ChannelCrawler Insights

How to find brands spending on YouTube sponsorships

Written by Jake Kitchiner | Jul 20, 2026 11:46:12 AM

How to find brands spending on YouTube sponsorships

Brands are spending on YouTube when they appear in sponsored creator videos, paid integrations, brand mentions, affiliate placements, or repeat creator partnerships.

The easiest way to find them is to use a YouTube sponsorship database that shows which brands are appearing in videos, which creators they are working with, and whether that activity looks recent, repeated, or growing.

ChannelCrawler Brands helps you find brands active on YouTube, research their sponsorship activity, and build better outreach, competitor research, or creator partnership lists.

Quick answer: how do you find brands spending on YouTube?

In ChannelCrawler Brands, you can search for a specific brand or use filters to discover brands by category, activity, creator size, time range, and sponsorship volume.

Once you find a brand, you can open its profile to see the videos, channels, repeat partnerships, and related brands connected to its YouTube activity.

This helps you understand not just whether a brand is active, but how they are using YouTube as a sponsorship channel.

What does “brands spending on YouTube” mean?

When people talk about brands spending on YouTube, they usually mean brands that are paying creators through sponsorship led activity.

This can include:

  1. Confirmed sponsorships
    Videos where there is clear evidence of a paid brand partnership, such as a sponsorship disclosure and brand link.
  2. Likely sponsorships
    Videos where there are signals that suggest sponsorship activity, such as brand links, promo codes, repeated messaging, or placement patterns.
  3. Repeat partnerships
    Cases where the same brand appears with the same creator more than once.

In other cases, there is organic reach too

  1. Brand mentions
    Videos where a brand is mentioned, reviewed, discussed, compared, or linked, even if the mention is not clearly sponsored.

For finding brands that are likely to be investing in YouTube, sponsored mentions and repeat partnerships are usually the best places to start.

What brands discover, is the more brand sponsorship activity, the more organic mentions too. 

Why find brands already active on YouTube?

They may already understand creator partnerships, have budget allocated, or be testing YouTube as a marketing channel.

This is useful if you want to:

  • Find brands to pitch.
  • Discover companies already working with creators.
  • Research competitor sponsorship activity.
  • Spot new sponsors in a category.
  • Understand which brands are increasing their YouTube presence.
  • Find creators that brands are already choosing to work with.

Instead of guessing which brands might sponsor creators, you can start with brands that already show signs of YouTube activity.

The manual way to find YouTube sponsors

Without a sponsorship database, finding brands spending on YouTube is usually a manual process.

You might search YouTube for brand names, watch videos to find sponsor segments, check descriptions for links, look for discount codes, or review competitor channels one by one.

This can work for small searches, but it quickly becomes difficult to scale.

The main problems are:

  1. It takes too long
    You have to watch or check lots of videos manually.
  2. It is easy to miss activity
    A brand may appear across creators you do not already know.
  3. It is hard to compare brands
    Manual research makes it difficult to see which brands are most active.
  4. It is hard to spot repeat activity
    One mention is interesting, but repeated creator partnerships are often more useful.
  5. It is hard to turn the data into a pitch
    You need enough evidence to explain why the brand is worth contacting.

ChannelCrawler helps replace that manual research with a searchable brand and sponsorship workflow.

How ChannelCrawler helps you find brands spending on YouTube

ChannelCrawler Brands lets you find and explore brands that are appearing across YouTube creator content.

There are two main ways to start.

  1. Search for a specific brand
    Use this when you already know the brand you want to research. For example, you might search for a competitor, client, prospect, or brand you have seen in a YouTube video.
  2. Use filters to discover brands
    Use this when you do not have a specific brand in mind and want to find brands already active in a market, category, or creator niche.

Use filters to find relevant brands

Filters help you narrow the brand database to the opportunities that matter most.

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
    Focus on recent activity, or longer term activity
  3. Creator size
    Find brands working with smaller creators, mid-sized channels, or larger YouTube channels.
  4. Sponsorship volume
    Find brands with lots of sponsored videos, or brands with a smaller but more focused presence.
  5. Mention type
    Choose whether you want to look at all brand mentions or focus on sponsored mentions.

