6 Biggest Mistakes Brands Make on YouTube

In the beginning, YouTube was a playground for amateurs to post home movies, webcam confessionals and videos of cats chasing string. And it was good.

As the platform grew up, a new breed of talent emerged to dominate the landscape. These YouTube "creators" — amateur filmmakers, beauty experts, armchair pundits and a thousand other flavors of self-made star — produced a unique type of content built specifically for YouTube and its audience. And it was awesome.

In 2013, we stand at the beginning of a new epoch; one in which brands are becoming creators themselves and, instead of producing interruptive advertisements, making content people actually want to watch. Videos like Red Bull's chronicle of Felix Baumgartner's space jump or K-Mart's hilarious "Ship My Pants" video generate the same amount of buzz as any piece of "original content." Big-time brands like Benefit Cosmetics, Rovio and Home Depot are investing in YouTube — and making it the primary destination for fans to interact with their brand. Read more...