finally, don’t be afraid to experiment.
Members-only videos won’t affect the performance of your regular videos
so, don’t be afraid to experiment and get feedback from your members.
You can also do members-only polls to ask them what they want to see more of
and get their thoughts on things you’ve never tried before.
Finally, let’s walk through some basics on how to manage Channel Memberships.
Once memberships are turned on for your channel
you can manage them and track their performance in YouTube Studio.
On the monetization page in Studio
the dedicated Memberships tab
will allow you to manage your memberships program.
Here, you can update your membership offering at any time.
You can also choose to add an intro video
which shows with your membership offer when viewers click "Join".
With your intro video, you can give viewers a quick overview
of what they’ll get to access when they join your channel.
Remember, lots of viewers might only click the "Join" button out of curiosity
so make sure to grab their attention
get them excited
and let them know why they should become members.
With this Management tab
you’ll also get a quick glance at how your memberships are performing.
You’ll see your revenue over the last billing period
and its growth rate
see your total number of members
and see recent sign-ups and cancellations in the last billing period.
If you want a more in-depth look at your memberships' analytics
click to see more.
You can also see the number of members per level you set.
With this tab
we’ll also show you some information about your members.
You’ll see videos that members joined on, and you’ll see recent comments by them.
And if you click to see more, you’ll be led to the Comments Page in Studio
that will be filtered by member status.
For even more information about memberships
check out all the links in the description below.
Thanks for watching!