If you’ve noticed low YouTube earnings and a dropped CTR and CPM rate on YouTube, there may be less to be concerned about than you think.
I’ve been publishing on YouTube since 2011 and I forgot every year that earnings on YouTube take a dip early in the year – right after the holiday season.
In January, my RPM (revenue per thousand views) is sometimes cut in half for the first two weeks of the month. After reviewing my number from last year and reading through forums and other users’ experiences, I’ve realized that this drop happens every year and there really isn’t too much to be worried about – unless you were heavily relying on making the same amount of money on YouTube that you earning in December.
There may be a number of reasons for the dropped YouTube earnings early in the year but the main reasons probably have to do with the fact that the holiday season is over and companies are still getting their act together and allocating their advertisement budgets.
The holiday season (October – December) is when companies are spending the most money on advertising their products and services so when January comes around, they’re less likely to spend as much as they have in the last few months.
If less companies are spending money on advertising, there is less competition for YouTube ads which drives the cost of a single ad on YouTube down.
From my past experiences, it seems that by mid February and definitely by March, CPM and CTR rates should be back to normal and definitely better than in January.
In fact, at the time of writing this article, my RPM rates are starting to return to normal – only 2 weeks into January.
It also is important to mention that YouTube is cracking down on gaming videos and will no longer allows ads to run on thousands of gaming videos that have traditionally been features with pre-roll ads. This means that there should be more competition for the monetized videos on YouTube and hopefully drive CPM rates up higher than in previous years.
The moral of the story? Don’t fret. This happens in January of every year on YouTube and revenue / earnings will spike back up shortly!
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