I haven’t really analyzed it in depth, but here’s my take based on some content creators talking shop and my own observation of trends:
It seems like a pretty competitive space. It basically covers all non-traditional media, where costs are exorbitant for extremely limited and demographically narrow reach. For the sponsored side, it’s pretty much the engine behind YouTuber being a real career these days - the sort of thing children now aspire to be. YouTube’s own revenue sharing may keep bread on the table - it’s still competitive enough to shut out competing platforms without seriously deep pockets. But sponsorships are the vehicle for economic mobility.
The brokering aspect basically means if you want exposure, you’ve got to aggressively outbid the market average. When you achieve top offer you get swarmed, blow your budget in short order, and then close the offer giving someone else a turn at bat. I don’t know how well that plays out long-term, but it has some nice properties in terms of free market competition.
For example, if you have a smaller marketing budget but are an ethical company making a good product, you’ll still draw business from a minority of influencers too scrupulous to shill for Better Help or Masterworks. And because such people’s endorsements carry more weight with an audience whose trust they’ve earned, those sponsorships are more impactful per dollar spent.
Meanwhile, the less scrupulous influencers are easy to identify because they’re still shilling for Better Help, or making outrageous claims about what a vitamin-laced drink mix can do. Those blitz campaigns also draw a lot of scrutiny, so questionable businesses or products and especially outright scams get found out fairly quickly (like happened with Established Titles). That gives consumers some protection as well, so long as they’re willing to wait for some trustworthy investigative reporting to come out - usually from some channel with relevant expertise or equipment who can get a lot of views for their trouble.
One downside is that middle men position themselves like agents for the talent when all they’re really doing is repackaging open offers and skimming profits. A lot of people just getting started trying to make a career in content creation get scammed. Those scammers will also pressure people into using unethical tactics that the sponsor doesn’t require and may not even condone.
I haven’t really analyzed it in depth, but here’s my take based on some content creators talking shop and my own observation of trends:
It seems like a pretty competitive space. It basically covers all non-traditional media, where costs are exorbitant for extremely limited and demographically narrow reach. For the sponsored side, it’s pretty much the engine behind YouTuber being a real career these days - the sort of thing children now aspire to be. YouTube’s own revenue sharing may keep bread on the table - it’s still competitive enough to shut out competing platforms without seriously deep pockets. But sponsorships are the vehicle for economic mobility.
The brokering aspect basically means if you want exposure, you’ve got to aggressively outbid the market average. When you achieve top offer you get swarmed, blow your budget in short order, and then close the offer giving someone else a turn at bat. I don’t know how well that plays out long-term, but it has some nice properties in terms of free market competition.
For example, if you have a smaller marketing budget but are an ethical company making a good product, you’ll still draw business from a minority of influencers too scrupulous to shill for Better Help or Masterworks. And because such people’s endorsements carry more weight with an audience whose trust they’ve earned, those sponsorships are more impactful per dollar spent.
Meanwhile, the less scrupulous influencers are easy to identify because they’re still shilling for Better Help, or making outrageous claims about what a vitamin-laced drink mix can do. Those blitz campaigns also draw a lot of scrutiny, so questionable businesses or products and especially outright scams get found out fairly quickly (like happened with Established Titles). That gives consumers some protection as well, so long as they’re willing to wait for some trustworthy investigative reporting to come out - usually from some channel with relevant expertise or equipment who can get a lot of views for their trouble.
One downside is that middle men position themselves like agents for the talent when all they’re really doing is repackaging open offers and skimming profits. A lot of people just getting started trying to make a career in content creation get scammed. Those scammers will also pressure people into using unethical tactics that the sponsor doesn’t require and may not even condone.