Valley Startup, YotaCast, Hopes To Be The Online Meeting Place for “YouTubers” and Major Brands

Jordan Armstrong, CEO / Founder of YotaCast has left a past in Los Angeles, and has now settled down in Scottsdale for the long term. While in LA, Jordan consulted for a major brand, BeautyChoice.com, and started his own business, Red5. Both initiatives involved YouTube marketing, and they taught Jordan how to fully utilize the power of the world’s second largest search engine.
Concerning effective YouTube marketing, the first major lesson Jordan learned was that the “pre-video” ad just doesn’t work. There are many reasons why this is not an effective way to reach an audience, but the two largest reasons are that most people don’t pay attention to the ad (as they only want to watch the video they searched for), and secondly, the ad is simply not contextual. You’re sitting and waiting to watch a Photoshop tutorial video, and you get hit with a car insurance ad? It’s just in the wrong place.
Furthermore, Jordan identified that if the brand wishing to advertise could somehow be included in the video, it would be a much better form of communication – one the viewers would likely be more willing to listen to. Jordan quickly adopted this philosophy with his work at BeautyChoice.com, and began seeking “YouTube influencers” in the fashion / beauty line. These individuals commonly had thousands of channel subscribers, and millions of total video views. After rolling out a few videos were the YouTuber would simply plug BeautyChoice.com as an online retailer for beauty essentials during an otherwise very normal video, sales went through the roof.
The methodology was tested, and it worked. Other major brands quickly realized this as well, and began doing the same. As the popularity of brand marketing “inside” the YouTube video increased, Jordan realized some fundamental issues with the process. Brands have a terrible time trying to find the right YouTuber, and it’s difficult for the YouTuber to get in contact with the brand. To solve this problem, Jordan is launching YotaCast.
When I sat down with Jordan, he initially described YotaCast as a, “LinkedIn, but for the YouTube community”. On YotaCast, companies will create a profile, and list the type of YouTuber(s) they wish to come in contact with. On the other side, the YouTuber will establish a profile, and have a way to contact the brand if their channel fits the criteria that is being searched for. Brands can also search by location, demographics, statistics and categories to find the right fit.
Launching mid-March, YotaCast will be a free service to both parties, and then initiate a freemium model in the months to come. Much like other user-driven websites, the success of YotaCast will be contingent on its adoption, and recognition in the industry as “the place” where brands and YouTubers can meet.

More About YotaCast

Founded: 2012
Founders: Jordan Armstrong + 2 advisors
Funding: Self-funded
Website: www.yotacast.com
Twitter: @yotacast