Your Favorite YouTube Star Is Trying to Sell You Something

Your favorite YouTuber just challenged 10 strangers to race blindfolded through a giant maze of slime. The first to finish will get $10,000 and an exclusive edition of a pricey new phone. 

You can’t help but watch as the competitors push through the goo. You know you’re in for 20 minutes of hilarious entertainment—that slime looks gross! But the YouTuber didn’t create this video just to make you laugh. He is trying to get you to buy that phone, and advertisers are paying him to do it. 

Surprised? Many influencers today earn money by marketing companies’ products through their videos and posts. Influencers are people who have a large following on a social media platform. Their content helps companies influence the spending habits of millions of people—including kids and teens.

Such partnerships benefit advertisers and influencers, but they may not always be in the viewers’ best interest, experts say. 

“These things are very deliberate, and people are making a lot of money off of them,” says Christine Elgersma of Common Sense Media, a nonprofit focused on media and kids. 

Your favorite YouTuber just challenged 10 strangers to race blindfolded through a giant maze of slime. The first to finish will get $10,000 and an exclusive edition of a pricey new phone.

You cannot help but watch as the competitors push through the goo. You know you are in for 20 minutes of hilarious entertainment. That slime looks gross! But the YouTuber did not create this video just to make you laugh. He is trying to get you to buy that phone. And advertisers are paying him to do it.

Surprised? Many influencers today earn money by marketing companies’ products through their videos and posts. Influencers are people who have a large following on a social media platform. Their content helps companies influence the spending habits of millions of people. That includes kids and teens.

Such partnerships benefit advertisers and influencers. But experts say the arrangements may not always be in the viewers’ best interest.

“These things are very deliberate, and people are making a lot of money off of them,” says Christine Elgersma of Common Sense Media. That is a nonprofit focused on media and kids.

Some ads on social media are easy to spot. On YouTube, for example, commercials pop up at the start, middle, and end of many videos. Creators with enough subscribers and views can get paid for those ads—but reportedly only about 2 cents per ad view. 

That’s why influencers also seek out brand sponsorships. Companies give creators with many fans free merchandise in exchange for promoting the company’s products in their posts and videos. As a result, a family channel might always unbox a certain brand of toys or a food influencer might suggest ingredients made by a particular company. 

When creators reach around 200,000 subscribers, companies typically start paying them for such promotions, explains Joe Gagliese of Viral Nation, an influencer marketing agency. The more engaged fans are—regularly sharing and commenting on the influencer’s content—the more money the creator can earn, he says. 

Some ads on social media are easy to spot. On YouTube, commercials pop up at the start, middle, and end of many videos. Creators with enough subscribers and views can get paid for those ads. But reportedly they get only about 2 cents per ad view.

That is why influencers also seek out brand sponsorships. Companies give creators with many fans free merchandise in exchange for promoting the company’s products in their posts and videos. As a result, a family channel might always unbox a certain brand of toys. A food influencer might suggest ingredients made by a particular company.

When creators reach around 200,000 subscribers, companies typically start paying them for such promotions, explains Joe Gagliese of Viral Nation, an influencer marketing agency. The more engaged fans are—regularly sharing and commenting on the influencer’s content—the more money the creator can earn, Gagliese says.

YouTubers don’t usually broadcast their sponsorship deals. Instead, they disguise the ads in their normal content—a technique called product placement. 

An influencer who does trick shots might use just one brand of sports equipment. Another might center challenge videos around a specific product—painting it, destroying it, or giving it away.

Some product placements can be as simple as a gamer always wearing a certain logo or sipping a specific sports drink. Seeing your favorite YouTuber using or wearing a product can make you more likely to buy it yourself, experts say. 

One research firm found that 56 percent of 13- to 38-year-olds have purchased a product after seeing a social media post from someone they follow. “Word of mouth is the best form of marketing ever,” Gagliese says. “Influencers are just word of mouth magnified.”

YouTubers do not usually broadcast their sponsorship deals. Instead, they disguise the ads in their normal content. This technique is called product placement.

An influencer who does trick shots might use just one brand of sports equipment. Another might center challenge videos around a specific product, such as painting it, destroying it, or giving it away.

Some product placements can be as simple as a gamer always wearing a certain logo or sipping a specific sports drink. Seeing your favorite YouTuber using or wearing a product can make you more likely to buy it yourself, experts say.

One research firm found that 56 percent of 13- to 38-year-olds have bought a product after seeing a social media post from someone they follow. “Word of mouth is the best form of marketing ever,” Gagliese says. “Influencers are just word of mouth magnified.”

So how can you tell if creators really love a product or if they are just getting paid to promote it? One big tip-off that influencers are making money is that the product appears prominently—such as in the title image of a YouTube video—or the product, its packaging, or the company logo pops up multiple times in the post. 

Think critically about what you are seeing. Ask yourself: Why might the influencer be promoting this product? What claims is he or she making about it? 

And get feedback before you buy something. Ask your friends and family for their opinions. You can also check reviews online from people who haven’t been paid or been given the product for free. 

If your favorite creators are pushing products, it doesn’t mean you have to stop watching them. Just watch with a critical eye. As long as you do that, there’s no harm in finding out who’s going to win that slime race—squelllllllch! 

So how can you tell if creators really love a product or if they are just getting paid to promote it? One big tip-off that influencers are making money is that the product appears prominently. This could be in the title image of a YouTube video, or if the product, its packaging, or the company logo pops up multiple times in the post.

Think about what you are seeing. Ask yourself, Why might the influencer be promoting this product? What claims is he or she making about it?

And get feedback before you buy something. Ask your friends and family for their opinions. You can also check reviews online from people who have not been paid or been given the product for free.

If your favorite creators are pushing products, it does not mean you have to stop watching them. Just watch with a critical eye. As long as you do that, there is no harm in finding out who is going to win that slime race. Squelllllllch!