Flat fees vs. affiliate pay in creator programs, with Steve Messa of BetterHelp

Creator marketing used to run on subscriber counts, but views and pay no longer line up. Steve Messa, who has run BetterHelp's YouTube creator and influencer program since its start in January 2017, tells host Dave on impact.com's Partnership Economy Podcast how he picks creators and structures deals.

In this episode

• Messa says his team cares much less about subscribers; he describes a creator whose videos drew a million views in 2018 but now get 20,000 to 30,000, yet who still expects $40,000 to $100,000 per brand deal (8:29, 0:09, 9:09, 9:25).

• YouTube Shorts are favoured by the algorithm, but creators know the money is in long form and are still working out how to move audiences there (6:19, 6:34, 6:55).

• BetterHelp's program was performance-focused for the first five or six years; in the last few years it has leaned into brand marketing (17:38, 17:58).

• Evergreen YouTube content carries performance while brand awareness work runs above it, which he says gives "blended performance" at month end (19:42, 20:01).

• Flat fee versus performance is a risk spectrum; he encourages top-fit creators to lean into performance deals because upfront fees can leave money on the table (29:41, 30:22, 30:52).

• Creator content now feeds GEO, paid social and owned channels, he says, not just a siloed channel (32:51, 32:56).

Episode from The Partnership Economy Podcast by impact.com, published on YouTube.