December insights 🎁
At ThoughtLeaders, we pride ourselves on keeping up with the latest industry trends and news and putting the big messy world of the content into some kind of context. From our podcast to Linkedin, we are constantly sharing important insight about influencer marketing - everything from up-and-coming YouTubers and brands that are killing it with influencer integrations to Instagram drama and up-and-coming trends.
‘Tis the season to look back at the last year - which included a lot of social media rivalries, influencers understanding their worth and power, new platforms shaking things up, more and more brands tapping into influencer marketing, and Elon Musk turning things upside down.Take a deep breath - throughout this month, we will be reviewing everything from 2022 YouTube stats to 2023 predictions. But, before that, get yourself a hot beverage (something with peppermint is recommended) and enjoy this recap of just the last month.
ThoughtLeaders is on YouTube!
Here are the newest Anatomy of an Ad episodes you may have missed:
1. Gabbyreads influenced us to try out Book of the Month: At the beginning of each month, BookTubers across YouTube share their Book of the Month sponsorship and picks. gabbyreads has been sponsored by BOTM over 20 times and...we can see why!
2. Renovate your home with Fiverr: Did you know you could get home renovation and interior design assistance on Fiverr? Even Nick Lewis - the master of interior design - sometimes turns to Fiverr for a little bit of help. During his recent sponsorship with the online freelance service, this YouTuber gave viewers a glimpse at how he uses Fiverr and why it should be your go-to for anything you are stuck on.
Twitter turmoil
So, unless you’ve been hiding under a mountain, Elon Musk became the official owner of Twitter and during his first week on the job, he completely pulled the rug under pretty much everyone working at the company. Musk went on a firing binge, launched plans to charge users $7.99 for access to Twitter Blue (but then decided to suspend the rollout of the new Twitter Blue program), and sent a companywide email to all those brave enough to remain employees demanding them to work longer hours at a higher intensity or else, they too would get fired.
Through the grapeVine
On the social platform itself, Elon Musk restored a handful of accounts that had previously been banned - which included Donald Trump’s account (although he didn’t seem to keen to make a Twitter comeback). Musk also used Tweets, specifically polls, to get users opinions, such as bringing Vine back from the dead. In the beginning of November, Elon Musk shared a poll on Twitter asking ‘Bring back Vine?’. The poll received over 4.9M votes, with over 69% saying ‘Y’ (yes). Soon after, Musk tweeted “What could we do to make it better than TikTok?” to which MrBeast replied, “No one is original anymore, whatever you do will be on every other platform the next month unless it has a deep moat.”
So, the big question is - Could Vine rise from the dead in 2022 and actually succeed this time around?
Unlike all the other social media platforms - Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, Facebook, and TikTok (just to name a few) - Twitter has yet to introduce (or in this case, reintroduce) a short-form video feature. So, while Vine may have been ahead of its time back in 2013 and now has the chance to compete in the ‘short-form content’ rivalry, does it really stand a chance?
In this day and age, the most important thing that ultimately makes a certain social media platform stand out amongst the rest is - monetization. Former successful Vine stars shared their frustration of not being able to take in any ad revenue “despite scoring billions of loops on their 6-second videos. ‘Three and a half years is a long time to have us posting on your platform for free’. Vine stars relied heavily on brand deals, but even those started drying up.” In 2022, the creator industry is much more established and ‘content creator’ is a career - create content and get paid for it. So, as Vine’s former Head of Creator Development puts it, “You could not stand up a creator-based video platform today without monetization opportunities.”
Content creators know that there is a lot of things that happen behind the scenes before a video featuring a brand sponsorship goes live. After actually finalizing the integration opportunity with the brand, the creator is usually sent the product to test out and feature in the ad-read, as well as talking points - a document covering information about the brand, details about the product/service, and points that should be covered during the promotion.
Although it sounds pretty straightforward - it’s not always easy for the creator to find a way to seamlessly integrate the ad into their content, make the ad sound authentic and not like a commercial break, and ensure the product/service ultimately resonates with their audience.
So, the creator was sent the talking points - what’s next?
MrBeast makes $5M a month
In 2021, Forbes revealed that MrBeast made approximately $54M from various income sources - YouTube ads, brand sponsorships, selling his merchandise and burgers. This year, it was revealed that the highest-earning YouTuber made between $3-$5M per month.
While that is a lot of money, many viewers forget to consider how much it costs YouTubers to actually create their content. Popular videos such as I Built Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory (118M views) or the infamous $456,000 Squid Game in Real Life (301M views) require hours of planning, constructing, filming and of course, a lot of money. When asked how much money he spends on his high-budget videos and several off-screen initiatives, MrBeast answered “between seven to eight million dollars a month on producing content across his YouTube channels and promoting his business.”
