Sponsorships & brand visibility
Research brands, find sponsored creators, and track sponsorship activity on YouTube
How to find sponsored YouTube channels
Finding the right creator for a sponsorship deal usually means hours of trawling YouTube and guessing. ChannelCrawler Brands speeds this up by letting you search YouTube channels that already run brand sponsorships, so you can see who they work with, how often, and how well those videos perform before you reach out. Article image Start with a name, or start with a filter 1. If you already have a creator in mind — maybe you've seen them on YouTube or noticed a competitor sponsoring them — search for their channel by name. You'll go straight to their profile and can see every brand they've worked with. 2. If you don't have a specific creator yet, use filters to surface channels by sponsorship behaviour — brands they've worked with, how often they get rebooked, how recently they've taken sponsorships, and so on. Filter down to a shortlist The filters fall into four buckets. Mix and match the ones that matter for your campaign. Sponsorship history 1. Repeat bookings: the same brand appearing more than once on the channel — a hint at an ongoing partnership. 2. Bookings number: how many sponsorships have been detected on the channel overall. 3. Time frame of last sponsored video: find creators who've taken a sponsorship recently and are still active. So you know they are actively open to sponsorships. Brand fit 1. Brand category: find channels that have worked with brands in your category — SaaS, marketing tools, ecommerce, finance, and so on. 2. Sponsored by: find channels already sponsored by a specific brand. Useful for tracing where competitors have spent. 3. Not sponsored by: exclude channels already tied to a direct competitor, or your own brand, so you avoid conflicts and exclusivity issues. Audience and content 1. Creator category: filter by what the channel makes content about — marketing, business, gaming, beauty, education, and so on. 2. Average views: focus on channels actually reaching people. A solid view count usually beats a big subscriber number. 3. Subscribers: layer on audience size to fit budget and campaign reach needs. Market 1. Country: limit results to creators based in a specific market. 2. Language: limit results to creators producing content in a specific language. Build your shortlist 1. Click into any channel to see its full sponsorship history — every brand, every video, every view count. 2. Ask three questions of each shortlisted channel: do the brands they work with overlap with yours, are their sponsored videos hitting the views you need, and have brands rebooked them? 3. Export your shortlist to CSV when you're ready to start outreach.
How to use Channel Lookalikes
How to find similar creators with Channel Lookalikes Use Channel Lookalikes to find more YouTube creators like the ones already working for your brand, client, or campaign. If one creator is performing well, the next step is often to find similar creators so you can repeat what is already working. Channel Lookalikes helps you start with creators you already know and find similar channels based on content type, location, size, and topic. Article image Start with a creator that is already working Channel Lookalikes is most useful when you already have one or more creators that fit your brief. For example, you might start with: 1. A creator who has already driven good results for your brand. 2. A creator your client wants to work with. 3. A competitor’s sponsored creator. 4. A channel you've discovered that looks like a strong fit for a campaign. ChannelCrawler then helps you find more channels that look similar. Add your seed channels To get started, add up to 10 channels. These are your example channels. 1. Go to Channel Lookalikes. 2. Search for a channel by name. 3. Select the channel you want to use as an example. 4. Repeat this if you have more creators you want to match against. The more similar your seed channels are, the better your results are likely to be. Article image Use similar seed channels for better results Channel Lookalikes works best when your starting channels have something clear in common. For example, if you want to find more UK fitness creators, only use fitness from the UK creators in your seeding If you want to find more finance creators for a sponsorship campaign, start with finance creators. It sounds simple, but it can be easy to get wrong. Add filters to narrow the results You can use filters to make your results more specific. The main filters include: 1. Subscribers Use this to find channels within a specific size range. 2. Average views per video Use this to find creators with a consistent level of audience attention. 3. Country Use this if you only want creators from a specific location. 4. Language Use this if you only want creators who publish in a specific language. 5. Category Use this to keep results focused on a specific type of content. 6. Active only This will ensure channels will have posted short or long form content in the last 60 days. 7. Has brand mentions or sponsorships If you want to be specific with those who are actively mentioning brands. Article image Save creators to a list When you find creators you want to work with, save them to a list. This helps you keep all your potential partners in one place. You can create lists however suits your needs. - Campaign - Client - Niche - Location - Market - Outreach stage. Article image
How to find and explore brands in ChannelCrawler Brands
