Hi, this is Amanda Perelli and welcome back to
In this week's edition:
How to get paid from YouTube's $100 million Shorts Fund
Why an esports org is jumping into mobile gaming
How Sephora chooses influencers for its paid ambassador program
How Riot Games is using costreaming to bring new viewers to esports
And more including views for new Shorts outpacing uploads, how a Funko Pop seller makes $2,900 in 3 hours from live shopping, and inside David Dobrik's Lollapalooza "house party."
Send tips to aperelli@insider.com or DM me on Twitter at @arperelli.
YouTube will start paying creators $100 to $10,000 a month for short-form videos
Starting next week,
Creators can earn between $100 and $10,000 a month for their videos.
The roll-out of the Shorts fund comes at a time when YouTube is looking to compete against
Here are a few key eligibility requirements channels must meet in order to qualify:
"Channels uploading videos with watermarks or logos from third-party social
media platforms, non-original videos (for example, unedited clips from movies or TV shows), or videos reuploaded from other creator's channels will not be eligible.""Channels need to have uploaded at least one eligible Short in the last 180 days."
Once a creator qualifies, they will have until the 25th of the month to claim their bonus payment or it may expire.
"The level of performance needed to qualify for a bonus payment may differ between creators (based on audience location for example) and may change from month to month due to fluctuations in audience location and the number of creators making Shorts," YouTube said.
Check out more on how to qualify for the Shorts Fund and how it works, here.
Immortals is jumping into mobile gaming with a 'Wild Rift' esports team
The esports organization Immortals announced on Monday the signing of a "League of Legends: Wild Rift" esports roster.
The team signed gaming YouTube creator SeongHun "Hoon" Jang to be the core of the team.
Esports started with teams for desktop games like "League of Legends" and "StarCraft II," but mobile gaming has since taken over as the top draw for viewership.
My colleague Michael Espinosa spoke with Immortals president Jordan Sherman, who explained how he'll evaluate the team's success and how he's approaching the market.
Here are the four criteria he'll use:
Engaging new fans with digital content
Success in Riot's first tournament series
Bringing "Wild Rift" to more fans around the country
Working with Riot to grow "Wild Rift" itself
Currently, Immortals' four main divisions include its teams in "League of Legends" and "Valorant," the "Overwatch" League team Los Angeles Valiant, and the Brazilian esports organization MIBR.
Check out the full story on Immortals entering mobile gaming, here.
How influencers are chosen for Sephora's ambassador program
Sephora has leaned into paying micro influencers and employees to develop content for social media.
I spoke with a Sephora exec about the brand's "Sephora Squad" influencer-marketing strategy.
Sephora Squad's 2021 group includes 73 members and 79% are BIPOC, the company said. 48 of the members are influencers and 25 are Sephora employees.
This year, Sephora was focused on hiring more influencers who spoke Spanish and made Spanish-language content, as well as creators with diverse hair types.
Here's a breakdown of how the company selects which influencers to work with:
Prospective members first apply on Sephora Squad's application page.
Then, they must ask their followers to submit a testimonial about them.
Once accepted, Sephora pays the members to promote the brand and develop content for its own social channels.
"Previously, we were looking at influencers in a campaign and initiative based way," said Abigail Jacobs, senior vice president of integrated brand marketing at Sephora. "Then with the launch of the Squad, we established a group of influencers that we work with on more of an annual basis to really build partnerships with."
Read more about how influencers join Sephora Squad here.
How Riot used costreaming to bring 300,000 new viewers to a recent esports broadcast
Riot's first global "Valorant" tournament featured costreams by more than 20 creators.
The creators, broadcasting in several languages, brought more than 300,000 new viewers to the event.
Michael reported that the success of "Valorant's" costreams shows the potential of alternative esports broadcast experiences.
Here are a few takeaways about the broadcast experience:
To decide which streamers to let costream the event, Riot uses two metrics: engagement and the amount of new viewers that can be brought to the broadcast.
To get insights like these, Jafroodi said that Riot partnered with Stream Hatchet, a livestream analytics company.
Kasra Jafroodi, Riot's head of global strategy for "Valorant" esports, said Riot will let a greater number of creators to costream future events.
Read more on how Riot is bringing new viewers to esports, here.
More influencer industry news:
Affiliate marketing
- Affiliate-marketing platform "LTK" launches a self-service portal, giving brands direct access to the company's network of creators.
YouTube
- Earlier this year, YouTube released its TikTok competitor, Shorts, to users in the US. Now, views for new Shorts are outpacing uploads, according to a report from Tubular Labs.
David Dobrik hosted a party in Chicago for the Lollapalooza music festival. Insider attended and got photos of the event.
TikTok
- Zach King is TikTok's fifth most-followed star with 62.9 million followers. Here's how the filmmaker went from selling film editing tips to being one of the biggest online creators.
Live shopping
- Live shopping gives businesses the ability to sell virtually to customers in real-time. Here's how a Funko Pop seller makes $2,900 in 3 hours from live shopping.
Industry moves
- The influencer talent management firm Underscore Talent has hired former Mattel exec Nadi Filsoof as a talent manager.
Creator Profile: Dental Digest
Anthony Baroud (@DentalDigest) went viral on TikTok after posting his first video in October 2020.
Baroud is a 23-year-old dental student based in Chicago. He films tooth brush and dental product reviews, like trying spicy ramen flavored toothpaste.
"I saw a great opportunity where I get to have fun and explore my creativity, and also take over a marketplace that hasn't really been touched yet: dental products," Baroud told Insider.
Baroud makes money from ad revenue (YouTube's Partner Program), sponsored content, and TikTok's Creator Fund.
He recently signed with the creator talent management firm Night Media.
"It's quickly turning into my job," Baroud said about social media. "I'm leaning towards working as a dental associate to allow me to have more time to create content."
Baroud said he eventually wants to create and sell his own line of dental products to sell directly to his followers.
TikTok subscribers (primary platform) : 8.9 million
YouTube subscribers: 4.4 million
Most viewed video: A YouTube Short featuring him using homemade toothpaste to clean his teeth. The 39-second video has 176 million views.
TikTok hashtag of the week:
Every week, we highlight a top trending hashtag on TikTok, according to data provided by Kyra IQ.
This week's hashtag: PhotoCropChallenge
The percentage uptick for the last 7 days: 4,478%
This uptick is centered around a new TikTok challenge featuring creators attempting to fit into a series of cropped frames created by a video filter.
Here's what else we're reading and watching:
The White House has teamed up with TikTok stars for pro-vaccine campaigns (Taylor Lorenz, from The New York Times)
TikTok becomes an unofficial behind-the-scenes Olympic channel (Frances Mao, from BBC)
The Verge created a guide on how to create and consume short videos on TikTok. Check it out here.
Austin McBroom's lawyer said there's no way they'll see profits from the influencer boxing match (Lindsay Dodgson and Steven Asarch, from Insider)
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And before you go, check out the top trending songs on TikTok this week to add to your playlist. The data was collected by UTA IQ, the research, analytics, and digital strategy division of United Talent Agency.