YouTube Influencer Marketing

If you’re wondering whether YouTube influencer marketing could be profitable for your brand, you’re on to something. Since its early days YouTube has proven it can hold its own in the social media arena year after year.

YouTube influencer marketing is on the rise and shows no sign of slowing down especially for a strategic global influencer agency. Despite an unsettled global economy, YouTube’s stats remain promising:

6 out of 10 YouTube subscribers would take advice on purchasing decisions from their favorite creator over a celebrity
The top YouTube channels continue to grow, reporting 65% more view time, 66% more likes, and an additional 65% in subscribership
6 out of 10 millennials watch their favorite YouTuber’s content with 24 hours publishing

These figures prove that YouTube influencer marketing is a powerful way to get your brand in front of your target customer in an authentic, engaging, and memorable way.

Why?

YouTube influencer marketing taps into the power of relatability, which attracts everyone from Gen Z to Baby Boomers.

Followers come to know and love their favorite YouTubers. They create strong, long-lasting connections with their community by consistently adding value to their lives through creative videos and topics. In turn, their subscribers reward them with their attention, loyalty, and cash. This ranges from purchasing items the YouTuber promotes, intentionally using their affiliate links, or even watching entire ads streams to ensure their favorite YouTuber 'get all their coins.'

The Meteoric rise of YouTube

Bursting onto the social media scene in 2005, YouTube quickly became a household name by revolutionizing the way we view content. With YouTube came more choice and depth. Content no longer consisted of just picture reels, blogs, and posts. We could now watch things in action and express our opinions, all at our leisure. Consequently, YouTube received an enthusiastic reception, and video has fast become one of our favorite ways to consume content.

YouTube is no newbie in the influencer marketing world. Taking note of the upward trend, social media savvy businesses have been partnering with influencers to promote their products on YouTube for well over a decade, and for good reasons. Interest in video content exploded with the introduction of YouTube's mobile app, which places millions of videos at the user's fingertips with just a few taps. Many of these viewers watch their favorite content creators in a buying mindset and credit cards at the ready. Research by Google found that 40% of mobile YouTube viewers visited the promoted store and a further 28% made a purchase.

Why YouTube Influencer Marketing is Crucial to your brand's success

The future of YouTube influencer marketing is as bright as TikTok influencer marketing. It's still growing and evolving. New channels are started each day, and subscribership continues to rise for YouTube's top content creators. Also, YouTube's multi-generational reach holds great potential for brands to target more than one persona in one place. This gives your brand a great deal of flexibility and choice in your partnerships and campaign styles.

YouTube's fan base is multi-generational

50% of Boomers watch video content. YouTube is the most popular medium with an 82% watch rate
Gen Xers watch over 1.5 billion YouTube videos every day
70% of Teenage subscribers feel they can relate to YouTubers more than celebrities
7 out of 10 subscribers believe YouTubers shape and transform culture
60% of millennials binge watch on YouTube, and 26% do so daily
89% of Gen Zers use YouTube weekly

Influencer marketing YouTube-style

We live in a distracted society. Emails, notifications, and messages all compete for our attention. Influencer marketing YouTube-style distinguishes itself from the crowd by capturing the viewer's prolonged attention. With videos averaging at 11.7 minutes, it provides a unique opportunity to capitalize on this prized commodity to drive traffic, leads, and sales. Don’t forget YouTube is one of the most-used search engines in the world and the best influencer agency will use that fact to their advantage. Users are actively seeking content to get entertained, informed or inspired. YouTube's vast content variety makes it a great place to experiment across niches to find the right type of influencers for your goals.

Tips for YouTube influencer marketing success

The best influencer agencies realize that creating a successful influencer marketing strategy on YouTube takes time and effort. While there are many tips to make your campaign a success, there are a few key tips to note:

Have clear and defined goals

Influencer marketing has endless possibilities. Like with any influencer campaign, setting goals early on will help you define what to focus on to get the best ROI. On a platform where users are hungry for content, it’s important to take the time to get to know the audience you are looking to target and clearly define the type of creators your brand wants to build deeper collaborations with. Don’t forget HOW matters us much as the WHO.

Find the right YouTuber

Tapping into a global influencer agency like Open Influence will make your life easier! We’ll help you find creators who match your brand's goals: Including values, messaging, aesthetics, demographics, psychographics and more.

Take an innovative approach

We've trained ourselves to switch off when ads pop up It is not a secret that interruptive and irrelevant advertising overwhelms the user. To connect with audiences effectively on the platform, trust influencers. Give creative freedom and leave room for innovation. Branded content on this platform should flow seamlessly and shouldn’t interrupt the viewer’s experience. YouTube creators have built loyal audiences through constant two-way communication, soliciting their followers’ feedback and using it to fuel their next creative output. Audiences keep coming back to their favorite YouTuber specifically because they provide fresh content that’s relevant and in tune with the types of experiences they are looking to have on these platforms. Creating meaningful branded content means providing some sort of value, whether that’s spreading useful information, helping people blow off steam, or introducing new and interesting facets of life.

How To Create Meaningful YouTube Branded Content

YouTube creators have built loyal audiences through constant two-way communication, soliciting their followers’ feedback and using it to fuel their next creative output. Audiences keep coming back to their favorite influencers because everytime they watch their content they feel informed, inspired and entertained.

INFORM

YouTube is the embodiment of “show, dont tell”! No matter the task or topic, a creator can provide information about it in a variety of ways. Reviews, tutorials, Q&A’s, and in depth video explanations thrive on the platform.

INSPIRE

YouTubers are no strangers to uplifting and inspiring content. Since YouTube allows for longer forms of storytelling, creators are not afraid to open up and share their personal views on their videos. They deeply connect with their audience, creating a loyal base that follows them wherever they go.

ENTERTAIN

YouTube influencers come from all walks of life and corners of the world. They guarantee entertainment for all types of audiences. Through their authentic content YouTube creators take their viewers on a journey full of emotion and grant access to their personal experiences.

YouTube and Influencer Marketing

YouTube was really one of the first platforms to democratize information by empowering users to share and create. Its long form video format allows for deep, immersive storytelling. That is why brands and influencer agencies are so obsessed with YouTube influencer marketing, and why it is so effective at driving conversions. YouTube influencers have a deep level of trust, and unique connection with their audiences.
— Eric Dahan
CEO, Open Influence

Making influencer marketing part of your social media strategy

When approached correctly, YouTube influencer marketing is a goldmine. It can enable you to build trust with your target customers who may have been difficult to connect with in the past. Thanks to the power of relatability and trust, the right influencer partnerships coupled with a splash of creativity can explode your conversions. The YouTube influencer marketing industry is still young, fresh, and brimming with potential. But the best part? There's still enough room for your brand to win at YouTube influencer marketing too! Don't miss out on this unique opportunity to reach new audiences and scale your business to new heights. Open Influence is a global influencer agency on a mission to facilitate meaningful partnerships between brands and content creators. Get in touch to find out how we can help you.