Highest-Paid YouTube Stars Rhett & Link, Superwoman and PewDiePie Get the Thumbs Up on Social Media

Engagement Labs Ranks Forbes Magazine’s 2015 Highest-Paid YouTube Stars Based on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube Success

TORONTO, ON – November 18, 2015 – Technology and data company, Engagement Labs (TSXV:EL), creator of eValue Analytics™ and the eValue™ score, today released rankings on the highest-paid YouTube stars according to Forbes Magazine on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

Top Ten Highest Paid YouTube Stars on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube:

Source: Engagement Labs eValueTM 2015 rankings of the highest-paid YouTube stars

“YouTube has become a force to be reckoned with in the social media world. The channel is not just an online video-streaming service, but has become a medium for launching careers and generating significant endorsement deals,” stated Bryan Segal, CEO of Engagement Labs. “We’ve seen an immense rise in popularity of vloggers (video bloggers) on YouTube, with the most popular ones raking in millions of subscribers and millions in brand endorsements. Based on our eValue data, it’s obvious these YouTube experts know how to leverage their different channels to support their careers.”

Smosh, who tied for second place on Forbes’ highest-paid YouTuber list, ranked first on Facebook with the highest overall eValue score, highest Impact score of 96.63 out of a possible 100 and the largest number of fans. Comedy duo Rhett & Link were a close second with an eValue score of 93.07 and the highest Engagement score of 94.59. The duo posted snappy and witty content on Facebook that supported their style of humor on their YouTube channel, ultimately gaining them the most number of likes per 1,000 fans.

On Twitter, Lilly Singh, known by her YouTuber moniker Superwoman, ranked first with an eValue score of 94.14 and the highest Engagement score of 90. Superwoman used humor to engage her loyal fan base, often tweeting what appears to be random, funny thoughts. Followed close behind was KSI, with an overall eValue score of 93.69. While KSI ranked higher on the Forbes list than Superwoman, he trailed her with respect to eValue scores on Twitter. Highest-paid YouTuber, Felix Kjellberg, better known as PewDiePie, ranked third on Twitter boasting the highest Impact score, the largest number of followers and the most growth in followers.

“As we’re seeing on Facebook and Twitter, the number of followers does not always translate to most successful social media strategy,” continued Segal. “In the case of PewDiePie, the YouTuber has a much larger following, but his peers with smaller audiences have excelled online by building a more loyal and targeted follower base. Fans are voluntarily tuning into these channels because they thoroughly enjoy their content, thus as a YouTuber, it’s a matter of targeting your content to the interests of your audience.”

On Instagram, self-trained chef Rosanna Pansino, ranked first with an impressive Engagement score of 94, indicating that her fans actively like the images she posted of her many dishes, pets dressed in food costumes and meetings with fans. Superwoman ranked a close second with a much higher follower number than Rosanna Pansino. PewDiePie once again ranked first for Impact with the highest number of followers and the largest follower growth.

Turning to YouTube, Superwoman ranked first with an eValue score of 94.92, followed closely behind by PewDiePie, with the highest Impact score of 97.81. With the largest number of subscribers of the group, PewDiePie also experienced the most number of overall video views of the group. However, it was comedy duo Rhett & Link, who ranked fourth overall, who created the most engagement amongst fans with an Engagement score of 91.56. They also had the highest comments and likes per 1,000 fans.

“Overall, we are seeing YouTubers leveraging different social channels to support and drive traffic to their main platform - YouTube,” noted Segal. “The vloggers who leverage the likes of Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, such as Rhett & Link and Superwoman, are experiencing the most positive returns on their YouTube channel. However, one area of improvement for all YouTubers is to improve their response strategies. With Responsiveness scores relatively low across all channels, YouTubers who are looking to improve their social media performance should focus on creating two-way dialogue with subscribers.”

About Engagement Labs

Engagement Labs (TSXV:EL) offers intelligent ‘Total Social’ data, analytics and insights for marketers and organizations enabling them to track, measure and benchmark the conversations happening around their brand or industry both online and offline. These conversations are proven to drive critical business outcomes, including sales, while Engagement Labs’ tools provide data and actionable insight to help guide business decisions and power marketing effectiveness.

Engagement Labs’ eValue™ Analytics tool is the global benchmark for social media scoring. eValue’s proprietary data technology offers real-time analysis to measure a brand’s social media and digital marketing efforts, distilling it down to a single meaningful number between 0 and 100 - an eValue score. Composed of a series of metrics and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), an eValue score measures social media Engagement, Impact and Responsiveness which is benchmarked against 100,000+ handpicked and verified brands. The Keller Fay Group, an Engagement Labs company, is the only firm to regularly measure offline conversation, which independent research finds is a significant driver of sales with twice the impact of online conversation.

Engagement Labs maintains offices in Toronto ON, Montreal QC, London UK and New Brunswick NJ.
www.engagementlabs.com / www.kellerfay.com

For media inquiries please contact:

Kate Tumino / Kenneth Cousins
KCSA Strategic Communications
ktumino@kcsa.com / kcousins@kcsa.com
212-896-1252 / 212-896-1252