Quick recap:
As a brand, you might be thinking - is it really worth sponsoring Nerd Culture channels? Even going as far as questioning whether this genre has enough interest and viewers.
Well, the answer is yes. Here's why:
Which brands have already tapped into this genre?
Recommended by LinkedIn
How have these brands seamlessly integrated their products/services into Nerd Culture content? How do you know which YouTubers could work best with your brand? We’ve got you covered.
‘Tis the season to be…shopping
You’ve probably already come across ‘the perfect gift for…’ videos on pretty much every social media platform - Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and even BeReal. And you know what that means? Consumers are preparing for the Holiday shopping season. This year, over 60% of Gen Z and 56% of millennials are planning on doing their shopping on the various social platforms - whether that is buying products directly on the platform or seeing brand sponsorships/ads and getting persuaded to purchase goods via the link or promo code.
So, what do brands need to know ahead of the Holiday rush?
YouTube is planning on being consumers’ ‘one-stop shop’ during the Holiday season. The video sharing platform has recently announced From YouTube to You - videos, livestreams and Shorts, featuring your favorite creators, who will help get you out of the ‘what do I buy’ slump. This initiative will include “curated gift recommendations and exclusive product drops and deals to help get your shopping wrapped.” All of this can be accessed via YouTube.com/Shopping. YouTube is even more excited because this year, a number of creators can tag products in their videos, Shorts and live streams.
TikTok has rolled out a live shopping feature in the UK and Asian markets and recently also launched in the United States (planning to compete against Amazon and other retail giants). Now, TikTok users can make purchases directly on the app using TikTok Shop - users can click on the shopping bag icon on a specific profile and browse through the offered products, even completing the purchase without leaving the app. TikTok has also been pushing its shopping live-streams initiative which they hope will boost commerce engagement. According to SocialMediaToday, “TikTok is looking to maximize reach to people who are looking to shop, as opposed to those coming to its app for entertainment…it’s working with influencers to help them understand how they can use live shopping to make more money in the app.”
In short:
Influencer marketing has become more and more powerful, especially during the Holiday season. Through videos focusing on curated gift guides and content featuring brand sponsorships, companies can increase their exposure dramatically. Ahead of the shopping rush, brands need to decide what is the best way to promote their products/services on each social platform - sponsoring influencers? Running ads on the various feeds? Making sure they are included on the various ‘gift guides’?
Is your 2023 resolution to finally take the plunge and become a content creator on YouTube? Well, first off all - just do it. Second, there is obviously much more to becoming a YouTuber than just filming and uploading content regularly.
Here are some of the obvious questions you probably have:
Any individual who makes and uploaded digital content. Technically, anyone that posts a photo on Instagram or uploads a hilarious TikTok video is a content creator, but professional creators are those that build an audience on social platforms and ultimately generate revenue from their content.
YouTubers can make anywhere between $0.01 to $0.03 per view with AdSense. This is dependent on a few factors: the number of views your video receives, the number of clicks an ad receives, ad quality, and video length. YouTubers can receive between $3 to $5 per 1,000 video views.
How can YouTubers make money? How do you actually start your channel? Take a deep breath and read more here.
Kicking off the World Cup with YouTube
You are probably well aware that the World Cup is underway in Qatar (we won't get into all the controversy surrounding the international soccer competition) and YouTubers are major players this year. Not only is YouTube the place to go for commentaries and game highlights, but it chose 11 YouTubers who will attend matches and share their experience via spectator vlogs, including Deestroying, Jesser, and Cheeky Boyos.
Of course, some YouTubers found a way to create a challenge around the World Cup - and it actually isn't MrBeast. Creator, Thogden (1.06M) is taking on 'The Impossible Challenge' - he is on the road to becoming the first person ever to attend every single game at the World Cup tournament...and of course, documenting it. So far, the YouTuber has uploaded his experience from the last 2 days, and interestingly, these videos have already received double the amount of views Thogden usually receives on his uploads.
According to Thogden, "We had the idea of doing a challenge because we saw the stadiums were so close together. It's something that's never been done before - it's right up my street and fits with the content I make on my channel. My job on YouTube is to go to games - but what people don't see is that I'm running around stadiums trying to get home/my hotel so I can get my laptop up and start editing to get the video out as soon as possible."
Shorts will also play a part - YouTubers can upload their matchday outfits to the hashtag #FIFAWorldCupChallenge and users will be able to purchase the official World Cup shirts through the Shorts videos.
More and more international events are reeling in the power of content creators as a way to not only promote the global happening, but attract and engage with people that might have otherwise ignored the event completely - not everyone can fly to Qatar or watch the games live, but via content creators and YouTube, pretty much everyone can have front row seats. Not to mention the monetization aspect - instead of only making money off of the people actually attending the games, social media is making it possible to rake in a lot of money through different outlets - shopping through Shorts and ads during live-streamed games.
Meme of the month
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