YouTube and Sponsored Content

As a long time consumer of content on YouTube and being involved in marketing for much of my career I have had some thoughts which I have not written down to share in this way before. These are simply my thoughts on the topic as someone who wants creators of good content to be more successful and reach more viewers.

Sponsored content, or Native Advertising, is the norm these days on YouTube and podcasts. It is one of potentially multiple revenue sources a content creator can generate. For decades we’ve seen branding placed in movies like Superman because a beverage company paid to be prominently placed so that moviegoers would be exposed to branding every time they watched the movie. (See: Coca-Cola on Silver Screen) It is hard to miss the brands placed in the clip where Superman Fights General Zod. When it comes to a YouTube video the same embedded branding can be done with the backdrop behind the host in the video or with b-roll footage while not distracting too much from the current topic.

There is a careful balance which has to be made when embedding branding and ads. It should not be a major distraction from the content and also should not take a significant amount of time away from the content. In the example of this Superman scene, the movie did not have a side scene with a couple of people at a vending machine talking about how much they enjoy a refreshing Coca-Cola. There have been some heavy-handed product placements which are very awkward and noticable. One that I recall is the use of Microsoft Surface in a reality TV show. It was very unnatural and worked directly against the concept if it being an unscripted show. It not only reflected badly on the brand but also the show.

In the past few years I have watched a lot of videos on YouTube. I’ve been aware of native advertising and branding for many years. I know how BuzzFeed has taken this even further. One example from 2015 is 15 IKEA Products That Will Transform Your Tiny Dorm Room which is really an ad paid for by IKEA which doubles as content which brought in a lot of views. There are many product reviews on YouTube which are essentially promoting a product. The criticism of this category of content is these reviews are not genuine because any truly negative comments about the product would likely scare off brands from that channel. And so trust is a factor which some viewers consider when viewing a channel often. If this channel cannot be trusted to offer genuine analysis it may just be misleading and not only unsubscribe but also use the feature on YouTube to make sure content from that channel is no longer recommended. I’ve personally done this with a few channels which clearly paint a rosy picture of any product that is reviewed. In one case I made a purchase and discovered major flaws with the product which were immediately apparent and not mentioned in the video at all. I no longer trust that content creator and no longer watch any of their videos.

Goals

Let’s define the goals for a creator.

1. Grow the audience
2. Grow revenue

When a creator decides to create a channel and they want to do it full-time they will need to make progress on these 2 goals. With these goals defined the following sections cover areas which serve these goals.

Prompts

The first step most new YouTube channel creators will take is to prompt viewers to like and subscribe. Clearly this will benefit the channel and perhaps the data will help with recommending videos to other viewers who may enjoy it. A simple prompt should be sufficient to remind a viewer to like and subscribe at some point in the video. What some channels do well is place an animated graphic in a corner and play a sound effect to get the viewers attention. The host is still able to speak and this prompt does not interrupt the content.

For anyone who has enjoyed content from a channel and has seen multiple videos these prompts are likely going to get the desired result. And from time to time it may help to remind viewers of the key benefits to them for taking these actions. Often creators will generically talk about “the algorithm” as some evil thing which makes YouTube also seem evil. But it is just data analysis which is trying to provide a list of recommended videos based on what the videos you’ve liked before and how it correlates with similar content. Going deep into how this analysis works is not going to be fun for your viewers so focus instead on why hitting these buttons benefits them. Here’s a short list of the benefits:

1. It indicates you like content in this video
2. More content like it will be recommended to you
3. This video will now be recommended to more people who also like this type of content
4. The channel gets more views, generates more revenue, creates more content that you like
5. Related channels also grow and produce more of the content you like

Framing the benefits for the viewer as a positive will likely see more success with these prompts to like and subscribe. And it does work. I often watch videos and I am enjoying the content and when prompted I do push the like button. When it is one of the better prompts it is a positive. When it is not, well, that is covered in the pet peeves below.

Quick Plugs

One of the best creators for quick plugs is Marques Brownlee. I could try to scrub through some of his videos to try to find one of these quick plugs, but I’d be hunting for a long time. He drops them in so smoothly without breaking away from the current topic. Perhaps what I remember most about these plugs is the teasers. There is so much content coming from this channel that a lot is already in works so MKBHD is able to tease that upcoming content with a quick comment. And it is timed for when the content is really good and the viewer is very much engaged in that moment. MKBHD simply says, “By the way, we have a deep dive coming up soon so be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss it.” Then he continues on topic. In the moment I am at peak interest. It is the perfect time to plug future content and prompt me to like and subscribe.

