Resource Hub: Kids/family creators and influencers

Learn more about the biggest youth influencer marketing trends we anticipate in 2021 and how to apply them to your youth digital engagement strategy.

Influencers are a critical part of any kids’ engagement strategy. Make sure you have the tools to make your campaigns kid-safe.

In Episode Ten of #Kidtech Season Two, we were joined by Stephen Sharer, the well known YouTuber whose channel now has almost 8 million subscribers.

Working with influencers is not always easy for brands. There can be a lot of back and forth between your team and the talent, resulting in miscommunication and content that does not properly reflect your brand.

Platforms like Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube are all designed for adult audiences and despite being used by vast numbers of kids, have no support for under-13 engagement (in fact, legally they can’t).

As kids overwhelm these adult platforms, some are reacting by simply shutting down engagement. TikTok has created a whole new user experience (with dramatically curtailed functionality) for its younger users, while YouTube has taken the radical move of switching off comments for any videos created by (or intended for) kids or family users.

YouTube is a challenge for brands. On one hand, despite the fact that YouTube is an over-13 platform, it is one of the best places to reach under-13 audiences at scale. The vast subscriber bases of channels such as Sis VS Bro and Ryan ToysReview have sparked an increase in the number of kid-focused channels on the platform, and sponsored collaborations are beneficial to both the influencers and the brands.

The challenge presented by kids spending time on YouTube has been well-documented over the last few months. Ultimately, the platform was designed for adults, so there are limits to what content safeguards YouTube can put in place for the under-13 audience. Today, we’re stepping in to help by rolling out our SafeFam content certification for YouTubers with young audiences.