Managing Partner at Age Africa, an agency that combines data and creativity to develop performance driven YouTube channels, with unique content optimized for success, Jennifer Feaster has been confirmed as one of the speakers at The YouTube Creators Festival, a three-day convention that will bring all content creators across the region to engage, educate and inspire in the global YouTube community.
The agency works with the next generation creators, brands, publishers and artists in Africa.
The conference will be climaxed with the Creators Awards night & Concert, which will recognize hard working and influential content creators in Ghana. The festival is powered by Entamoty With several local & international partners. Ahead of the festival, AfricaWeb Publishing BV spoke with JENNIFER FEASTER .
AFRICAWEB PUBLISHING BV: You are one of the speakers at The YouTube Creators Festival Accra. Why is this event important to you?
JENNIFER FEASTER: We see a huge opportunity for the creative video community in Ghana to earn a living by sharing their stories on YouTube. We’re very excited to be a part of this movement.
APB: As a speaker at the festival, what are you going to tell about Age Africa Agency?
JF: At Age Africa Agency, we say it’s better to show than to tell. We have a lot of great examples of creators from different walks of life, each with their own message and their own goals, who are using the YouTube platform to reach new audiences and create revenue. Sometimes YouTube is the catalyst, sometimes it’s the main money-maker. Whatever the goals, we can help shape a strategy that works for the creator and their business.
APB: Can you tell us a bit more on Age Africa Agency and about some recent developments?
JF: Age Africa Agency has been founded by some companies with a long track record in Africa and with YouTube. One of the founders is AfricaWeb, a big online publisher in Africa, and ia hosting Ghanaweb.com, the biggest website of the country and CamerounWeb, the biggest news site of the country, has started a mobile TV station in Ghana, GhanaWebTV and opened its news platform to bloggers and creators through its feature GhanaWeb reporter. As such, we are building a large online video presence, very attractive to advertisers. Another founder is Age Media, that operates world wide and supports more than 1,300 Youtube channels. The third founder is Africa Business Communities with its in house agency Africa Influencer Agency. Africa Business Communities is the biggest influencer on LinkedIn as to Africa.
Age Africa is a young company with mature stakeholders. We have shown some good results to our iniial clients, such as the Ghana Football Association and StarTimes and some individual artists. We are now talking to agencies and advertisers to include these channels in the regular TV planning.
APB: Age Africa Agency is part of the Age family? What is the expertise of Age and can you tell us why you make YouTube creators happy?
JF: Our team includes experts in SEO, data, content creation, copywriting, graphic design, talent management, music and rights management. And they’re all very much into YouTube. It’s a powerful combination and it means we can help creators thrive in all aspects of their business.
APB: What has been the experience of your most recent clients in Ghana working with you? what are you proud of? Name one example.
JF: Ghana Football Association – views doubled and earnings tripled just a month after optimising and coaching their media team.
APB: GhanaWeb TV is supported by Age Africa Agency as a YouTube MCN. What did the cooperation learn you?
JF: GhanaWeb TV is a media powerhouse with a very talented team of professionals. We’ve learned a lot about how to integrate the YouTube into the media strategy, as well as how to hand over our skills and knowledge to the local team.
APB: What in your opinion are the most obvious opportunities for content creators on Youtube in Ghana?
JF: YouTube monetization, brand deals, live streaming. But partnering with online publishers such as GhanaWeb TV and GhanaWeb reporter has the most immediate impact in expanding reach and growing revenue.
APB: Statistics indicate that YouTube represents 69.7 percent of the total internet usage in Ghana with the number of registered users growing rapidly by the day. How can content creators leverage this penetration to commercialize their content?
JF: That’s something you can’t ignore. YouTube really is the key to reaching just about everyone with an internet connection. But it’s also a very sophisticated platform with countless options to optimize content for performance. It means that in addition to creating content, you also need to have a broad range of skills (from graphic design to data analysis) to make sure your content gets discovered.