My takeways from how MKBHD does quick plugs is this:

1. Make it quick
2. Make it relevant
3. Make it timely

There is a pacing to MKBHD videos which is subtle but I know every detail is planned out carefully. These quick plugs are not placed near the start or end of a video, but essentially near the climax of the content so that it has the greatest success to draw the viewer in more. It is as if MKBHD is say, “You like this? Want more? Then do this.” And I do. He also has a class on SkillShare which covers his process. Given the success of this channel, I think it would be useful to absorb as much as possible.

Embedded Ads

Some channels simply embed ads in the content. We’ve all see these long segments talking about some VPN product which will let you decieve Netflix about your current location so you can view content only available in Europe or Asia. Clearly, I am not a fan of this type of ad. That pitch is a negative to me and it reflects on the channel which embeds the ad. But when the ad aligns with the channel it is a positive. It also helps if the ad is at least fun to watch. The best example of how this is done is Evan and Katelyn. They do a ton of arts and crafts and when it comes to embedded ads they turn it into a skit and have some fun with it. It appears they have earned some creative control so they can make the ad in their own style and typically it is a product I can see they actually use.

Pet Peeves

As someone who watches YouTube videos, what many creators may not realize is that when something annoying is in every video it is repeated many times for a viewer. And every time it becomes more annoying. There are 2 examples that I will cover here. First is when a host talks about the stats about the viewers and subscribers. It takes time away from the content to essentially beg viewers to subscribe. They clearly want to boost their subscriber count because that is what they value. And every time I see this I think the content is what I value and what should sell me on hitting the subscribe button. Taking time out of every video to tell me the numbers and beg viewers to subscribe, when I have already subscribed, is a distraction which lowers the value of the content. There is one channel which produces a lot of great content but started to beg viewers to subscribe in every video and it became such a distraction that I unsubscribed and set YouYube to not recommend videos from the channel.

Second is the end pitch which is a generic bumper added to every video which was made months or years ago. Many MSNBC videos have done this which try to get viewers to install the MSNBC news app. I’ve seen this also done with ABC videos as well and it actually starts with an annoying sound effect which becomes very annoying after you’ve heard it many times. I’ve put comments in a few of these videos asking them to stop and also hit the dislike button since these are my only options to communicate feedback on videos. In recent months many of the MSNBC videos no longer include this promo at the end of each video. Instead what has been added to the channel is highlight videos which collects many videos together which may be better for some viewers. Personally I watch a video for a specific news story, but for others who really like that a show or host I can understand how the highlights videos are a very welcome addition. Instead of watching 7 videos in a row with that annoying promo being repeated every 5 minutes, the video is packed full of content with no interruptions. If they still want to promote their own app, then put in a graphic for it and put the link in the description. Passive techniques are better because they do not interrupt the content and become repetative for regular viewers.

Lead with Content

What I would like creators to do is focus on producing quality content which stays on topic. This is what will keep viewers coming back and sharing links on social media and directly messaging links to friends and foster discussions. I believe this is the best way to grow a subscriber base and drive up views. YouTube is unique compared to conventional TV and now streaming services which have TV shows and movies. Every video is an entry point into a channel and it may be the first time that viewer has been to that channel. If the focus is on the content they will stick around to watch a few more videos. After watching a few they may decide to subscribe. Even better, they will find the content so worthwhile they will share it with others. I often think about how Tesla relates to YouTube channels. Telsa does not pay for advertising. Instead the company focuses on the product and relies on customers to show others which drives sales for the company. In the same way, great content will cause word of mouth to grow a channel.

Highly Sharable

One way to focus on the content is to understand what would make the content more likely to be shared. Some channels have created a 2nd channel for clips. This may not work well since it is another channel entirely so it won’t directly drive up numbers on the main channel. Instead the structure and topic of a video could be planned out so that it would be useful to many new viewers if the link is shared on social media. This could be a a 3 minute overview of a major event. Since it is short people will be more likely to make time for it and also will be more inclined to share it versus a 2 hour video of a live stream from an event. These “highly shareable” views would be the first sample of the content on the channel for many viewers and an opportunity to prompt them to like and subscribe. The current subscribers will continue watching and you could even prompt them to share these videos which are made to be shared. The timing of this type of video could be once a month so that the analytics could show the potential impact. It may also help to provide a hashtag to use when sharing the video so it is possible to observe all of the interactions with the content on social media.

