Patrick Starrr joins Jellysmack to expand social media reach

Jellysmack, founded in 2016, originally started as a social media video company that leveraged technology and data to build and scale its own popular social channels into large social communities around the world. For instance,  it’s ranked No. 1 in beauty, soccer and basketball, and No. 2 in gaming and movies across social channels, according to social video analytics company Tubular Labs.

As the company developed proprietary tools to detect trending content and then optimize and distribute that content across various social platforms, it discovered it could replicate the model to help individual creators do the same. Starrr’s content on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, for example, will be distributed and tailored to Snapchat and Facebook, his less-engaged social platforms.

“Jellysmack has a great reputation with creators and has done some amazing work in the beauty space,” Starrr said. “I haven’t been able to devote as much energy as I’d like to growing my Snapchat and Facebook communities, so I enlisted help. Anything I can do to connect with as many fans as possible is a win in my book.”

The July 2020 launch of Starrr’s One/Size beauty brand has made it difficult to put forth as much effort into growing his social media presence. “Having Jellysmack take on the video editing, publishing and distribution for these platforms will help me stay focused on doing what I love the most: creating fun and fabulous beauty content,” he said.

Jeff Olson, head of creator partnerships for Jellysmack, had been an admirer of Starrr’s for some time. “His incredible talent and magnetic personality make it easy to be a fan,” he said. “As a company, one of our corporate values is positivity and spreading content that has a positive message. Patrick does just that. We believe in projecting diverse voices, and by growing Patrick’s fanbase, we’ll be able to help him spread his message of inclusivity and positivity to even more people … He’s able to connect with people on a personal level through makeup.”

The Jellysmack Creator Program includes a hand-selected group of nearly 200 creators who the company identifies as displaying upside growth potential. The company’s interest exceeds follower count; it factors in the creator’s community, engagement, number of videos in their library and how frequently they post. Jellysmack’s technology can also spot trending content and find up-and-coming creators.

The partnership is a win-win for both parties involved. Creators don’t pay to join, but the collaboration has a revenue-sharing model for the advertising that’s generated on the social platforms under Jellysmack’s management. The company actually invests its own dollars to help promote its creators. Jellysmack earns a portion of the programmatic advertising revenue generated from the additional social channels under its management. This way, the company only makes money when its creators make money.

“My goal is to always amplify messages of positivity and inclusivity. There weren’t many diverse faces I could relate to when I jumped into the beauty space. I hope that by making my content accessible on more social platforms, I can reach new people who will enjoy my work and appreciate my perspective,” said Starr.

And given the company’s success up to this point, it seems Starrr will be in good hands. Jellysmack owns and operates the online community Beauty Studio, which offers unconventional beauty trends and tutorials; it has 63 million followers across social media platforms like YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. The company has also catapulted mane maven Mondo and makeup star Bailey Sarian to 10 million followers on Facebook. Prior to joining Jellysmack, both had less than 50,000 followers.

And the company is full speed ahead with growth. Just last week, it announced it hired a vp of cryptocurrency, who will lead initiatives to allow fans to connect with their favorite creators through collectible NFTs.

“We’re a technology company at our core,” Olson said. “So we’re constantly developing new products designed to help creators reach new heights through audience growth and diversified revenue streams.”