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Originally Posted On: https://seodesignchicago.com/content-optimization-blog/asmr-meaning/

Have you ever watched a video or enjoyed a pleasant sound that sent a pleasing, tingly feeling from your head down to your toes? Most of us associate YouTube with visual content. However, sound-related videos are becoming more popular with millions of users. Some brands are skipping the video trend and getting ahead with sound videos. Though many of the sounds of today’s technology give us anxiety — our email notifications, a text ping, or even a dreaded phone call — but there is also an entire universe of sounds on YouTube that are designed to make you feel good. These are ASMR videos. Learn more about ASMR videos on YouTube in this article.

ASMR Meaning

ASMR stands for autonomous sensory meridian response. The term ASMR was coined in 2010 by Jennifer Allen. Though it sounds like a highly technical and scientific name, there is very little scientific evidence behind the phenomenon. Allen simply started a Facebook group dedicated to finding out more about the feeling, and the trend quickly took off from there.

How Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response Works

Here’s how ASMR works: it is a relaxing or even sedative tingling sensation that starts on your scalp and moves down your body. It is also known as a brain massage. Many people liken ASMR to the chills you get when another person plays with your hair or traces your back.

However, the ASMR experience varies widely from person to person. It has been suggested that ASMR is partially related to the personal attention it feels like you are gaining from another person.

Everyone also has different ASMR triggers. Some common ASMR triggers are whispering, blowing, crinkling, and more. ASMR is not typically a sexual feeling. People also can grow a tolerance to a certain ASMR trigger, or be more interested in a different kind of ASMR from day to day. That explains the wide variety of ASMR content on the internet.

Sometimes, ASMR artists use objects to create the sounds: crinkling candy wrappers, chewing candy, or opening a can. Some people like watching videos with ASMR to fall asleep, while others simply use the brain tingles from ASMR videos to relax.

ASMR Videos on YouTube

Now, content creators are honing in on the ASMR trend and making videos that create this tingly effect. There are millions of ASMR videos on YouTube. Yes, really. Many brands have also gotten in on the trend, and yours can, too.

Photo from Envato Elements

Examples of ASMR 

Here are some examples of the various kinds of ASMR videos on YouTube.

Bob Ross

Bob Ross is arguably the most famous ASMR artist, though of course he did not set out to do ASMR.

Gibi ASMR

Gibi Klein is an experienced ASMR creator who has 3.45 million subscribers on her “Gibi ASMR” YouTube channel.

Role Plays

Some ASMR videos are role-playing videos, where for example, the creator role plays being your esthetician or cutting your hair.

Makeup Tutorials

Many videos are ASMR, including ones you might not even realize. For example, many makeup tutorials now double as makeup tutorials, now that people realize how relaxing they are.

ASMR Videos and Marketing

ASMR videos have gotten so popular that brands have begun using them for marketing purposes. If you think about it, it makes sense. As marketers, we are constantly trying to come up with ways to show clients how a certain product will make them feel. ASMR videos accomplish that goal. These videos give prospective customers the chance to think about your products and/or services from a sensory perspective. Here a few examples of how companies use ASMR videos as part of their marketing campaigns.

Lush

Lush paired with influencer ASMR Darling for a video of an evening skin care routine with Lush products. The video has more than 1.7 million views.

 

KFC 

Even Kentucky Fried Chicken got in on ASMR trend with their video of chicken frying, that sounds similar to rain falling.

 

Zippo

BuzzFeed and Zippo worked together to create this ASMR video of the sounds of a lighter “clicking” open and closed. This is a great use of marketing for Zippo customers to connect the recognizable sound of the lighter and create a sensory memory.

 

Ikea 

Ikea shows off its “college collection” in its 25-minute long video showing off dorm furniture. Its caption says, “Relax with IKEA dorm solutions — or let IKEA dorm solutions relax you in our new oddly satisfying ASMR video.” The video has more than 3 million views as of this writing!

 

Get in on the ASMR Video Trend 

If you are a brand who wants to get in on the ASMR trend, give it a try! After all, video content should be a part of every company’s marketing strategy in 2021. ASMR might be the answer for your business. What pleasing sound in your business or industry might make a good video? Contact SEO Design Chicago’s professional videographers for help creating your very own ASMR video for YouTube.