If your goal is to find brands likely to be spending on YouTube, start with sponsored mentions.

[IMAGE: Brand filters with sponsored mentions selected]

Understand all mentions and sponsored mentions

Not every brand mention is a sponsorship.

A creator might mention a brand organically, review a product, compare it to competitors, or talk about it in passing.

That is why it is useful to separate all mentions from sponsored mentions.

  1. All mentions
    Gives you a broader view of where a brand is being talked about across YouTube.
  2. Sponsored mentions
    Focuses on videos where there are stronger signals of paid or commercial activity.

Use all mentions when you want to understand general visibility.

Use sponsored mentions when you want to find brands that are more likely to be investing in YouTube creators.

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.

This helps you focus on brands with stronger signs of paid YouTube activity.

Open a brand profile

Once you find a brand that looks relevant, open the brand profile.

This helps you move from “this brand is active” to “this is how they are using YouTube.”

Use the brand profile to understand:

  1. How many videos are connected to the brand.
  2. How many creators they are appearing with.
  3. How much visibility those videos are generating.
  4. Whether the activity looks recent, repeated, or campaign-led.
  5. Which other brands are appearing in a similar space.

Explore the brand profile tabs

The brand profile gives you different ways 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 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.

What data should you look at?

When you are trying to find brands spending on YouTube, the most useful signals are the ones that show activity, intent, and relevance.

Look at:

  1. Recent activity
    Shows whether the brand is active now, not just historically.
  2. Sponsored video count
    Shows how many sponsored videos are connected to the brand.
  3. Views
    Shows how much visibility those videos generated.
  4. Channels
    Shows which creators the brand is appearing with.
  5. Repeat partnerships
    Shows where a brand may be continuing a creator relationship.
  6. Related brands
    Helps you find competitors, adjacent sponsors, or other brands to research.

These signals help you decide whether a brand is just appearing occasionally, actively testing YouTube, or building a more consistent sponsorship programme.

How do you know if a brand is worth pitching?

Not every active brand is equally useful.

The best opportunities are usually brands where the data gives you a clear reason to reach out.

Look for signs like:

  1. Recent sponsored activity
    The brand has appeared in sponsored videos recently, which suggests YouTube is currently relevant to them.
  2. Multiple sponsored videos
    The brand is not just appearing once. This may suggest they are testing or investing in YouTube as a channel.
  3. Repeat partnerships
    The brand is working with the same creator more than once, which may suggest the relationship is performing well.
  4. Relevant creators
    The brand is working with creators in a niche, market, or audience you understand.
  5. Similar brands are active
    If related or competing brands are active, that can help create urgency for brands that do not want to fall behind.

The strongest pitch is not just “you should sponsor YouTube creators.”

A stronger pitch is: “Here is how you compare to the competition, and how we can help.”

Example workflow: finding brands to pitch

Here is a simple example.

You want to find finance brands that may be open to sponsoring YouTube creators.

You could:

  1. Open ChannelCrawler Brands.
  2. Select the relevant brand category.
  3. Filter to sponsored mentions.
  4. Choose a recent time range.
  5. Filter by creator size if needed.
  6. Review brands with multiple sponsored videos.
  7. Open the strongest brand profiles.
  8. Check their videos, channels, and repeat partnerships.
  9. Use related brands to find more companies in the same space.
  10. Save the best prospects to a list.

By the end, you have a list of brands with evidence that they are already active in YouTube sponsorships.

How this helps your outreach

ChannelCrawler helps you move from generic outreach to evidence-led outreach.

Instead of saying:

“We can help you with YouTube sponsorships.”

You can say something more specific:

“Your competitors are already appearing across creator videos in this category. We found several creators driving visibility for similar brands, and here is an example of how we can help you gain ground before the category becomes more competitive.”

This makes the outreach more relevant, more urgent, and more connected to what is already happening in the market.

