YouTube Marketer Adjusts to AI

In 2009 Rasmus Albrechtsen started providing males’s hairstyling tutorials on YouTube. He known as his channel “Slikhaar TV,” as in “slick hair.” The channel scaled to over 2 million subscribers.

Then got here YouTube’s synthetic intelligence-driven browse function, displaying viewers the movies that seemingly curiosity them. All of the sudden, Albrechtsen’s 2 million subscribers appeared much less impactful. He’s now producing movies “for the browse function greater than for the subscribers.”

Albrecthsen relies in Denmark, the place I’m vacationing. He and I just lately mentioned Slikhaar TV, By Vilain (his line of hair merchandise), and the influence of AI on video advertising.

Your entire audio of our dialog is embedded beneath. The transcript is edited for readability and size.

Eric Bandholz: What do you do?

Rasmus Vilain Albrechtsen: I co-founded two companies with my twin brother, Emil. Now we have Slikhaar TV, which is a YouTube channel with over 2 million subscribers providing males’s hairstyling tutorials and recommendation. We launched it in 2009.

Then now we have By Vilain, the place we develop and promote hair merchandise for males, corresponding to waxes, pre-stylers, shampoos, and equipment.

Having a brother as a enterprise accomplice is good, though it has challenges. We’re equivalent twins, however now we have completely different personalities. I’m extra into the inventive, imaginative and prescient house. Emil is extra into executing and operations. He’s additionally our CEO. We complement one another fairly properly.

Bandholz: Natural YouTube views may be hard to come by.

Albrechtsen: It has been turbulent on YouTube. We will thank the browse function for the turbulence. It’s getting smarter, utilizing synthetic intelligence to assist viewers uncover their distinctive pursuits.

Now we have 2 million subscribers, however we don’t have 2 million viewers. Now we have 2 million individuals who, as soon as in 14 years, selected to push the subscribe button. Their lives could also be completely different now.

So we’re attempting to supply movies round traits for the browse function greater than for the subscribers.

Bandholz: Much like the TikTok mannequin, proper? The variety of subscribers doesn’t have an effect on how a video performs.

Albrechtsen: Sure. TikTok is extreme in some methods as a result of viewers will overlook you tomorrow when you’re not feeding into the traits. Should you personalize content material and construct your self as somebody that folk need to get extra of, they may bear in mind you and return to your channel since you moved them indirectly.

To face out, it’s mainly a brainwashing course of. You entertain them, however they don’t bear in mind you. To be memorable, you retain at it.

I had an expertise in my health heart. A man approached me and mentioned, “Are you that dude that all the time pops up in my feed?” It’s tremendous fascinating when people discover you since you will need to have left an imprint indirectly.

So the problem is producing memorable content material so viewers can discover you. Of us might browse 100 movies an hour, 10 to twenty seconds every. In case your content material makes an imprint, you should use it in an advert afterward.

Then, in the event that they watched your content material a few instances within the browse function, they may reply to a business together with your product. They don’t know the place they noticed it, however they realize it’s tied to good content material, in order that they belief it extra.

Bandholz: Have you ever finished endorsement offers with celebrities?

Albrechtsen: Now we have a number of endorsements. But when the query is, “Have we paid for endorsements?” the reply is just not straight. They occur by casual networks — some soccer (soccer) gamers, a number of celebrities — but it surely’s not on formal contracts. It’s normally of us who use our merchandise. So it’s not a typical endorsement the place you pay Cristiano Ronaldo a few million {dollars}, and he’ll point out you, and you should use his title within the advertising of the product.

A star endorsement may very well be technique, however we aren’t pursuing it due to the worth level. We’d most likely pay round 80,000 U.S. {dollars} for a yr’s contract with a high-end celeb.

I’d somewhat persist with guys who consistently create expert content inside a particular area of interest and supply worth in a particular space — not simply entertaining by displaying luxurious existence.

Bandholz: The place can listeners comply with you?

Albrechtsen: Try our YouTube channel, @Slikhaar TV, or see us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. Our hair care merchandise are at ByVilain.com.