YouTubers and bloggers are a new means for brands to promote their products, as they connect personal experiences to product claims. Reviews, word of mouth, and awards will always be valuable, but partnering with a YouTuber who aligns with your brand and connects with your customer base is a new opportunity for brands. The increasing relationships between YouTubers and brands are beneficial, and it has been noticeable for loyal followers. There is nothing wrong vloggers parlaying what they love into a livelihood, their hard work deserves compensation, but subscribers care about consistency, authenticity, and integrity. A principled vlogger would only choose to work with brands that they believe in, so that they can stand behind every piece of content they produce, but if you are wondering what a YouTuber’s favorite products are – sponsored or not – this is how you can figure them out.
Watch “favorites” videos carefully
When trying to filter content without digging through FTC disclaimers, watching favorite videos is a great place to start. Don’t simply skim the video or collapse the video description box for product lists. Watch the video to see if the products in clear packaging look used. Sometimes products are full because they were repurchased, but usually vloggers will explicitly say whether it was purchased or repurchased.
Utilize the search bar
Use the search bar on their channels to see how many times a product was mentioned. Veteran vloggers have too many videos to go through for their favorites, so I usually look for a product in the search bar to see how many videos populate. One video is usually a sign that the product may have been sent by a brand, never purchased or repurchased, or used regularly. When I see an infinite list of videos that means I’ve struck gold. Again, vloggers use a lot of tags to help with their SEO, so check the description box of a few videos from the search results to see why the video is coming up.
Now, some vloggers do not organize their content well, with no playlists and a search bar that is good for nothing. If nothing comes up in the search results, that does not mean they do not use any product consistently; you may just need to request a favorites video or empties video to avoid watching hours of video to find what you want.
Always watch the “empties” videos
These videos are my favorites. Like YouTubers, NaturallyCurly editors are sent tons of products every week, making it challenging to finish every product before they expire. Part of the reason certain products go unused or unfinished is because other products are being used consistently. First impressions videos are no more beneficial than driving to the store to smell the product and read ingredient list for yourself, so keep your eye on the empties videos. These videos are usually explanatory and full of information about how the product was used and how often.
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How do you spot your vloggers’ favorite products?
