Can YouTubers Promote Your Business?

In the era of unlimited access to the Internet and the development of social media, state leaders or eminent scientists cease to be authorities – the creators of videos posted on YouTube channels, i.e., the so-called YouTubers. How can your company benefit from their popularity and engage with them?

Many people think that recording your own video and uploading it to a YouTube channel is a guarantee of success and millions of views. If that were the case, we could say that everyone is a YouTuber. So who exactly is he, and how is it that the videos he publishes have millions of views, and earnings reach even tens of thousands of zlotys?

Youtubers are primarily passionate people who believe in their abilities and are able to spread their interests to other people. They create their own channels and regularly post their videos on them as a hobby. However, with time, thanks to effort and luck, they can become stars and make a career – and then the hobby becomes a real job that gives very tangible benefits.

Is video marketing for you?

Youtubers now have such a big influence on their viewers that they become real influencers. How can you use their potential and establish cooperation with them, focused on advertising your business?

There are several options for video marketing:

Product placement

The key issue is to weave the product of a given company into the plot of the film so that viewers remember it, and at the same time that they do not feel that the product influences the content of the message intrusively. Therefore, the message should be placed in a thematically appropriate context. Average YouTuber with 100,000 subscriptions receives at least PLN 200 per episode for this type of service. Relatively low costs can bring companies big profits.

Dedicated episode

This requires the creation of an extensive story, entirely devoted to the brand or product, which at the same time attracts viewers and does not take the form of a few minutes of advertising. This type of cooperation can keep viewers’ attention for longer, helps build customer loyalty, and positively affect the brand image. An example is the Danio brand campaign, which involved YouTubers such as Szparagi, Lise Piekło, and JelenieJaja. The creators met together on the set and showed how their world changes after eating Danio. The video was published on the brand’s channel and gained almost 2 million views in a short time.

Product testing

It has two main advantages: the product appears in the hands of a YouTuber, whose opinion its subscribers rely on, and – in this way, you can clearly present all the features of the product and the benefits of using it.

A social campaign

The involvement of an influencer in a social campaign increases the reach of communication, authenticates the message, and has a greater impact on the recipients than standard advertising. An example is the Durex brand, which has prepared a campaign on venereal diseases in cooperation with three YouTubers: Ajgor, Mieć Mietczyński, and AbstrachujeTv. Each of the videos scored thousands or even millions of views in the last two, and the brand has shown that an effective advertising message can go hand in hand with educating consumers.

Strategic cooperation

Long-term strategic cooperation with the selected YouTuber helps create brand ambassadors, thus using the reach and credibility of the creator and his image. The Sprite brand decided to use this type of video marketing, using the support of the authors of the most popular YouTube gaming channels: SKKF, Roja, and Rock. It is the first cooperation of this kind on such a large scale in Poland.

What else besides video marketing?

Cooperation with YouTubers can go beyond traditional video marketing and use more communication channels. Examples of this type of activity are presented below:

Use of the image

This is what the Play network did, which launched a series of free starters with images of gamers such as JDabrowsky, Droller, or Kaiko. Each starter contained an SMS code; after sending, there was a chance that YouTuber would call back the sender’s number. As a result, over 50 thousand people quickly spread. 

Event

The involvement of influencers in various types of large-scale events allows the brand to attract the attention of a large number of audiences, which translates into the possibility of gaining new recipients and increasing loyalty on the part of existing customers. The biggest Polish event involving YouTubers and their fans is Orange Video Fest by LifeTube, and the event is very popular, attracting several thousand people every year.

Which channel to choose?

The YouTuber with whom your brand will cooperate should have a substantial impact on your audience, and its activities must be tailored to the profile of the customers you want to reach. To decide on a specific channel, you can consider criteria such as:

• the ratio of the total number of subscribers to the average number of views on a channel – the higher the indicator, the better,
• the number of likes and negative ratings under the videos – the number of likes should outweigh the number of negative ratings,
• comments – they do not always prove the quality of the channel, so you should take a closer look at other parameters,
• ad content on the channel – check the form in which YouTuber advertises goods and the way viewers react to it,
• publication price – they may vary significantly, depending on the popularity of the channel, subject, and ad format,
• a number of advertising blocks – it is best if YouTuber places one ad block; in the case of a larger number, the viewer may be distracted.

Cooperation pays off

Castorama Polska is convinced that cooperation between brands and YouTubers can bring significant benefits to the company. In 2015, she decided to engage in her films Lekko Stronniczego, SciFun permanently, and Design Your Life; the “5 ways to” channel gained over 80,000 people quickly. Subscribers. Improving the brand image, increasing the base of potential customers, and establishing relationships with existing recipients are just some of the business benefits.

Another example is the Google company, whose office in Warsaw was visited by Rafał Many and then posted a report on his stay in the studio on his channel. Both the material and the brand were very positively received by viewers – as evidenced by the fact that in a study conducted by Brand Lift Insights, the propensity to recommend Google as a brand increased by 18 percentage points.

Cooperation with YouTubers as the future of marketing?

The cooperation of brands with YouTubers can take various forms, depending on what goal you want to achieve – advertise specific products, improve the company’s image, or maybe attract new customers? There is no doubt that this type of activity is the future of marketing and brings significant benefits to the company. Currently, the question is not: when? But: with whom will your company establish cooperation?

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