What benefits are there to signing a long-partnership with a YouTuber vs. signing a one-off collaboration? It’s a question we often get asked, and with good reason, because partnerships incur a larger cost and all parties are locked in for the long term. So, there’s no going back, meaning there’s a higher level of risk, especially if your brand hasn’t worked with the prospective channel previously.
But, if you’re wondering why your brand should sign partnerships instead of one-off YouTube collaborations, here are our top 5 reasons why.
Get more out of your marketing budget
When faced with a partnership price tag, most brands are initially surprised by what it could potentially cost overall, but that’s ignoring the bigger picture. Depending on your level of investment, the term of the contract, and the structure of the partnership itself, the content creator should be incentivised to give you a discount on their normal price per deliverable. Ultimately, that equates to lower costs across your key metrics, from CPM, to CPC, right down to cost per conversion.
Access a treasure trove of free add ons
Depending on the YouTuber, and the partnership structure, things that your brand might usually have to pay for, such as content licensing, use of likeness, competitor exclusivity, etc., could come free of charge.
In fact, among tech YouTubers, if your product is a natural fit for the channel, there could even be scope to have your product featured free of charge in some, or all, of their content where and when your product can be used naturally.
Increase the brand loyalty of the YouTuber
The bigger the YouTuber, the less likely they are to be loyal to your brand, but that can change when they go long-term. Why?
Well, content creation may look fun, but ultimately it’s a job. Sure, it can be done with passion, but YouTubers still have to pay the bills, feed their families, keep the lights on, etc. A long-term partnership means security; it’s a commitment from your brand to invest in their channel over a period of time. That doesn’t go unnoticed.
Block out competition and dominate Share of Voice (SOV)
Moving into a partnership completely blocks out your competitors from working with that YouTuber, and depending on the audience’s affinity with your product, that exclusivity can have a huge impact. It means that the people most likely to buy your product are only hearing about your brand, dominating competitor SOV, and keeping you front of mind.
Increase audience short-term / long-term ROI
It’s 2023, so audiences have been watching YouTube long enough to know when a YouTuber just “likes” your brand, and when a YouTuber likes your brand. In each scenario, the way they use, portray, and communicate your product can be genuinely felt by the audience. And, that feeling they get, which tells them whether they’re promoting you because they genuinely like you, or they’re promoting you because it’s a “cash-and-grab”, has a huge impact both on short-term ROI and long-term brand loyalty.
Overall, long-term partnerships can provide brands with a multitude of benefits not available in standard one-off collaborations. But, that’s not to say they come risk free either. Perhaps in another blog I’ll explain the risks to a long-term partnership, and mitigations you can use to protect against them.
Written by Lawrence Smyth, CEO and Founder of TopTechTubers
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