How to find and research brands active on YouTube Use ChannelCrawler Brands to find brands that are being mentioned or sponsored across YouTube. This is useful when you want to find brands already active on YouTube, research a competitor, understand a client’s sponsorship activity, or discover brands that may be relevant for your next creator campaign. Article image Start with a brand or explore the market There are two main ways to use ChannelCrawler Brands. - Search for a specific brand directly. - Use filters to discover brands based on their YouTube activity. Use search when you already know the brand you want to research. Use filters when you want to discover brands in a category, market, creator size range, or sponsorship activity level. Search for a specific brand If you already know the brand you want to look at, start with the search bar. For example, you might search for: 1. Your own brand. 2. A competitor. 3. A client. 4. A brand you have seen appearing in YouTube videos. 5. A brand you want to pitch your services to. Once you find the brand, click into the result to open the brand profile. Article image Use filters to discover relevant brands You do not always need to start with a brand name. You can also use filters to explore brands based on the type of YouTube activity you care about. For example, you can filter by: 1. Brand category Find brands in specific markets, such as tech, finance, beauty, gaming, fitness, education, or other categories. 2. Time range Choose to see brand data for between 30-90 days. 3. Creator size Find brands working with smaller creators, mid-sized channels, or larger YouTube channels. 4. Sponsorship volume Find brands with lots of sponsorship activity, or brands with a smaller footprint. These filters are useful when you want to find brands that are already active in a specific creator niche, category, or market. Article image Choose all mentions or sponsored mentions You can choose whether to look at all brand mentions or focus on sponsored mentions. - All mentions gives you a broader view of where a brand is being talked about on YouTube. This can include organic mentions, reviews, comparisons, passing references, and Amazon affiliates. - Sponsoredfocuses on videos where there are stronger signals of paid brand activity, via paid partnerships or This is usually more useful when you want to understand sponsorship campaigns, creator partnerships, or competitor activity. Understand confirmed and likely sponsorships Sponsored videos can be marked in two ways. 1. Confirmed sponsored There is clear evidence of a paid sponsorship or brand partnership. For example, the video description may include a sponsorship disclosure and a brand link. 2. Likely sponsored ChannelCrawler has found signals that suggest the video may be sponsored, but there is not enough evidence to mark it as confirmed. These signals could include brand links, promo codes, repeated brand messaging, or placement patterns that suggest sponsorship activity, or a likely affiliate partnership. Use sponsored mentions when you want to focus on videos that are most relevant to paid brand activity. Open a brand profile Once you find a brand that looks interesting, click into the brand profile. This is where you move from brand discovery into deeper research. The brand profile helps you understand how the brand is showing up on YouTube, which creators they are appearing with, and what their sponsorship activity looks like. Article image Review the brand overview Start with the overview section. This gives you a quick snapshot of the brand’s activity across YouTube. Use this to understand: 1. How active the brand is. 2. How much visibility the brand is getting. 3. How many videos are connected to the brand. 4. How many channels are connected to the brand. 5. Whether the brand’s activity is concentrated or spread across lots of creators. Explore videos, channels, and repeat partnerships Once you open a brand profile, you can use the tabs to understand the activity behind the brand. 1. Videos See the individual videos where the brand has been mentioned or detected as sponsored. This helps you understand the content, creator, views, and context behind the brand activity. 2. Channels See the YouTube channels connected to the brand. This helps you understand which creators the brand is appearing with. 3. Repeat Partnerships See channels where the brand appears more than once. This can suggest a stronger relationship between the brand and creator, rather than a one-off mention. 4. Related Brands See other brands connected to similar creators, markets, or sponsorship patterns. This can help you find competitors, adjacent brands, or new brands to research. Repeat partnerships are especially useful when you want to understand which creator relationships may matter most to a brand. If a brand appears repeatedly on the same channel, it may suggest an ongoing partnership, a creator that performs well for them. Article image Explore related brands The Related brands section helps you understand how a brand fits into the wider YouTube sponsorship landscape. This can help you find competitors, adjacent brands, and other companies trying to reach similar creator audiences. You can use related brands to find: 1. Brands targeting the same channels. 2. Brands in a similar market. 3. Brands with the closest overall sponsorship footprint. This is useful for competitor discovery, market mapping, sales prospecting, creator research, and understanding the wider sponsorship ecosystem around a brand. Article image When to use ChannelCrawler Brands Use ChannelCrawler Brands when: 1. You want to find brands active on YouTube. 2. You want to research a competitor’s sponsorship activity. 3. You want to see which creators a brand is working with. 4. You want to find brands that may be open to YouTube sponsorships. 5. You want to understand which brands are active in a specific creator niche. 6. You want to find related brands that target similar channels or audiences. Common mistakes to avoid 1. Only searching for brands you already know Search is useful, but filters can help you discover brands you may not have thought of. 2. Treating every mention as a sponsorship Not every brand mention is paid. Use sponsored mentions when you want to focus on likely paid activity. 3. Ignoring the videos behind the data The videos help you understand the context, creator, format, and audience behind the brand activity. 4. Only looking at one brand in isolation Related brands can help you understand the wider market and find competitors or similar prospects. What to do next Once you find a brand that looks relevant, open the brand profile and review the videos, channels, repeat partnerships, and related brands. From there, you can use the data to research competitors, find brands to pitch, discover creators for outreach, or understand how brands are using YouTube sponsorships in your market.