YouTube Influencer Marketing is NOW Open to All Brands

From its origins as a simple video-sharing platform, YouTube has since changed the face of video consumption. But while many brands understand the power that YouTube can wield, others are still very unsure how it can really work for them and how much it is going to cost. Succeeding on YouTube means that brands will need to abandon the uploaded-to-TV-first sales pitch as YouTube viewers are seeking out engaging, compelling, entertaining video content that offers value in and of itself.

The most successful channels on YouTube today are ones that have been built by creators and NOT by brands (with very few exceptions - e.g. GoPro). In fact, some independently created YouTube channels far outperform brand channels. DisneyCollector is a channel on YouTube focused on Disney collectibles and has 2.7M subscribers. Compare that to Disney's own channel that has just 153K subscribers. Disney could (and should) pursue growth on their own channel, but the other thing that brands can do is to work directly with YouTubers who already understand the platform (which helps explain Disney's acquisition of Maker Studios.)

So, how can brands begin to tap into the power of YouTube influencers? And, how do Influencers reach out to brands to collaborate on paid endorsements? Until now, the only way that brands could connect with YouTube influencers was through directly reaching out to them (if you can), or through working directly with a Multi-Channel Network ( MCN).

FameBit, launched in January of this year, is a new solution that acts as a virtual marketplace for brands looking to collaborate with YouTube creators who can reach a particular target audience. Using FameBit, any brand can now request and receive youtube influencer proposals and work directly with relevant channels - all without any need for a middleman. This is particularly attractive for smaller and mid-sized brands as well as for creators who maintain a small but fiercely loyal subscriber base.

FameBit Lets Brands Take Advantage of YouTube's Long-Tail

We've all heard of Michelle Phan, PewdiePie, and JennaMarbles - superstar creators who have transcended YouTube and crossed over into popular culture. But there are literally hundreds of thousands of other channels that create authentic videos for an enthusiastic audience, and who are looking to earn revenue from that.

FameBit essentially matches brands with YouTubers to create branded content that will appeal to eager fans, at a reasonable budget. The site matches smaller brands with YouTubers who have a subscriber base of around 50K to 500K. Ideally, those YouTubers will have an active and organic following based around a niche that the brand can target. FameBit confirms that the majority of deals it manages aren't for million dollar budgets.

The average deal is worth just over $300, of which the company takes a 20% commission. Around 500 deals are brokered a month at the moment. So far this year, $500,000 has been paid out to creators who signed up to collaborate with brands via the site and 4,000 branded videos have been generated. FameBit offers a nice path for YouTuber's to generate additional income beyond the 55% adsense share that they receive from YouTube advertising income.

How FameBit's Platform Works

So how does this YouTube brokerage service work? Surprisingly easy actually. A brand just needs to sign up, and submit a proposal and budget using a simple form that starts by asking the brand to choose which type of video collaboration they're looking for:

Creators then have the chance to respond to that proposal with their pitch, and details regarding subscriber numbers, engagement rates, etc. Brands can then accept or reject those pitches based on their own criteria. And it is working - around 90% of creators, and 87% of brands have re-visited the site to find more collaborators to create campaigns with.

YouTube Endorsement Examples

So who is working together? Cosmetics giant L'Oreal, teamed up with YouTube Beauty Guru K.L. Cao to create this endorsement for its Redken product, while fitness expert Brad Scott worked closely with a number of brands to introduce them and their products to his audience.

Le Tote commissioned YouTube fashionista Ann Le to create this promotional video for its subscription service:

Cost-Effective YouTube Influencer Marketing at Scale

FameBit co-founders Dave Kierzkowski and Agnes Kozera, friends since High school, have built a platform that automates this collaboration process, and gives brands with smaller budgets an opportunity to reach out to Influencers to create product or service promotions via tutorial, haul, or review videos.

In a previous start-up, Kierzkowski and Kozera witnessed first hand the frustration of trying to reach YouTubers to collaborate on product endorsements. Their only options were to go through expensive MCN's or to navigate the manual process of finding and working with YouTubers. YouTube Marketing at scale was a time-consuming business as you had to search for and contact YouTubers individually, manage everything in messy spreadsheets, and track each and every campaign.

FameBit was created to remove as much friction as possible for content creators and brands through a self-service platform. The site allows transparency and collaboration between both parties, so that brands can do YouTube marketing at scale, without having to go through MCNs.

If you are a brand - or a creator - then head over to FameBit ( http://famebit.com/) and try it out. It could be the start of something beautiful.

Disclosure: FameBit is an advertising partner of ReelSEO.com. This article was independently written by ReelSEO staff. As always, despite any compensation, we only recommend products and services that we truly believe are beneficial to the community.