The rise of YouTube celebrities: Inside the lucrative world of YouTubers you’ve never heard of
They’re the internet stars who are making serious cash from viral videos, how-to tutorials and lucrative commercial collaborations. These are the most popular stars on YouTube.
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They’re the internet celebrities who are making serious cash from viral videos, how-to tutorials and lucrative commercial collaborations.
At first glance, you may not recognise their names … but make no mistake, the A-list stars of YouTube are raking in six-figures — and for the most successful, millions of dollars — through their channels.
The official term is “YouTuber”. Unlike Instagram stars who trade in “followers”, YouTubers have “subscribers”.
Two of the most popular Australian channels on the video-streaming giant are run by Chloe Morello (2,677,149 subscribers) and Lauren Curtis (3,576,860 subscribers).
Covering makeup and lifestyle, they have built dedicated followings on YouTube and landed big-name deals as a result.
Morello, for example, started “vlogging” (that means video-blogging) in 2012 and gained notoriety when one of her videos, about achieving a Kim Kardashian smoky eye, went viral.
Another titled “Kylie Jenner Bronze Glam With HUGE Lips & Lashes” has been watched more than 2.6 million times on YouTube.
Her “16 Best Makeup & Beauty Hacks 2017!” post has had more than 9 million views.
But YouTube isn’t just about “how to” makeup tutorials … some of the most-watched and most-lucrative accounts span topics like gaming, comedy, music and toy reviews.
Many of the most popular stars on YouTube attract a significant audience for just being themselves, a leading social media expert says.
Take controversial Swedish YouTuber PewDiePie (real name Felix Kjellberg), who boasts 83 million subscribers. PewDiePie is said to be the most popular channel on YouTube for the last five years, according to leading tech news site CNET, and raked in $US15.5 million last year, Forbes reported.
While his videos add a comedic twist to gaming, his channel is not without scandal. PewDiePie was accused of anti-Semitism and received backlash after making insensitive comments about Demi Lovato’s drug problem in a since-deleted post.
Another leading YouTube channel is Dude Perfect — an American sports entertainment group from Texas — which boasts 38.7 million subscribers (its views are tracking at nearly 7 billion).
YouTube sensation HolaSoyGerman is a Chilean singer (real name Germán Alejandro Garmendia Aranis). He has 37 million subscribers and shares music (his band is Ancud) and comedy clips, which have been viewed a total of 3.7 billion times, landing him the title of the most-followed Spanish-speaking channel on YouTube.
CASHED-UP INTERNET STARS
So what is the appeal of these incredibly successful YouTubers … and how do they make their cash?
A lot of it comes from sponsored “vlogs” and other paid-for social media posts, with some YouTubers stars expanding their social media empires into full-fledged brands and product lines, and even their own fan merchandise.
The most financially successful account of 2018 was “Ryan ToysReview”, which raked in $US22 million in a year. Ryan is seven-years-old and is obsessed with Lego.
With more than 18 million subscribers, the channel’s viewing figures total 26 billion. Ryan ToysReview — which features Ryan and his family members — was ranked No. 1 on Forbes’ list of the world’s highest-paid YouTube stars of last year.
The mini-mogul beat Jake Paul ($US21.5 million) and Dude Perfect ($US20 million) who ranked at second and third on the list.
Everyone on Forbes’top 10 highest-paid Youtubers of 2018 sold their own merch, which was credited with boosting their annual income by 42 per cent in 12 months.
DanTDM (aka British gamer Daniel Middleton) was fourth with $US18.5 million earnings while No. 5 was makeup vlogger Jeffree Star ($US18 million), who leveraged his popularity on YouTube into his own cosmetics brand, Jeffree Star Cosmetics.
Social media marketing expert Jules Lund said the top-earning YouTubers tread a fine line between sponsored and non-sponsored vlogs.
Of the lucrative earnings of “Ryan ToysReview”, Lund said: “Brands are collaborating with him and treating him like a global media company”. (Australian TV and radio presenter Lund founded Tribe, a global marketing platform that connects social media micro-influencers with brands.)
“Anyone that can attract that many eyeballs has enormous value,” Lund told News Corp Australia.
“Naturally, brands are lining up and outbidding each other because there’s only so many sponsored videos a channel like this can produce, before the followers start to feel exploited.”
There needed to be a mix, Lund said, of advertorial-style videos and ones that were authentic.
“For every sponsored video, there has to be non-sponsored content,” Lund said.
“Advertising is pretty simple when trust is formed. On YouTube and Instagram, these accounts have built trust over thousands of posts and videos, over many years.
“The role of the video or post becomes about saying the product exists … and saying that it was a positive experience using it.
“The reason why these platforms are so powerful in pushing products is because, unlike traditional (platforms), there’s no need for a hard sell.”
Lund said a lot of the sponsored content on YouTube was “simply about discovering new products”.
“It’s a far more credible source when someone you know, and trust, says, ‘how good is this product!’ versus the product itself saying, ‘how good am I,’” Lund said.
One content trend on YouTube is experience-style vlogs — where a YouTuber is sent on am all-expenses-paid trip to “experience” a new product or brand (this is particularly popular with beauty companies like Tarte, Benefit, Violet Voss and Jo Malone).
And this is where serious cash is made.
“The top-tier influencers might be getting five figures for a package — so often what they do is, if they went on an ‘adventure’, all expenses paid, they would usually sell a package,” Lund said.
That package might include an experience-style video, another one showing behind-the-scenes or candid moments, with sponsored posts on other social media — Instagram and, less so Facebook — to support the YouTube videos.
“They would throw in Insta-stories and in-feed Instagram posts,” Lund said, as a way to boost viewing figures.
But are YouTube subscribers savvy to the commercial realities of how these internet stars make their money? It is a full-time job for them, after all.
“They’re told is sponsored content … point is, it makes no difference,” Lund said, speaking to News Corp Australia from New York.
“For these influencers and even the followers, working with a global brand is seen as a stamp of credibility,” Lund said.
“It doesn’t have the same effect as when a celebrity or a brand started to sellout.
“What the followers of these accounts demand is that the content is relevant to their non-sponsored content and it is aligned to that influencer’s own values.
“As soon as they step outside of that, there’s backlash.”
Most of the time, YouTubers make it clear what they’re being paid for — and what they’re not being paid for — in their vlogs. And this is what stops their audiences from switching off when product promotion becomes in-your-face.
“Disclosure is so critical because it allows the subscribers to be put first,” Lund said.
“Australia is leading the charge with disclosure despite it not being a legal mandate.
“There’s every chance (a YouTuber) would be getting a revenue split for their channel, that YouTube are collaborating with them to sell advertising.”
YOUTUBE STARS TO KNOW
PewDiePie: 83 million subscribers
Dude Perfect: 38.7 million subscribers
HolaSoyGerman: 37 million subscribers
whinderssonnunes: 34.2 million subscribers
elrubiusOMG: 33.5 million subscribers
Jacksepticeye: 21 million subscribers
Ryan ToysReview 18 million subscribers
Originally published as The rise of YouTube celebrities: Inside the lucrative world of YouTubers you’ve never heard of
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