What can we learn on YouTube?

YouTube is, from the moment I realized I could find so much more than music there, my favorite platform on the internet. When I said YouTube made me interested in marketing, I wasn’t lying. I think that was one of the rare sentences from my former intern interviews that I truly believed in.

I loved the charisma of people who are able to keep the attention even if they don't do anything special – they just sit and talk in front of the camera. I also liked the fact that it seemed to me like there was enough space in this platform for someone's persona to develop and for the person to tell their story or show their vision of creativity. I also liked that the channels were mostly aimed at individuals, who, of course, at some point when they blew up hired teams of people to help them create and shape content, but the main secret of success was always in their personality.

Over time, I began to love the channels of experts in various fields because I was able to learn something from people who know how to talk about a topic that is familiar to them in an interesting and easy way. These channels mostly collaborate with brands that are close to them or whose services they actually use, in order to maintain their credibility. Of course, there are differences and, in addition to the size of the channel, it is obviously influenced by the personality of the influencer himself who decides whether to accept collaborations or not.

The list that follows shows how easily creativity and education can be combined.

Fashion is my passion

I will start with something that is relatively close to us. Geographically. It's Polish YouTuber Karolina Żebrowska who deals mainly with fashion trends over time, while her video ideas range from commentary videos and lessons on a particular topic (if you're interested in how much the costumes of your favorite historical dramas are believable, you're at the right place), through cute comedy sketches, to completely crazy and absurd collaborations. A good example is this one with the royal castle in Krakow. I learned from this woman how corsets, without a real reason, became a symbol of oppression. How it will benefit me later in life – I have no idea, but I am waiting for a client who designs corsets to defend them with all my heart.

Internet analysis

Those who like commentary channels and detailed analysis will enjoy the videos of Tiffany Ferguson, a girl who studied media and communication and now examines pop cultural phenomena, trends, and especially interesting (at least to me) are her reviews on the mechanisms of creating and losing fame and relevance among influencers. This girl loves fashion and as far as I have seen, mostly (unexpectedly for the type of channel) collaborates with brands related to this area.

Psychoanalysis

An extremely important educational channel is led by Dr. Tracey Marks, who breaks down stigmas related to mental health and creates informative and clear content, and if you want to learn how to recognize a problem and deal with narcissists, visit Dr. Ramani's channel.

The popularization of this type of channel in our country would enable cooperation with influencers, especially in the case of socially responsible campaigns where the goal is to raise awareness of the importance of mental health. Their popularization is important because it changes the situation – mental health ceases to be a taboo topic.

The skin I live in

Fortunately, I also saw our dermatologists and beauticians on social networks, primarily on Instagram. As for YouTube, I don’t know how I got hooked on these channels, but they convinced me of their story by not talking nonsense. The magic formulas and secret ingredients of the products are slowly being replaced by clear scientific explanations and recommendations on how to protect and nourish the skin. One of my favorite YouTube and Instagram dermatologists who cultivates a no-bullshit approach is Dr. Shereene Idriss. Next to her, there is Dr. Andrea Suarez, whose approach is colder and more measured, but you will get the facts and maybe learn that stories about detoxification are usually nonsense. These people are ideal for collaboration with cosmetic brands, which is even used in our country, but I did not notice that in our country the personality of a dermatologist is so much in the foreground, and I think it is necessary for people to take their advice more seriously.

Just like in the movie

The two women behind The Take YT channel regularly remind me of what a good and detailed analysis of movies, series, as well as stereotypes that we adopt and that are promoted in the media means. Their video essays show great power of argumentation and logical thinking, and even if you don’t share all their views it will help you see the problem from a different perspective. The most common collaborations they have is, of course, with the Mubi movie streaming platform.

One of my main hopes regarding influencer marketing is that we will adopt a variety of trends from around the world, rather than consistently clinging to those that are most debatable. The combination of professionalism and simple approach is becoming more and more popular, and I am especially happy because it proves that people want to know more, not just waste time on the Internet. It's not that wasting time is always a bad thing, but why not combine nice and useful! Finally, when as a brand you have the opportunity to collaborate with people like this, and trust in you grows because you know whom to choose – someone who grew because of the quality of the content, not because of all the dramas they happen to be involved in.

Author: Natalija Jovanović, Senior Content Manager