Perhaps instead of creating a clips channel, it would make sense to produce short videos specifically for social media which then includes a link to the channel or the full video. This way these other services feed into your channel.

Playlists

Another easy way to leverage the content which is already created is to organize videos into playlists and share those on your own website and on social media. For a channel like MKBHD which covers a lot of different tech, I only watch some of the content because a lot of it covers topics I know I won’t use. I could browse playlists on the channels I like to see if there are any videos that I missed that I want to see. It is also a great entry point from a website or social media.

Ads on Brand

With the focus on the content, brands will be eager to reach your audience. I know Total Boat well thanks to Evan and Katelyn doing so many epoxy projects and it makes sense for the company to be featured in these projects. There are often products which are aligned with a channel’s brand because of a natural alignment. Clearly Nike and Michael Jordan were meant to be. The same should be true for YouTube channels. Another example is Casey Neistat and Boosted which was a product he was happy to use and still uses years later when the company is no longer around. Casey’s studio had those 4 boards hanging and charging on the wall in view every time he sat at his desk to make a video. Riding an electric skateboard was a part of his identity and it is one way he showed us NYC in his videos. This product placement made the videos better while also benefitting the brand. This win-win is really the sweet spot which YouTube channels can achieve by focusing on the content.

Revenue Sources

The focus on ad revenue may also be causing creators to feel they must accept offers which require them to embed ads for products they don’t really use. Exploring more ways to generate revenue may help reduce the pressure to include as many ads. Many channels sell merchandise like shirts and coffee mugs with channel branding. I’ve purchased multiple items from the channels that I enjoy watching and want others to know about. Another popular mechanism is Amazon affiliate links which are in the descriptions of many videos on YouTube. It is a passive way to continually generate revenue from viewers.

There is also Patreon and the still new Join button on YouTube to allow viewers to upgrade to a premium experience. Some channels are able to sell more than just branded merch. Many woodworking channels offer the plans for the project they do for a modest price. With a lot of viewers the sales of these products can add up. And I am sure channels are able to generate commissioned work from their content. Some creators may be paid to speak at a conference or a private company event because they have established a level of expertise and trust with their audience.

Long before Apple acquired Beats, those products were featured often in music videos to associate that lifestyle with that product which drove sales. Ryan Reynolds creates a lot of fun videos to share on social media and many include Aviation Gin. He sold that company and still have a promotional deal which generates revenue for him. He does not even have to mention the gin. It is just a part of the videos he shares in some way. In the same way, a product a YouTube creator uses often could be put in frame so it is seen and associated with them with a link in the description. The backdrop which is behind the host in a video is a useful space to leverage for passive promotions.

A while back Peter McKinnon, a full-time Canadian and popular photographer on YouTube and Instagram, partnered with a company to design and sell what he considers his ideal camera bag. A whole video covers the design process and some of the iterations to get it right. He could have just promoted the products this company already had, but designing a bag that meets his needs perfectly was much more meaningful and genuine. There are many ways a content creator can align their content and brand with revenue generation which also benefits their viewers. Depending on the topics the channel covers the will be different opportunities.

Promote Your Brand

Finally, break out of the YouTube bubble. Make sure you control your own website and domain name which comes up in Google search results. A channel should just be one of many ways of interacting with the community which is interested in the topic. There are many woodworkers who are active on YouTube who also interact with other woodworkers and viewers on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok. Each of these social media networks can feed new viewers to the other destinations. It may be YouTube but also could be other video platforms such as Nebula, Curiosity Stream, Vimeo or services like SkillShare and Monthly. Right now YouTube is king, but alternatives are emerging in addition to Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, Disney and Apple. These new services will explore features which YouTube will not. And they may walk the line between social media and education, which many really want to support.

I hope with the points are helpful to creators who are working on growing their audiences and revenue so they can spend more of their waking hours producing great content and have more time to interact with members of their content community.