- Joined
- Apr 15, 2015
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One of my goals this year was to find sponsors for my channel so that I can make it financially sustainable and offer more varied content.
I decided upon a strategy to accomplish this and am very happy with the results, so I wanted to share it on this forum in the hope that some readers may benefit.
FIRST - I targeted the group of businesses most likely to have the budget and the desire to sponsor me. In my case I decided on Yacht Builders.
SECOND - I emailed them to ask for permission to use images of their yachts in a vlog. I sent a link to one of my other vlogs so that they could see the kind of material that I produce.
THIRD - Once the video was published I emailed them again to thank them for their kind cooperation and I included a link to the finished video.
FOURTH - I stayed in contact with them, sending them links to higher budget videos that I believed they may enjoy and explaining that I could produce something similar for their company, and that this would also give them considerable exposure to a strong viewer base. With this email I included some statistics about my channel in a PDF file.
These four steps were sufficient to secure my first three sponsors, but I was also able to take a fifth step last week that may not be possible for everybody reading this.
One of the world's largest yacht shows was held in Cannes, so:
FIFTH - I visited the stands of some of the yacht builders I had contacted just to say "Hi" to their Marketing Director. This proved to be a very successful strategy, and if you are in a position to visit your potential sponsor in person I would highly recommend it. If they have been watching your videos then they will be really pleased to meet you - most people, especially if they work in marketing, are very curious to know more about YouTube and YouTubers.
This fifth step has brought me another two potential sponsors, but more importantly from a strategic point of view I have been asked by the world's largest superyacht builder to film 2 sponsored videos as soon as possible and (following a 3 hour meeting!) they are keen to find a way that we can work together on a more long term basis.
Regarding this last matter, I'd like to offer some advice if I may.
Don't be greedy! Whatever you think your channel and your videos are worth it is unlikely that the person you are speaking to will agree with you. Marketing departments have a budget, and for many companies the idea of paying a digital influencer is still quite new and experimental. Be flexible in your expectations on price and work with your sponsor to find a solution that you are both comfortable with.
I can imagine that some may read this post and have the idea that it is easy for me to say this because the yachting industry must have tons of money to throw around. You'd be surprised though. Even the largest yacht builders who turn over hundreds of millions of dollars every year in revenue have to be very careful how they spend their money. The object they are selling is very expensive, but their profit margins are no higher than most other businesses and their risks of loss are considerably higher. Yacht marketing departments are VERY sensitive to cutting costs, so convincing them to try out something new has taken time and a well thought out strategy.
I hope the above may be of use to some of you in whatever niche your channel operates! I have a 7 hour drive home from Cannes now, but it will give me time to start thinking of a storyboard for my next video!
I decided upon a strategy to accomplish this and am very happy with the results, so I wanted to share it on this forum in the hope that some readers may benefit.
FIRST - I targeted the group of businesses most likely to have the budget and the desire to sponsor me. In my case I decided on Yacht Builders.
SECOND - I emailed them to ask for permission to use images of their yachts in a vlog. I sent a link to one of my other vlogs so that they could see the kind of material that I produce.
THIRD - Once the video was published I emailed them again to thank them for their kind cooperation and I included a link to the finished video.
FOURTH - I stayed in contact with them, sending them links to higher budget videos that I believed they may enjoy and explaining that I could produce something similar for their company, and that this would also give them considerable exposure to a strong viewer base. With this email I included some statistics about my channel in a PDF file.
These four steps were sufficient to secure my first three sponsors, but I was also able to take a fifth step last week that may not be possible for everybody reading this.
One of the world's largest yacht shows was held in Cannes, so:
FIFTH - I visited the stands of some of the yacht builders I had contacted just to say "Hi" to their Marketing Director. This proved to be a very successful strategy, and if you are in a position to visit your potential sponsor in person I would highly recommend it. If they have been watching your videos then they will be really pleased to meet you - most people, especially if they work in marketing, are very curious to know more about YouTube and YouTubers.
This fifth step has brought me another two potential sponsors, but more importantly from a strategic point of view I have been asked by the world's largest superyacht builder to film 2 sponsored videos as soon as possible and (following a 3 hour meeting!) they are keen to find a way that we can work together on a more long term basis.
Regarding this last matter, I'd like to offer some advice if I may.
Don't be greedy! Whatever you think your channel and your videos are worth it is unlikely that the person you are speaking to will agree with you. Marketing departments have a budget, and for many companies the idea of paying a digital influencer is still quite new and experimental. Be flexible in your expectations on price and work with your sponsor to find a solution that you are both comfortable with.
I can imagine that some may read this post and have the idea that it is easy for me to say this because the yachting industry must have tons of money to throw around. You'd be surprised though. Even the largest yacht builders who turn over hundreds of millions of dollars every year in revenue have to be very careful how they spend their money. The object they are selling is very expensive, but their profit margins are no higher than most other businesses and their risks of loss are considerably higher. Yacht marketing departments are VERY sensitive to cutting costs, so convincing them to try out something new has taken time and a well thought out strategy.
I hope the above may be of use to some of you in whatever niche your channel operates! I have a 7 hour drive home from Cannes now, but it will give me time to start thinking of a storyboard for my next video!
I think you are doing all the right things
