YouTube is a great resource to find pretty much anything – whether you need hairstyle inspo or want to try a new workout routine, you’re certain to find what you are looking for. From a PR and marketing standpoint it’s a fantastic tool as well – many channels have devoted fans within the millions, and channel owners frequently accept products from and work with brands and publicists. Many YouTubers are highly trusted resources among their subscribers (or “subbies” as they’re often called) and an endorsement from them can many times convert into a new consumer for you. While vloggers are wonderful to work with, there are some things to keep in mind before approaching them to ensure that you have a successful campaign.
From a PR and marketing standpoint it’s a fantastic tool as well – many channels have devoted fans within the millions, and channel owners frequently accept products from and work with brands and publicists.
First and foremost, decide what you want to get out of working with vloggers. Who is your ideal consumer and what message do you want to get across to them? Are you looking for sponsored brand ambassadors to post dedicated, in-depth videos about your brand that will span across all of their social media platforms and include key messages that you want to convey about your product? Or if you don’t have a large budget, are you more interested in a seeding campaign (which works more like traditional PR outreach) where you gift product in hopes they’ll vlog about it, but you understand that you won’t have control over the message (or if they even post at all)? Being clear early on about what you are looking to achieve will dictate your approach and the vloggers you reach out to.
Once you’ve decided the route you want to take with working with vloggers, it’s time to determine who to reach out to. Whether you’re looking to sponsor an ambassador or conduct a seeding campaign, you’ll want to be sure that whomever you work with is a good fit for your line. If you work with a high-end swimwear line, a vlogger who frequently posts about her hauls from discount retailers may not be the perfect fit. On the flip side, someone who does closet tours of her Louis Vuittons and Manolo Blahniks probably wouldn’t be able to authentically vlog about your budget jewelry line. Watch some of the videos on their channel to see what content they cover – do they do a lot of “Get Ready with Me” (or GRWM) videos? Monthly favorites, hauls, and tutorials are also videos you’ll see frequently on style and beauty channels that often include product placement.
Whether you’re looking to sponsor an ambassador or conduct a seeding campaign, you’ll want to be sure that whomever you work with is a good fit for your line.
You’ll also want to take note of the vlogger her/himself and their personality – some are incredibly bubbly and outgoing on-camera, where as some are more reserved. Many are quite young (high school and college) while you will find others who more established in their lives. Decide what works for your brand and who you think represents your company and its philosophy.
When working within social media at all – including YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, etc., it’s important to not only look at the amount of followers and reach a particular person has, but also what people are saying. If a person has a large amount of subscribers but not a lot of views or comments, or the comments don’t relate much to the content of the video, that is a potential red flag. If their own audience doesn’t relate to or connect with the vlogger, it’s unlikely you’ll gain much benefit from being featured on the channel. Even if they have millions of eyeballs supposedly watching their channel, YouTube is a case where quality is by far better than quantity when it comes to the audience.
Image via Vogue
