October 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.
Spooky things have been taking place in the creator economy space - everything from YouTube announcing the exciting news that Shorts will become monetized to TikTok copying BeReal. Don’t worry, we’ve recapped the last month for you, so you can get back to decorating for Halloween.??
Exciting ThoughtLeaders news - ThoughtLeaders is on YouTube!
Just a few weeks ago, we launched not one but two YouTube series - our complete guide to YouTube sponsorships and Anatomy of an Ad.?
1. Our complete guide to YouTube sponsorships: Whether you are just starting with YouTube sponsorships or want to learn a few new tips and tricks to excel in your brand partnerships, this series should be your go-to. We cover everything from understanding the sponsorship’s goals to sounding authentic while touching on the talking points.?
2. Anatomy of an Ad: On a daily (hourly) basis, we focus on all things YouTube sponsorships - at this point, it’s safe to say that we live and breathe brand partnerships on YouTube. So, we decided ‘why not share our expertise with you’. In each episode, we focus on a specific brand/creator partnership, highlighting what worked, what didn’t, and what you should take from this ad-read. Our podcast-focused series was so popular that we decided to apply the same structure to YouTube sponsorships.
YouTube’s podcast destination
The online video-sharing platform confirmed earlier this month that it has created a podcast destination that will “help users explore new and popular podcast episodes, shows, and creators, as well as recommend podcast content”. As The Verge puts it, “YouTube’s presence in the podcasting space happened more by osmosis than as a deliberate strategy…podcast on YouTube just kind of happened because everything ends up on YouTube one way or another”.?
Although the podcast page is far from being as sophisticated as rival podcast platforms (Apple podcasts and Spotify) and is only available in the US for now, it is already posing a threat. Earlier this year, Spotify introduced the platforms ability to support video podcasts - it looks like the lines between video and audio is quickly blurring.????
So, what should you take from this?
YouTube has been around since 2005, and for many many years it was the best (and pretty much only) option for creators to upload long-form videos and make money. However, in 2020, TikTok suddenly exploded and became a major contender to compete against YouTube.?
But, while it's important for content creators to have a pretty strong presence on a number of different platforms, a big question on their minds has been: YouTube or TikTok? We compared the two platforms, focusing:
Who made it on 2022’s Top Creators List??
Earlier this week, Forbes released its first-ever Top Creators List, “A ranking of the 50 highest-earning, most influential social natives across TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Twitch, and other social platforms. These social media superstars are revolutionizing entertainment and advertising in the creator economy”. The global media company explained that each creator on the list was evaluated and ranked according to 3 factors: earning, entrepreneurship, and clout (follower count and engagement ratio).
Interestingly, Forbes noted that these top 50 creators have “amassed a combined 1.9B followers across Instagram, TikTok and YouTube”. So, who’s the top creator of 2022??
Jimmy Donaldson (MrBeast) - are we surprised?
Earnings: $54M
Total Followers: 162M
Avg. Engagement: 5.99%
Entrepreneurship Score: 3
“MrBeast earned the No. 1 spot on this list not only because he’s making more than anyone else, but also because his restaurant concept, MrBeast Burger, is a truly entrepreneurial mechanism for the YouTuber to monetize his fame.”
Who else can you find topping the chart?
Earnings: $12M
Total Followers: 27.6M
Avg. Engagement: 6.84%
Entrepreneurship Score: 3
“Of all the creators on this list, Emma Chamberlain has one of the highest engagement rates, with nearly 12% of her Instagram audience engaging with her content (that’s extremely high for someone with 15 million Instagram followers)...She’s also the founder of Chamberlain Coffee, a premium coffee and tea brand that happens to sell a ton of merchandise and raised a $7 million Series A.”
Earnings: $30M
Total Followers: 20.1M
Avg. Engagement: 1.77%
领英推荐
Entrepreneurship Score: 3
After making a name for himself as the OG meme creator, Elliot Tebele diversified into games, tequila and television. In case you didn’t know, he was the mastermind behind the card game What Do You Meme which is currently Amazon’s 17th most popular board game.
Earnings: $10M
Total Followers: 231.4M
Avg. Engagement: 3.57%
Entrepreneurship Score: 3
“With more than 146 million TikTok followers, Khaby Lame is now the most-followed TikToker in the world (he surpassed Charli D’Amelio in June)...Prior to establishing himself online, Lame lost his job as a factory worker in Italy at the onset of the pandemic. Now, at age 22, the Sengalese-born creator is becoming the face of Web3, signing a deal with cryptocurrency exchange Binance in July 2022.”
We can’t wait to see what the future holds for these creators and how much more influential the influencer marketing industry will become.?