Save brands you want to come back to

When you find brands that look relevant, save them so you can return to them later.

You might save brands by:

  1. Category
    For example, finance, fitness, beauty, gaming, or education.
  2. Market
    For example, US brands, UK brands, or brands active in a specific region.
  3. Competitor set
    Useful when you want to monitor a group of brands over time.
  4. Outreach priority
    Useful when you are building a prospect list.
  5. Client or campaign
    Useful when you are researching brands for a specific project.

This helps you build a working list of brands that are already active, likely to sponsor creators, or worth monitoring over time.

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 considered.
  2. Treating every mention as paid activity
    Not every brand mention is a sponsorship. Use sponsored mentions when you want stronger signs of commercial activity.
  3. Ignoring the creators behind the brand
    The channels and videos show you how the brand is actually using YouTube.
  4. Pitching without a reason
    The strongest outreach comes from a clear insight, such as competitor activity, recent sponsorships, repeat partnerships, category momentum, or showing where the whitespace and opportunity is. 
  5. Forgetting to save good prospects
    Save relevant brands so you can come back to them, monitor them, or build an outreach list.

Frequently asked questions

How do I find brands that sponsor YouTube creators?

You can find brands that sponsor YouTube creators by searching for sponsored brand mentions across YouTube videos. In ChannelCrawler Brands, you can filter by brand category, time range, creator size, country, and sponsorship volume to find brands that are already appearing in creator-led sponsorship activity.

How can I find brands spending money on YouTube sponsorships?

You can find brands spending money on YouTube sponsorships by looking for confirmed or likely sponsored videos connected to a brand. Strong signs include recent sponsored activity, multiple sponsored videos, repeat creator partnerships, brand links, promo codes, and sponsorship disclosures in video descriptions.

What is the difference between a YouTube brand mention and a sponsored mention?

A YouTube brand mention means a brand appears, is discussed, or is linked in a video, but it may not be paid. A sponsored mention has stronger signals of a commercial partnership, such as a disclosure, brand link, promo code, repeated messaging, or other sponsorship patterns.

How do I know if a brand is actively investing in YouTube sponsorships?

A brand is more likely to be actively investing in YouTube sponsorships if it has recent sponsored videos, appears across multiple creators, or has repeat partnerships with the same channels. These signals suggest the brand is not just being mentioned once, but may be testing or continuing creator partnerships.

Why are brands already sponsoring YouTube creators good prospects?

Brands already sponsoring YouTube creators are often good prospects because they may already understand creator partnerships, have budget allocated, or be testing YouTube as a marketing channel. This can make them easier to pitch than brands with no visible sponsorship activity.

How can YouTube sponsorship data help me pitch brands?

YouTube sponsorship data can help you pitch brands by showing that their competitors, similar brands, or wider category are already active with creators. This gives you a clearer reason to reach out and helps position YouTube sponsorships as a market opportunity, not just a generic marketing idea.

How can I see which YouTube creators a brand is working with?

You can see which YouTube creators a brand is working with by opening the brand profile in ChannelCrawler Brands. The Videos, Channels, and Repeat Partnerships tabs show the videos connected to the brand, the creators involved, and whether the brand appears with the same creator more than once.

What are repeat partnerships in YouTube sponsorships?

Repeat partnerships are cases where the same brand appears with the same YouTube creator more than once. They can be useful because repeated activity may suggest a stronger brand-creator relationship, an ongoing campaign, or a creator partnership the brand has chosen to continue.

How can I find related brands that sponsor similar YouTube creators?

You can find related brands by opening a brand profile and reviewing the Related Brands section. This helps you discover brands connected to similar creators, markets, categories, or sponsorship patterns, which can be useful for prospecting, competitor research, and market mapping.

Can I save brands I want to pitch or monitor later?

You can save brands in ChannelCrawler so you can return to them later, monitor their activity, or build an outreach list. This is useful when you are researching a category, tracking competitors, or creating a shortlist of brands that may be relevant for creator sponsorships.