Up to 40,000 a month, apparently. Youtube has gone from a home video posting website to a career building platform since its launch in 2005. Vloggers (video bloggers), beauty gurus, and gaming channels receive views in the millions, and rack in a hefty percentage of advertising revenue. Not a bad gig, huh?
Additionally, vlogers and especially beauty video makers receive sponsorships, and include affiliate links, which make extra cash. Beauty brands like Maybelline, Lancôme, or Herbal Essences might choose to sponsor a beauty blogger, to the tune of anywhere from $100-$10,000 cash, plus the occasional all-inclusive trip to a studio or exotic location to film. Moreover, these bloggers often include affiliate links that track each click through and purchase they directed their viewers.
For many years, this sponsor-blogger relationship was kept on the down low, and viewers were kept in the dark about when bloggers were being paid for their rave product reviews. In recent years the FTC set guidelines that made it mandatory for bloggers to disclose when they were being sponsored. But still, there exists a veil of distrust for many viewers. An XO Jane
article states, “Now, clicking on a beauty or fashion video is equivalent to watching an ad… A beauty guru will rave about a new mascara she bought in a monthly favorites video… The sponsorship will be hidden somewhere in the description box, sandwiched between affiliate links.”
As blogging becomes a full time profession and personal brands become moneymaking giants, the relationship between bloggers and readers/viewers will inevitably change. It is important for marketers to keep a pulse on this tension as they continue to sponsor video bloggers.
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