Don’t be arrogant. Respect YouTubers.

Successful YouTubers aren’t individuals just looking for a big check.

Do you know Jérôme Jarre?

He is basically a social media celebrity that has millions of followers on various platforms (Vine, Snapchat, YouTube, Twitter, etc.).

He embodies the kind of guy brands are looking for when they want to reach an existing audience of millennials.

They are also the kind of people brands think they can buy with a big check. Well, in fact, they sometimes don’t care much about the guy (or the girl), they want to buy an audience.

What marketers don’t realize is that this person’s audience was built around a certain type of content, a certain tone, an approach. You can’t just barge in and try to talk to them through those existing channels and think they’ll listen to you.

They might well start leaving, and fast, and that is something any successful YouTuber will tell you. And they don’t want to risk alienating an audience they built through hard work.

Today, I am not sharing an article, I am sharing a YouTube video, by Jérôme Jarre. It is a video he made following and offer he received from an ad agency. A 1-million dollar offer, nothing less.

 

You see, he knows that even if you attach a seven-figure check to an audience, it doesn’t mean you can own that audience.

This is also something a francophone YouTuber from Montreal recently told me:

“I won’t accept a deal that tells me what to say to my audience. I know them and know how to speak to them, with them. I will only take deals that I know can fit the tone and approach I have had with them for so long. And even then, I will not be bought, it needs to be a product or brand I truly love and embrace.”

Although Jarre’s 1-million dollar video hasn’t been “verified” and corroborated, the points he brings forward remain.

A social media celebrity has built his/her audience through hard work. As a brand, don’t think they are on the market to sell it to anyone.

Don’t be arrogant. Respect them.