Brands see a lot of success sponsoring food-based YouTube channels. It’s no surprise that brands like ExpressVPN and HelloFresh have maintained long-term relationships with foodie YouTubers, and other companies that have seen major success with influencer marketing are also ramping up their foodie roster.?
Using our data, we pinpointed the top 5 brands sponsoring food channels as a way to not only highlight that both food-based and non-food based brands can succeed in this niche, but the influence and power this category has.?
Here are the top brands sponsoring food channels and why it’s a success:
YouTube Player for Education
Earlier this month, the video platform announced “updates to make educational content even more accessible and interactive for learners while helping learning creators thrive on YouTube. We’re launching YouTube Player for Education - Next year, qualified creators can begin offering free or paid Courses to provide in-depth, structured learning experiences for viewers. Viewers who choose to buy a Course can watch the video ad-free and play it in the background.”
YouTube’s newest initiative - enabling creators to offer paid courses - just makes sense. The creator-to-educator pipeline is nothing new, brands like Skillshare and Masterclass have offered a number of lessons and courses hosted by creators. But this new step for YouTube can open a lot of doors for both big and small creators looking to truly make money from their hobby - although it is still unclear how much creators will make from these paid courses on YouTube’s platform.
Getting paid from YouTube Shorts
YouTube has recently revealed that ads are coming to YouTube Shorts, which will “usher in a new era for the platform’s Partner Program…[Shorts ads] will lead to the largest expansion [YouTube has] done in several years, creating new ways for creators to join the program.?
YouTube explained that starting in early 2023, YouTube Shorts-focused creators can apply to be part of its revenue-sharing program. However, these creators must have at least 1,000 subscribers and 10M Shorts views over 90 days. Those that are accepted will enjoy a variety of benefits, including the various ways to make money and fan funding.?
The video sharing platform also explained in-depth how the Shorts ad-revenue sharing will work - “In YouTube Shorts, ads run between videos in the feed. Every month, revenue from these ads will be added together and paid to Shorts creators and cover costs of music licensing for songs used in the clips. From the overall amount allocated to creators, they will keep 45% of the revenue, distributed based on their share of total Shorts views - compared with 55% for long-form videos under the core YouTube Partner Program.”
It will be interesting to see how competitors like TikTok and Instagram Reels react to this major development. Will creators leave TikTok because the revenue opportunities are better on YouTube? Or, will audiences leave YouTube because they are annoyed about the ads and will opt for TikTok’s content?
One of the best ways to stay on top of trends, monetizing capabilities, and everything in between is with podcasts. Not only can podcasts give you an in-depth understanding about even the most niche topics, but it can share these insights from creators themselves - those that are in your shoes and understand your pain points. Podcasts also allow you to take in information while multitasking - so you can create content while digesting content.
Here are just 5 of the 10 podcasts you should already be subscribed to and that other influencers swear by:
If you already tune into these podcasts, make sure to check out our full list.
BeReal vs. TikTok Now?
BeReal is the newest social media app creating quite the buzz. The main idea: the app pings all its users at a certain time of day with a two-minute warning to take a front and back-facing photo. Users post this one photo each day at the prescribed time decided by the app (it changes daily) and can view photos their friends have posted. As a result, instead of seeing a feed full of majestic shots in front of the Eiffel Tower or edited photos from last night's party, you get to see ordinary stuff - working from home in sweats, waiting for the instant ramen to cool down, sweating bullets after a spinning class…just the usual, everyday things.?
Both TikTok and Instagram have been working overtime creating their own copycat version of this concept.?
We are used to seeing other apps copying TikTok, but the short-form video content app surprised everyone by announcing its own BeReal feature - TikTok Now. So, why did TikTok decide to add this type of feature to its already thriving app??
Many many TikTok users have exploded on the app for just being themselves and doing what they love - without needing to take on too much prep or editing. Just look at Maia Knight - she started her channel post-partum, after giving birth to twin girls as a single mother. She posted regular videos of her making bottles, juggling the twins on her own, putting them to bed, you know, regular parenting things. But, she exploded - because people enjoyed seeing the raw, ‘authentic’ content. By adding the ‘TikTok Now’ feature - the app was able to take the ‘raw’ aspect one step further by giving creators just 3 minutes to post either a 10-second video or photo of what they are currently doing - creating on the spot.?
Think of it as a ‘creator challenge’ - creating engaging, interesting content on the spot during a 10-second window. It’ll be interesting to see - which creators will use this new feature? How will they take advantage of this ‘here and now’ concept? And, in the long-term, how can this feature be monetized?
Meme:
If you want to get even more industry news, make sure to sign up for our non-Linkedin newsletter - you can receive the latest weekly updates in your inbox every Friday. Also, don’t hesitate to reach out if you need help navigating the world of influencer marketing!?