Adam Wescott, who currently works for the Select Management agency, is a digital media veteran who has been in the space for more than a decade and counts top social media stars like Gigi Gorgeous, LaurDIY, and MyLifeAsEva among his clients. In a recent interview with Business Insider, Wescott shared some of the methods he uses to connect creators, distributors, and brands. In particular, he tabbed Instagram as a hot-spot for branded content.
Wescott stressed that his influential clients are seeing a general increase in the volume of brand deals they ink, but he noted Instagram as a platform where sponsored content is particularly on the rise. As he puts it, brands like Instagram because it requires a smaller creative commitment than YouTube but has the potential to reach an equally large audience. “Could I have told you eight months ago that we would be doing as much branded business on Instagram as we are? No,” Wescott told Business Insider. “It wasn’t a priority at the time. It was usually looked at as complementary as the bigger value of a client’s YouTube integration.”
Beyond brand deals, Wescott also shined light on the machinations through which social media stars secure programming deals for long-form projects. “The dollars are moving behind the scenes,” he said, “but viewers won’t get to see it for awhile.” He claims that the launch of premium content hubs like YouTube Red (where both Gigi Gorgeous and MyLifeAsEva have landed deals) have greatly increased the number of long-form opportunities for social media stars, to the point that works with his clients to ensure they always have a show idea in place that he can pitch to distributors.
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Business Insider’s full interview with Wescott, which also includes some thoughts about the pros and cons of various social media platforms, can be read here.
