If you’ve been looking into hiring influencers to grow your brand’s audience, you might have come across FameBit. It was the first major provider of influencer marketing solutions and the platform came with many benefits. Or rather, what remains of the platform, since its re-brand into YouTube’s BrandConnect. 

There is a sea of options for businesses to consider when it comes to influencer marketing. FameBit’s launch back in 2013, with its focus on connecting YouTubers with brands, made it quite a big name in the industry. As the platform evolved over the years, so did its approach to serving businesses, and we’re here to bring you up to speed on what they currently offer. 

In this FameBit review we’ll discuss its features, benefits and drawbacks. Furthermore, we’ll compare it to Collabstr, our FameBit alternative, and show you why it might be a better choice for your business.

To make things easier, we’ll refer to the service as FameBit, since that’s what it was known as and was probably the name you came across during your research.

Famebit vs Collabstr: Key differences

• Social media reach. FameBit is owned by Google and tailored for YouTube creators specifically, so you can expect the highest level of integration with the platform. Collabstr, on the other hand, gives you access to creators from all the key platforms, including YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, meaning you can create campaigns that’ll reach a broader audience.

• Geographical reach. As it stands, FameBit’s services are available only to creators from the US, Canada and the UK. If you’re looking to increase your reach and raise international brand awareness, Collabstr’s library currently lists influencers from 40 different countries.

• Autonomy. Since its rebrand, FameBit offers only a full service package. This means that YouTube’s sales team itself will select creators for your campaign, be involved in communications and will run the project. Using Collabstr, you’ll be in charge of your campaigns and have the option of searching and handpicking the influencers you’d like to work with.

What is Famebit?

In 2013, FameBit emerged as a way of  connecting YouTube creators with businesses interested in advertising their products and services online. Benefiting from some good press and funding, the platform grew quickly and was soon listing companies such as Canon, Sony and Adidas among their clients.

We should mention that FameBit focuses only on YouTube content. And while YouTube has some great influence on viewers worth investing in, there are other platforms such as Instagram and TikTok that can bring your campaign results to a new level. This reason alone makes it worth considering some FameBit alternatives, which will allow you to raise brand awareness through multiple social media channels.

Famebit’s Key Features

• Owned by YouTube. It’s a platform worth considering for businesses looking to advertise specifically on YouTube. Google’s ownership of the site means customers can enjoy some exclusive benefits, such as unique analytics and product placement options we’ll explain below.

• Full service offering. FameBit is no longer offering a self-service platform, and instead provides companies with fully-fledged campaign management. Handling the influencer selection and campaign planning, this option can save businesses time and money.

• Google-only analytics. Google introduced some unique ways of tracking the campaign success, such as Brand Interest Lift, which tracks consumers’ search behaviors after being exposed to the sponsored content. This gives businesses a good idea of some key metrics, such as consideration. However, some limits of this tracking include the lack of data tracking on which parts of the sponsored content worked and which didn’t. This leaves little room for improvement, other than through trial and error.

• Shopping Shelf. YouTube can display your products directly below and next to sponsored videos, minimizing the friction between the customer hearing about, and interacting with a product.

Pricing

FameBit doesn’t offer any standardized pricing, since they create campaigns appropriate to the customer’s requirements. This can be reassuring for a business with a set budget, since Google’s in-house sales team will design a budget around the size of your campaign. However, it could be useful for FameBit to provide some price-ranges or details about what businesses can expect at different price points.

Famebit review: Pros & Cons

Pros

• Full service, Google’s sales team will find influencers, manage Comms and run the campaign

• Google-only analytics

• Pricing based on your budget

• Full integration with YouTube’s platform

Cons

• Lack of autonomy when running the campaign

• Available only in the US, Canada and UK

• YouTube specific content only

• Not a simple brand-to-influencer process

Famebit alternative: Collabstr

If you’re looking to run a campaign beyond YouTube, or if you’re searching for a simple way to purchase content from specific creators, FameBit might not offer the right services for your business. An influencer marketplace, such as Collabstr, where you can hire influencers from YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, can give you the reach across platforms and flexibility you’re looking for.

Founded in 2019, Collabstr is a great option for a business that wants to work with social media influencers from different platforms in a quick and easy way. The platform lets you search through its library of thousands of creators, run marketing campaigns or simply purchase one-off collaborations in your specified format. 

If you’d like to reach an audience outside of YouTube or try out influencer marketing through small, low-commitment steps, Collabstr is an option you should definitely consider.Let’s take a look at some features.

Collabstr’s Key Features

• No upfront costs. You can browse the extensive library of influencers for free, look through their bios and portfolio, check out their social media and see individual pricings. Only once you place an order (based on a creator’s existing pricing or through creating a custom offer), you will be charged a one-off 10% transaction fee.

• Connect with creators all around the world. Since Collabstr isn’t limited geographically, you can currently collaborate with influencers from 40 different countries, helping you grow an international audience where needed.

• Increase your reach. With Collabstr you can purchase content on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, presenting your audience in front of a much wider audience. Instagram advertisements alone reach almost 30% of internet users.

• Instant chat. Upon placing an order you’ll immediately gain access to a chat with the influencer directly, allowing you to specify any further requirements and stay connected throughout the whole process. 

• Full autonomy on your campaigns. If you want to launch a campaign involving multiple influencers, you can do so through your Collabstr Pro account. Simply fill out the campaign brief to make your requirements clear - then, you can either select creators personally (filtering for niche, location, following and more) or wait for influencers to apply for the campaign. You can chat with them before accepting, to ensure you get the content you’re looking for. Alternatively, you can contact the Collabstr team if you require assistance with running the campaign, giving you as much or as little involvement as you require.

• A selection of useful tools. Access an engagement rate calculator or a campaign brief template. Having an idea of  the creator’s actual relationship with their followers will help you when calculating your ROI, and the campaign brief template presents your instructions in a professional manner and saves you time.

Collabstr Pricing

There’s no rigid pricing structure with Collabstr if you just want to search for influencers. Just find the influencer you want to work with and if both parties are happy, Collabstr takes a 10% transaction fee. 

If you want to automate your influencer campaigns however, Collabstr provides subscriptions starting from $299 a month. This allows you to post your campaigns directly and allow influencers to apply to you. You can post an unlimited number of campaigns on-the pro plan, with upgrades available if you want to increase the number of influencers who can apply to your campaigns per-month. 

Conclusion

Whether you refer to it as FameBit or BrandConnect, this review should have given you a good overview of the platform's updated services. A lot has changed since FameBit’s original offer and hopefully you now have a deeper understanding of its benefits and limitations, as well as a solid alternative to consider: Collabstr’s marketplace.

If you’re a business that is specifically trying to target YouTube audiences, BrandConnect could be a good choice for you. On the other hand, if you’re looking to reach audiences from TikTok and Instagram, why not give Collabstr a try? By joining as a brand, you’ll instantly gain access to over 100,000 influencers who are ready to promote your products. You can Sign up for free, or take a look at our paid plans, where you can post your campaigns and let the influencers come to you, instead of the other way around. So what are you waiting for?