Local Governments Invest Promotion Budgets in 'YouTube'
From YouTuber Sponsorships, Ads to Studio Setup
Expert: "Lack of Concrete Strategy... Expertise Is Key"
Local governments have become deeply engrossed in YouTube. As the official YouTube channel of Chungju City, known as 'Chungju Man,' gained attention, many are eagerly promoting their regions. Some spend tens of millions of won on sponsored videos by famous YouTubers or YouTube advertisements, while others track their own channel subscribers monthly to boost promotion efforts. The question arises: Is YouTube an effective tool for regional promotion, or is it a misuse of taxpayers' money?
Last month, Boryeong City in Chungnam promoted local festivals, tourist attractions, and food through the YouTube channel 'Kkondaehee,' hosted by comedian Kim Daehee. The budget for a single 12-minute video posted on the 31st of last month was 35 million won. The promotional budget was split evenly between Boryeong City and the Chungcheongnam-do Provincial Government's Tourism Department.
Partial document related to the production of a sponsored video for the YouTube channel 'Kkondaehee' in Boryeong-si, Chungnam
Kkondaehee is a YouTube channel with 1.68 million subscribers as of August, popular among people in their 20s and 30s. Boryeong City decided to sponsor the video production to enhance its tourism brand image and promote the city to younger audiences. A city official stated, "We produced content using social media services (SNS) like YouTube to promote the city during the summer vacation season."
The Chungnam Provincial Government operates the official local government YouTube channel 'Chungnam TV.' They evaluate performance by tracking subscriber numbers and views monthly. They even create reports comparing viewing statistics by traffic source, country, and age group. They meticulously analyze views and watch time for each posted content.
The Chungnam Provincial Government allocated a budget of 50 million won this year for YouTube promotional marketing to publicize policies and projects and promote Chungnam TV. The video ads play for 5 seconds before allowing users to skip, and charges apply if users watch the ad for more than 30 seconds. About 4 million won was spent on producing the ad videos, and 45 million won on YouTube advertising costs.
The Jeollanam-do Provincial Government recently spent about 40 million won on constructing a studio for producing promotional YouTube content. To ensure security, they replaced the studio entrance door with a safe reinforced door and installed air conditioning inside, making thorough preparations for YouTube production.
The Chungnam Provincial Council also plans to produce content introducing council members' ordinances on their YouTube channel starting next year. The aim is to present the ordinances proposed by members in an entertaining way through interviews and variety show formats. The estimated budget is 50 million won.
YouTube has advantages as a major promotional tool for local governments because it can deliver messages through video content and target diverse consumer groups. In the case of Chungju Man, it is famous for securing subscribers three times the population of Chungju City with an annual budget of just 600,000 won. However, YouTube promotion is not always successful. Gunwi County in Daegu City planned to promote the county through the YouTube channel 'Pisik University,' but canceled the content posting and budget execution (72 million won) after Pisik University became embroiled in various controversies.
Professor Kim Yonghee of Soongsil University's Department of Business Administration commented on local YouTube promotional projects, saying, "While the intention is to generate buzz and increase user accessibility, the lack of concrete strategies is problematic." He warned, "If others blindly follow Chungju City's example, the public will become fatigued." He suggested, "The key is whether the project has creative ideas and sincerity, and whether it can maintain professionalism and continuous promotion even if the local government head changes."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
