YouTube Sponsorships vs TikTok Collabs

With the rising popularity of TikTok, influencers now have yet another platform that allows them to create content for their followers and for the brands they work with. Similar to YouTube sponsorships, TikTok collabs have the ability to elevate your brand’s awareness and drive sales. In today’s blog, we’re comparing the two and highlighting the pros and cons of each, so you can decide which type of influencer collaboration is right for your brand’s marketing campaign.

YouTube Sponsorships

YouTube sponsorships allow brands to partner with popular YouTube creators in order to promote their brand, products and services. Brands can choose to partner with micro-influencer YouTubers or famous YouTube creators to show off sponsored content and product placements in their videos. Creators have the ability to run these YouTube sponsorships as integrated videos, dedicated videos, post-roll/end card, shout-out, and “brought to you by” videos. The possibilities are endless with YouTube sponsorships. Here are a few pros and cons for you to consider:

Pros

• With over 2 billion YouTube users worldwide, YouTube is one of the world’s largest social media networks which allows for videos to be seen by larger audiences. 
• YouTube has launched in more than 100 countries 
• Videos can be as long as 15 minutes for unverified creators, and verified creators are able to post videos longer than 15 minutes. 
• YouTube provides Analytics for videos, which makes it simple to keep track of the success of the campaign
• 70% of viewers bought from a brand after seeing it on YouTube in 2020
• It’s predicted that YouTube will make $5.56 billion in advertising revenue this year
• YouTubers with a smaller following generate higher engagement rates. A report found that channels with less than 5K subscribers showed 177.78% of subscribers as having watched a video, in addition to getting more comments per view.
• 77% of marketers want to work with micro-influencers. And some have shown interest in working with nano-influencers too. 

Cons

• Recruiting YouTube influencers with a larger following can be difficult, and expensive
• If the influencer doesn’t follow the Federal Trade Commission’s rules, your brand could be caught up in legal issues
• Creating an attention-grabbing intro is important because approximately 20% of viewers will leave a video after the first 10 seconds. 
• You have to make sure your brand has the budget for the sponsorship, as creators typically require more than the product itself as compensation
• It’s easy for sponsored videos to come off as “pushy” so making sure the influencer promotes your product in an authentic way is crucial for the success of the campaign

Essentially, YouTube sponsorships are better to use when a more in-depth look at your product and brand is needed. YouTubers can charge anywhere from $10 to $50 per 1,000 views, earning the YouTuber anywhere between $10,000 to $50,000 for a video with a million views. If YouTube is the way you want to go but you don’t want to pay the price, you may be able to reduce your costs and improve your targeting by working with YouTube micro-influencers, who have smaller, more niche audiences than their millions-of-followers counterparts.

TikTok Collabs

TikTok collabs take place when brands partner with TikTok content creators to showcase their products in an authentic, non-sales-y way to garner more sales and higher traffic. TikTok gives brands the ability to create fun and effective campaigns, with the help of influencers. There are many types of TikTok brand campaigns, including user-generated content campaigns, public awareness campaigns, giveaway campaigns, influencer marketing campaigns and more. Learn more about the pros and cons of TikTok collabs below:

Pros

• Easy to launch creative challenges that can be promoted on other platforms
• TikTok’s algorithm tends to favor small creators, which is perfect for micro-influencer marketing and narrowly targeting your ideal audience
• In 2020, U.S. TikTok influencers had an average engagement rate of 17.99%
• Videos can easily become viral
• Smaller content creators can be easy to work with, as they’re eager to start working with brands
• 90% of users access the app multiple times a day
• On average, users spend 41 minutes per day on the app
• More than 1 billion videos on TikTok were viewed every day in 2020
• Videos can be as long as one minute

Cons

• Once the video is published, the influencer isn’t able to edit the caption so if there’s a significant miscommunication, the TikTok will have to be deleted
• 42% of U.S. users are 18-24 so if your brand is looking to target an older demographic, this platform might not be the best fit for you (although working with the right micro-influencer can improve your targeting)
• Videos aren’t as lengthy as YouTube content, so the risk of not grabbing the viewer’s attention enough to be interested in your brand is higher
• Formal ads aren’t cheap, $500 per campaign being the minimum (which is why partnering with influencers to create and promote content is the perfect way to go!)
• TikTok has a fact-checking system that flags videos as ‘inappropriate' which means that as a brand, you have to make sure the content is appropriate and not misleading

TikTok is the perfect platform to promote your brand and products in an authentic way that doesn’t come off as “pushy” to users. Because the platform is relatively new, there’s still not a lot of information out there on specific amounts TikTok creators charge. Some may be willing to create posts if they are gifted a product, but larger celebrity influencers will likely charge thousands of dollars. Making sure that you partner with the right influencer and negotiate a price that is right for you can ensure your collaboration succeeds. 

Are you interested in learning more about how to find influencers on YouTube and TikTok but aren’t sure where to start? At Statusphere, we match brands with the right influencers and manage their influencer marketing campaigns from start to finish. If you’re interested in learning more about how we can help you incorporate micro-influencers into your YouTube Sponsorship or TikTok collaboration campaign, contact us today!