We all know about the impact that the Digital Age and the Internet has had on almost every single person on the face of the Earth. Scholars have proposed a so-called “fourth industrial revolution” due to the scale of the transformation that connectivity and computerization has had in almost every industry.
But if one industry in particular has undergone a radical transformation, it’s the media. With the arrival of alternate media outlets: social networks, previously relied upon outlets are losing their influence. Ultimately, they are becoming a receptacle for all the negative things that are associated with the hierarchical systems present in society.
This is a golden age for content creators, and also for brands that are seeking to connect with a specific audience. Cultivating a niche is becoming easier and easier because there are specialized channels through which to target a specific market of people.
Jenny Doan is a perfect example of this. Doan may not be the most popular person on YouTube, seeing as her channel began in 2009 and she is still below 500 thousand subscribers. But in her videos, Jenny and her family found a way to attract business to their small time traditional American quilting company.
Quilts? There is actually an audience for that?
Jenny’s personality began to gain popularity through her video tutorials. Suddenly, at the suggestion of a follower, Jenny and her family began to sell the quilts they were showing in the videos. They received a passionate response from their audience all over the world, which resulted in the steady growth of their company until today, where it encompasses over 400 staff members in Hamilton, Missouri. The town has been revitalized, thanks to the momentum of Jenny and her children’s company, and her unusual fan base that has even paved the way for a quilting tourist industry around her hobby.
Until a couple of weeks ago, I had never even heard Jenny Doan’s name even though her Missouri Star Quilt company has accumulated more than 136 million views on their YouTube channel. Furthermore, her two children who run the company were named “Person of the Year” by the US Small Business Administration in 2015, and process around 2 million orders a year.
Taking into account that YouTube currently has more than 60 thousand channels that exceed 100 thousand subscribers, there is no doubt that the opportunity to connect with an audience who really cares about your product or service exists. The digital world is without a doubt the best way to do this. Although, the biggest advantages lie in the ability to effectively measure the results obtained through each effort, having design capabilities, and adjusting after each campaign project to maximize your return on your advertising investment.
Jenny Doan’s story is just one of the most fascinating stories found in a recent book Steampunks: YouTube and the Rebels Remaking Media, written by Robert Kyncl – YouTube’s Business Director, and Maany Peyvan – Lead Writer for Google. In the book, Kyncl and Peyvan offer x-ray vision into the alternate media outlet phenomenon that can be of great service to you, especially in illustating the scope of cultural change that happens every single day when that play button is clicked.
Mijo! Brands specializes in projecting your brand into the digital world. We have a team of experts who can help you position your company in the minds of consumers who love your products and who become your very own personal ambassadors. We develop digital strategies for companies in the face of a world that is becoming increasingly more competitive and manages to quickly chip away at advertising budgets.
Contact us so that we can design a creative plan that is tailored to your needs.
Luis Estrada is a Content Editor at Mijo! Brands, a leading creative digital marketing agency with presence in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta. A graduate from the University UNAM in Mexico City with a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Collective Communication, Luis has years of experience in business, technology and lifestyle journalism with diverse audiences. He takes advantage of his incipient multiple personality disorder to adjust to different clients’ tone of voice. An explainer by nature and a collector of useless facts, he is enamored by theater and mass culture. One of his hobbies includes writing reviews as a frustrated movie buff, and he is also an occasional lover of kitsch.