"Where did you get that camera?" "What color is your nail polish?" "Are you wearing new sneakers, who makes them? Where did you buy them?" Those are the type of questions marketers dream their customers ask when exposed to their product. I've been asked those exact question, thousands of times since August 2006 when I posted my first online video.
Other entertainers who regularly make online videos are constantly asked about the minutest props in their shows. I tested this phenomenon. Without referring to the products in the audio, I placed a brand of gum, a camera and a book in each shot of one video. A majority of the responses to that video – thousands of them– asked about those products.
The viewers' reactions make sense when you consider the environment in which online Web videos are watched.
Viewers likely have their computers in their laps, 15 inches from their faces, earplugs in place. They have requested a specific WebStar's work. A keyboard is at the tip of their fingers and they are eager to become part of the WebStar experience. They look for tangible hints about the WebStar's life.
Your industry calls these WebStars "Influencers," your customers call them friends. The relationship between WebStar and viewer is intimate, ongoing and urgent. Consider how valuable it would be to have those stars email their fans back with answers to questions about your product.
In August 2008, when I was 18, I helped start a company, Hitviews, which enables brands to easily put their products and messages inside the entertainment. Not rude pop-ups or banners, but instead, we make it possible for the brand message to become part of the show. The star recommends the product, endorses it, and has fun with it. Clients see and approve the video before it's posted.
Simple. I got it right away and I was just out of High School.
Math doesn't sell stuff, friends do.
If you look at the top 50 stars we work with, they've had 2,100,000,000+ lifetime views, about 150,000,000 views a month. Our stars consistently deliver videos with high six-figure view counts on multiple sites. By comparison, 99% of all online videos posted get fewer than 300 views. We've seen wasteful spending by brands making their videos in-house that have gotten... 4 views.
But that doesn't matter. What matters is that WebStars sell stuff. Oddly, in our meetings with brands, we're never asked if they sell stuff. We're asked math-based questions derived from old media. Math doesn't sell stuff. Friends do.
Here are just five things we've learned about online video stars endorsing products that you may find new and useful:
1. If a star gets close to 1 million views every time he or she makes a video, this medium is not experimental. That's a star with a hit. It will be a hit with your brand in the show or not. As you know better than I, maybe two or three cable channels land a million viewers for anything.
2. WebStars are unique to the Internet. They understand scientifically, precisely how to inspire viewers to react – it's what they live for. Take advantage of that knowledge and don't impose techniques from other media that repeatedly do not work online.
3. Urgent calls to action work. A majority of views take place in the first 72 hours after a video is posted. Since a video is posted only once per site, the more videos produced the more effective the campaign will be.
4. Production values of other media don't apply. There are no "standards" for online video. Some WebStars have bad cameras, no sets and get over a million views with each posting. Others make stunning HD with special effects and get a million views. Both styles are customized for the dynamics of the Internet, not network TV or film.
5. Calm down. Take what you know about advertising, put it aside and let the online WebStars share with you their enormous audiences and credibility. For example, don't worry how often they say a product's name – the point is that they're saying a product name, yours. Our greatest successes, working with brands directly such as FOX, READER'S DIGEST, CBS and TiVo, have happened because the executives were confident enough to sit back and take notes.
The list is much longer and I look forward to talking with you about all we've learned.
Caitlin Hill is one of the most successful WebStars. Online she is known as TheHill88. She is currently Chief Creative Officer at Hitviews. Caitlin can be reached at Caitlin@hitviews.com.
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