Is it worth investing in sponsored videos?

[Aqusmatiq Audio]

Hello, everyone,
I have recently started developing VST plugins with a small company I founded with two other friends. In the past, we have developed music apps for iOS and Max for Live devices, but I had never delved into promoting the software.
For our first VST plugin, I wrote to 60/70 youtubers who do plugin reviews to ask if they were interested in our work; very few replied, and almost all of them asked if I wanted to commission a sponsored video. The price for these videos ranges from $300 to $1000!
I ask those with more experience than me: is it worth paying for these sponsored videos? Is there an actual return on investment, in your opinion? Does anyone have any experience to report?

Thank you all!
Maurizio

[BertKoor]

Do you have a YouTube channel? Views per clip? Subscribers?
Their views & subscribers?

Is it worth it? Hard, if not impossible to predict...

[kevvvvv]

If a reviewer asks to be paid for their time, and does a thorough review, then it seems fair.

What I'd hate is a lazy reviewer who just blagged a brochure read 5 seconds earlier, who isn't that much of a musician or engineer, who doesn't show live examples and tweaks or tips, and in a few styles or parts.

Sitting there gushing shallow praise and pushing a few presets impresses no one. But you can see it every day

The trick is to pick carefully.

Which reviewer will tell the best story for you?

How much time will they spend researching and testing so they speak knowledgeably and helpfully to your future customers?

What niches are they focussed on? Producers, djs, sound designers, because that's the flavour you'll get if you hire them.

How much will they collab in advance with you?

And since you're paying will they agree a contract - just in case they underdeliver?

A great in depth review is something you can proudly show the world.

It'll translate to sales.

On the other hand a weak or unattractive amateurish or fumbling review can kill you off.

It's a tough call.

But WA Production got it right. Their product videos are always top notch, better than most plug videos costing loads more.

[Aqusmatiq Audio]

Do you have a YouTube channel? Views per clip? Subscribers?
Their views & subscribers?

Hi BertKoor,

Yes, we have a YouTbe channel, but we posted the first video a month ago, and, of course, we have very few subscribers.

That's why I wonder if it's worth asking somebody with tens of thousands of subscribers to make a sponsored video of our plugin on their channel.

[Aqusmatiq Audio]

If a reviewer asks to be paid for their time, and does a thorough review, then it seems fair.

Hi kevvvvv,
Thank you for the thoughtful and insightful advice.

Regarding WA Productions, are you referring to videos they have on their channel, or sponsored videos made by others?

[whyterabbyt]

For our first VST plugin, I wrote to 60/70 youtubers who do plugin reviews to ask if they were interested in our work; very few replied, and almost all of them asked if I wanted to commission a sponsored video. The price for these videos ranges from $300 to $1000!
I ask those with more experience than me: is it worth paying for these sponsored videos?

Disclaimer : I dont have experience of doing this.

However, if I was paying for a 'service' like that, I would be looking for evidence of the success of it. In other words, can those Youtubers provide any corroboration of how effective their sponsored videos have been for their clients?

I wouldnt be paying $300 let alone $1000 bucks if I didnt have a very solid expectation of a significant amount of increased sales, ten times that outlay or more. And I strongly suspect that, unlike proper advertising agencies, Youtubers are generally in it for them, not you. In fact, most of the ones I'd trust dont do promotions in the first place, and/or insist on editorial control over reviews.

[Cyforce]

Of course, it isn't easy to assess in advance whether these $300-1000 are worth it, but you should also compare it with the usual alternatives (eg google ads) - the viewer usually invests more in a video than in a random banner on a random site. At the same time, the Youtuber gives the viewer a higher sense of trust than a random banner - and it stays in the vastness of Youtube for a long time - so it also generates long-term traffic/interest.

[Aqusmatiq Audio]

Of course, it isn't easy to assess in advance whether these $300-1000 are worth it, but you should also compare it with the usual alternatives (eg google ads) - the viewer usually invests more in a video than in a random banner on a random site. At the same time, the Youtuber gives the viewer a higher sense of trust than a random banner - and it stays in the vastness of Youtube for a long time - so it also generates long-term traffic/interest.

Interesting. That makes sense; thank you!
Have you ever used sponsored videos to promote your products (if you don't mind me asking)?

[kevvvvv]

Regarding WA Productions, are you referring to videos they have on their channel, or sponsored videos made by others?

I mean the produced videos on their WAP channel.

What they did was to find an unknown voiceover, hire him for a reasonable fee, then dub him over the studio dem (with always perfect timing and coherence between speech, visuals and learning tempo).

All scripted and edited inhouse.

This isn't the same as a reviewer video (talking head 3rd party) but it achieves the same goals as it enables users to get a genuine feel for ownership of the plug, and what it can do for them, all told comprehensively with great examples, and never failing to engage in every scene.

This standard of video whether reviewer or voiceover dem, will work as a powerful sales tool.

Equally, thoughtless or cheap vids work the opposite (don't they just)

The secret is not to stint on the voiceover. Take ages looking round voiceover sites. Ask for sample reads of a line or two of script. Taking your time can lead to discovering an authentic non-salesy new voice that plugin buyers will trust more easily than the last scatterbrain they heard.

There's no big time limit either - long or short.

Just so long as every scene is riveting and the whole free of dead spots, then people will watch.

Only then will they start to buy.

This principle works for voiceover product videos and review videos.

Just make every scene your best shot

[Zaphod (giancarlo)]

The return on investment depends on the product and the user base you start with. Perhaps at the beginning, the cost is too high: we have been using such products lately, and we can afford to pay these amounts without even thinking about it and without focusing on the individual return on investment. In the beginning, we would have never done this.

[MidnightRunner]

Regarding WA Productions, are you referring to videos they have on their channel, or sponsored videos made by others?

I mean the produced videos on their WAP channel.

What they did was to find an unknown voiceover, hire him for a reasonable fee, then dub him over the studio dem (with always perfect timing and coherence between speech, visuals and learning tempo).

All scripted and edited inhouse.

This isn't the same as a reviewer video (talking head 3rd party) but it achieves the same goals as it enables users to get a genuine feel for ownership of the plug, and what it can do for them, all told comprehensively with great examples, and never failing to engage in every scene.

This standard of video whether reviewer or voiceover dem, will work as a powerful sales tool.

Equally, thoughtless or cheap vids work the opposite (don't they just)

The secret is not to stint on the voiceover. Take ages looking round voiceover sites. Ask for sample reads of a line or two of script. Taking your time can lead to discovering an authentic non-salesy new voice that plugin buyers will trust more easily than the last scatterbrain they heard.

There's no big time limit either - long or short.

Just so long as every scene is riveting and the whole free of dead spots, then people will watch.

Only then will they start to buy.

This principle works for voiceover product videos and review videos.

Just make every scene your best shot

Thanks for the post. I gotta give WA production another go. I never took them seriously. I hear they are part of Image Line corp now.