Sometimes, I wish ‘The Creator Rep’ newsletter could be daily. But then I’d have to quit my job at a creator representation company…

Because last week was packed.

But instead of covering multiple news items, I want to cover the nine new feature announcements at ‘Made on YouTube’ and how you should advise your clients to use them.

This means I don’t have time to talk about how most of Gen Z wishes X and TikTok didn’t exist! Or MrBeast’s leaked employee guide for his production team! Or MrBeast, Logan Paul, and KSI coming together to launch a Lunchables competitor that looks like Play-Doh! Or my amazing time at TwitchCon (short recap here)!

So you’ll just have to DM me or buy me coffee to hear my hot takes on those…

Let’s get into it.

NEWS:

YouTube’s New Feature Blitz

What a slate of announcements! With nine significant features announced in one ‘Made on YouTube’ broadcast (YT’s version of an Apple Keynote), it’s tricky to know where a creator rep should pay attention.

I’ll help you with some quick explanations, grades, and why you should(n’t) care.

1. THE INSPIRATION TAB

What is it? A tab in YouTube Studio that allows you to prompt an AI, then get thumbnail suggestions, hooks, titles, and video outlines.

Grade: B-

Why? Blank page syndrome is real, and this will help creators get over that (something I’ve been recommending to creators for the past year but with ChatGPT). However, much of this AI still appears to be in a ‘rough draft’ phase, so the suggested stuff must still be created. In other words, this will be a good education tool for new creators but likely not a ton of help for established creators who have surpassed the ‘best practices’ phase.

2. YouTube Shopping

What is it? TikTok Shop but…YouTube.

Grade: A-

Why? Conversion has always been brutal on YouTube. Directing people to a link in the description or a link-in-bio is brutal. Putting products directly into the video experience should greatly increase impact of influencer marketing for D2C brands. It’s the age of conversion, and if your creator can’t move audiences it’s time to change strategy.

3. HYPE

What is it? Think of it like a new type of ‘like’ button, but it allows you to promote smaller creators to a new leaderboard further.

Grade: C-

Why? Interesting concept, but how many people will see this leaderboard? How many people are going to the ‘trending’ page now? It feels like it will be more of an emotional win, but I hope I’m wrong as promoting smaller creators continues to be a huge issue.

4. COMMUNITY HUB

What is it? A new feature in the Studio app that gives AI suggestions to answer comments.

Grade: D

Why? Is there anything less authentic than letting AI answer genuine comments from your adoring fans? Ugh…

5. AUTO DUBBING

What is it? Hundreds of thousands of more creators will get their content dubbed into other languages for free.

Grade: A

Why? Did you know only 20% of the world speaks English? That’s a boatload of audience most massive creators are missing! There have been other great dubbing companies, but for most creators those options are too expensive. This will help more creators reach new audiences.

6. VEO (DREAM SCREEN)

What is it? Short AI-generated videos that can be used in YouTube Shorts.

Grade: D+

Why? Videos are what you’d expect. Cute novelty, but not super compelling.

7. COMMUNITIES

What is it? It's like a WhatsApp Group on YouTube, where creators and fans can connect and post in a personalized space.

Grade: A-

Why? Let’s face it: it’s always been hard for YouTube stars to connect with their audiences on-platform outside of the comments section. Most creators instead opted for Snap, Discord, or a chat platform like WhatsApp for more engagement. If YouTube can capture this on-platform, it could be a massive win.

8. TV-FIRST FEATURES

What is it? YouTube channels can now be organized into seasons and episodes. Those who have been on the platform forever will remember this feature existed in the past, but now that more than 10% of all TV viewership is YouTube, it makes more sense.

Grade: A

Why? As content consumption moves to the big screen, increasing ‘bingibility’ of your clients will be huge. If creators can start thinking more like TV shows, with cliffhangers, plots that exist over multiple episodes, and builds to massive payoffs, they could own the next generation of long-form viewers on the silver screen.

9. GIFTS

What is it? Animated gifs that can be ‘gifted’ to creators for monetary value.

Grade: B

Why? Because it’s already working on all of the other platforms and it feels a heck of a lot more interesting than ‘Super Chats’! Plus, we can finally get more NPC live streamers onto the YouTube platform. Ice cream, Yum Yum!

OPTIMIZATION:

Credit Reddit to Spread It (Your Content)

Did you know Reddit has 1.2 billion monthly users?

Yeah, that Reddit. The one where people upvote memes en masse about Naruto in the year of our lord 2024.

And there’s a subreddit for dang near everything.

Creator reps, that means if you have a famous client, they probably have a few on there.

This is the best audience in the world you for marketing. These are random internet fans who love your client so much they’re writing about them to other fans on a completely different platform.

So give them what they want!

Exclusive content, one-on-one interactions, and, most simply, shares of new posts.

These are superfans who, with more engagement, can become stronger and stronger amplifiers for your content.

MONETIZATION:

Brag More

Don’t force a brand to ask for a media kit to understand how amazing your client is.

Every social page has an ‘about’ section.

Why not dedicate a few characters to an amazing sales pitch!

What’s your client’s biggest super power?

Is it their 10% click through rate?

30% engagement rate?

20% subscriber growth month-over-month?

Did they sell $100k in football cards from one Instagram Story?

Say that!

It will make brands who are constantly drinking from a firehose of data when looking for talent to work with give an extra special consideration to your client.

INDUSTRY HIRING:

Sphere Entertainment Co. seeks a VP of Social & Creator Content who may want to put a certain LinkedIn influencer on the side of the Sphere in Vegas (*wink wink*)

Rigle needs a Director of Influencer Marketing to knock out ecommerce campaigns that would make TikTok Shop blush.

Velvet Caviar is looking for a Senior Manager for Influencer and Partnerships. The phone case one, not fish eggs for VIP sections in nightclubs.

MEME ZONE:

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this edition, give it a share and if you get someone to sign up, I’ll send you my ‘10 Rep-Friendly Ways to Monetize Today!’ deck!

Until next time, protect yo rep.