YouTube's Derek Scobie outlines top content marketing tips for brands
Adopting a nimble approach, playing in fields where “great content” exists and inking smart deals with vloggers are three ways that brands can reach the heady heights of success on YouTube, according to the platform’s head of brand propositions Derek Scobie.
Speaking to The Drum Scobie advised that brands relinquish control over the type of content they want to produce on YouTube and instead listen to audience insights to steer them in the right direction.
“Brands sometimes want to have more control. They want to have it all laid out on a spreadsheet before they start but actually if they were a little bit more nimble they would get an awful lot back from a platform like YouTube,” he said, before adding that “playing in fields” that are full of great content is a good starting point for brands as the audience is already there to tap into.
Scobie also discussed the challenges faced by brands on YouTube, the biggest of which he said is to “make themselves relevant in such a huge and diverse set of content”.
To overcome this and the fact that the majority of brands are time-starved to create genuine connections on the platform he advised teaming up with vloggers to build shared associations.
“We try to look at that [challenge] in three ways for brands. One of them is use those creators as media in way to connect with them through advertising. I think they can also do it though sponsorship and co-creation, so working with those creators to make content together and being able to share associations.
"Finally learn lessons from those creators so you can act more like a publisher yourself rather than just an advertiser."