YouTube opens online version of its Brand Partner Program to school agencies

YouTube is ready to take even more marketers to school on how to be a YouTube star.

The Google-owned video service is opening up an online version of its three-year-old YouTube Brand Partner Program that teaches marketers to produce videos, work with YouTube stars, run ads and otherwise manage a brand’s presence on YouTube.

The online version of YouTube’s Brand Partner Program appears to be aimed at agencies, whereas the offline version was more geared at marketers. The original program ran employees from brands such as Taco Bell, Ford, Samsung and Visa through three-day bootcamps held at YouTube’s offices that entailed speaking sessions with top creators and video network execs, activities for the marketers to get some hands-on experience making YouTube videos.

Agencies that enroll in the YouTube Brand Partner Program Certification will be able to take online lessons from YouTube stars such as Hannah Hart, MysteryGuitarMan and My Cupcake Addiction. Lessons will be available in 22 languages as part of YouTube’s ongoing efforts to attract global marketers to support its global creators.

MEC’s Wavemaker was among the first agencies to join the online program. Other agencies looking to participate can contact their Google/YouTube sales reps for more information or fill out an invite request forms online. The program is still in beta — this is Google, after all — so Google/YouTube will be figuring out how many agencies it can bring on board initially. Eventually, the plan is to open it up to every agency around the world, said a YouTube spokesperson.

About The Author

Tim Peterson

Tim Peterson has been covering the digital marketing industry since 2011. He has reported for Advertising Age, Adweek and Direct Marketing News. A born-and-raised Angeleno who graduated from New York University, he currently lives in Los Angeles. He has broken stories on Snapchat’s ad plans, Hulu founding CEO Jason Kilar’s attempt to take on YouTube and the assemblage of Amazon’s ad-tech stack; analyzed YouTube’s programming strategy, Facebook’s ad-tech ambitions and ad blocking’s rise; and documented digital video’s biggest annual event VidCon, BuzzFeed’s branded video production process and Snapchat Discover’s ad load six months after launch. He has also developed tools to monitor brands’ early adoption of live-streaming apps, compare Yahoo’s and Google’s search designs and examine the NFL’s YouTube and Facebook video strategies.