Influencers have this insane, ‘magical’ power to convince their followers to buy something, even if the chances of them doing so before had been slim to none. Now that customers are spoilt with choices and can be picky about where they shop, the one thing that helps brands stand out is word of mouth. And who better to spread it for your business than someone who can influence a huge chunk of your target audience all at once?
💡 Read Creating a Marketing Strategy that Works: Benefits, Steps, Tools
The influencer marketing industry was worth $21.1 billion in 2023, an increase from $16.4 billion in the year before. This year, it is set to reach a record of $24 billion. Ever since the idea of appealing to consumers through influencers appeared, brands have been fighting to make deals with the top voices in their industry.
The influencer marketing usage rate in the world is climbing. And why wouldn’t it, with the majority of consumers relying heavily on influencers’ recommendations? Sixty-nine percent of users are likely to trust influencer recommendations over the promises that come directly from the brand. They’ll be scouring social media networks for influencer recommendations, and watching YouTube videos of them unpacking or using the product, all to decide whether or not to buy it.
But, why is this important, and why YouTube?
Your competition is already big, and gaining a bigger customer database using old marketing strategies and enticing website content is no longer enough. With over 2 billion monthly logged-in users, YouTube gives you an incredible opportunity to reach a huge portion of your targeted audience.
If you are ready to dip into the YouTube influencer market, we will teach you about the best ways to find people to promote your brand.
Understanding Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing means that you team up with your potential consumers’ favorite online personality. They trust this person – or people, so if they go online on channels like YouTube, speak highly of your brand, and actually use it in their videos, people will be more trusting of your business.
A successful YouTube influencer or YouTuber is a content creator with cultivated expertise in some niche, but more importantly, it is someone who has established a large following on this trending video platform. They can provide information for people looking to make a purchase of a product or service, set trends, and more.
Ways to Find The Best YouTube Influencers
In this post, we won’t be teaching you how to reach out to famous YouTubers or what kind of contract you need. To get there, you first need to find the influencer. The choices are many, and since this usually requires a monetary investment, in addition to free products, sponsorships, and more, it is essential that you do it right.
Unless you do this step right, the following steps won’t really work for you, will they?
With that in mind, let’s jump to the ways to find the best YouTube influencers.
Reel them in with perks they can’t reject
Just as businesses look for influencers to work with, influencers pitch their services to brands. So, instead of scouring YouTube trying to find the perfect influencer, why not do something that would tempt THEM to reach out to YOU?
The secret to convincing good influencers to want to work with you and even reach out first is transparency. If influencers know that working with your brand is a good opportunity, they’ll be much more likely to contact you, and this includes top influencers in your niche, too.
While compensation is usually dependent on the quantity of sponsored content you want, the type of content, and of course, the type of influencer, there are other things you can offer publicly to reel more people in.
We are talking about perks like free products and sponsorships. If you offer potential collaborators travel, for instance, this can be a very tempting opportunity for them. Your business might need to send them to an event or fly them to meet with company representatives to discuss the project. You might need them to travel around the world to post reviews about your business or the services you offer.
It’s not enough just to mention travel, though. You need to make sure that potential collaborators know what they’d be getting. If your business has an optimized corporate travel management system in place, facilitating all travel organizations, hotel bookings, and more for employees and collaborators, this will most definitely pique their attention.
Use the ‘trending’ tab on YouTube
YouTube has added a very useful tab for those who search for influencers – as well as trends, of course. In the Trending tab, marked with a small flame, you can find recently popular content and ‘creators on the rise’. Now and then, scour this page to see if you can find some influencers that are growing in popularity and a potential good fit for your brand.
Embrace the power of social listening
Another easy and effective way to find YouTube influencers in your niche is to use AI-powered media monitoring or, as we call it, social listening. Simply put, you’ll be using modern technology to learn what people say about your brand, your competition – and much more.
What are social listening tools, then? Tools like Determ allow you to search using precise filters and keyword setups. The bigger your business, the harder it will be to find all mentions, not to mention narrow them down to the relevant, actionable mentions.
Such technology will go through the Web to visit millions of online sources in real-time, including YouTube videos, but also Twitter posts, Instagram posts, TikTok mentions, as well as forums, news websites, Facebook pages, and more. Then, based on what you were searching for, it will provide you with the results you need.
Generally speaking, you should be using social listening for Youtube to find:
- Influencers that mention your brand
- Influencers that your customers mention
- Influencers that mention your competition
- Influencers that mention your niche
When it comes to keywords, you can use the following:
- Your brand’s name and any variations
- Terms specific to your brand’s industry niche
- Your branded hashtag, or a campaign-specific hashtag, if any
- The names of recognizable team members
Check the platform’s suggestions
Platforms like YouTube come with a recommendations page. The algorithm of the platform can work to your advantage. It will display a mixture of personalized recommendations, the latest news and information, subscriptions, and more. Start by subscribing to your biggest competitors and people in your niche, and the recommendations page will be filled with that type of content.
Read Improve Your YouTube Content Strategy With Social Listening
Do hashtag searches
Your next move should be to search for hashtags that are relevant to your niche. Make a list and start scouring Youtube, as well as other social media platforms to find these hashtags. Most influencers know the power of hashtags and keywords in terms of search engine results, so they’ll add some to their title or description when they record a Short on YouTube, create a playlist of YouTube music, or upload a recommendation video.
Read How to Conduct A YouTube Sentiment Analysis
This can include all kinds of hashtags such as branded hashtags, marketing slogans, industry-specific terms, and more. It might take you a while to get the hang of it, but once you do, this can be a small daily task that will keep you updated with your influencer opportunities.
Remember to widen your search to hashtags on different platforms like Instagram, too. When you figure out what the trending hashtags are, you can search for them on YouTube and find the top influencers that rank for them.
Attend industry events
The online world is pretty open, so it shouldn’t be hard to stay attuned with what – and who is trending in your industry. It is also a great way to discover networking opportunities. Keep your eye open for any industry-specific events or conferences that you can use to find new influencers for your brand.
Read How To Do Social Media Competitor Research
How are YOU looking for YouTube influencers?
Finding an influencer is easy. Finding the right Youtube influencer is often much more challenging than we think. There are plenty of potential influencers in any given niche, which makes the search very complicated. Hopefully, this short guide will guide and inspire you to find the perfect match for your brand. Then, all that is left to do is reach out with a tempting offer, make a connection, create your contract, and start reeling people in!
Author: Nadica Metuleva is a senior content writer with experience of over eight years in the freelance market. Her specialty is blog posts, listicles, and articles in the business, SaaS, gambling, and lifestyle niches. Over the years, Nadica has deepened her understanding of SEO strategies and developed a passion for storytelling. She holds a Master’s Degree in English Literature and Teaching and speaks four languages. You can find her on LinkedIn.