YouTube pays depending on the number of views a channel receives, the niche of your channel and geographical region of your audience. For every 1,000 views, YouTube pays Ksh 80 to Ksh 200.
Majority of YouTubers in Kenya get views from Kenyans. The pay for Kenyan traffic is low compared to traffic from South Africa, USA, Canada, Australia, UK and other European countries.
YouTubers in Kenya earn decent income with high traffic. Those getting over 1 million views per month are the ones taking home above Ksh 150,000 per month.
In Kenya, here is the amount of money one can earn from YouTube in Kenyan shillings:
| YouTube views | Income in Kenyan shillings |
| 1000 | 80 to 300 |
| 5000 | 300 to 2000 |
| 10000 | 1000 to 3000 |
| 20000 | 3000 to 5000 |
| 50000 | 6000 to 10000 |
| 100000 | 10000 to 30000 |
| 300000 | 40000 to 100000 |
| 500000 | 100000 to 150000 |
| 1000000 | 150000 to 300000 |
| 5000000 | 500000 to 2 million |
| 10000000 | 2 million to 5 million |
Majority of YouTubers get their traffic from Kenya which does not pay very well. Those who know how YouTube works create content which attract traffic from USA.A channel with more than 50% of views from USA can double the income shown above. With 1000 views, that channel will earn up to Ksh 500.
The quality of your videos also matter. Good videos make the audience to stick to your content for a long time, thus enabling them to view adverts in the channel. Someone will get convinced to view as many videos in the channel as possible.
In YouTube, the number of subscribers also matter. The more subscribers you have the higher the money you earn. Having high number of organic subscribers means that your content is good, hence the chances of attracting high number of views.
As a content creator, you should also focus on high paying niches. Some of the highest paying YouTube niches include:
- Tech Videos.
- Gaming.
- Product Reviews.
- Tutorials.
- Storytime Videos.
- Vlogs.
- Food.
- Fashion
The CPM for such niches is high. You will definitely be assured of earning over Ksh 150 for every 1000 views.
To start earning from YouTube in Kenya, your channel must meet the following minimum requirements:
- It should have at least 1000 subscribers
- It should be 12 months old
- It should have more than 4,000 watch hours
- The videos should be unique, original and of high quality
Some channels take more than 1year to get 1000 subscribers. The hardest part is to get the first 1000 subscribers. To get 1000 subscribers within a year, make sure you share your content on social media. If the videos are good, the channel will grow organically—you won’t struggle much to get the first 1000 subscribers.
