4 Winning YouTube Influencer Strategies (and What NOT to Do)

If you've been considering harnessing the power of YouTube creators to enhance your brand awareness, you're not alone.

Following Instagram, YouTube stands as the second most favored platform for influencer marketing. Compared to traditional celebrity partnerships, collaborations with social media content creators have been 4x more effective.

And according to Google, they have exactly the same level of influence in guiding purchasing decisions. This guide takes you through four of the most successful YouTube influencer strategies with direct examples of each.

It also walks you through the "what NOT to do" with YouTube influencers.

Before delving into the guide, let's review the basics of influencer marketing.

Why YouTube for Influencer Marketing

Well, first off…

There are two billion active users on YouTube, which makes it a leading platform for brands to reach massive new audiences. More than 40% of all internet users consume its content every month.

And since it’s the world’s second-biggest social media company, YouTube is a favorable choice for companies and brands aiming to tap into the realm of influencer marketing. But how can your brand effectively market on YouTube?

Well, let’s dive into the 4 most successful YouTube strategies that always yield insta-credibility among audiences.

1. Product Reviews

One approach is to invite your influencers to review your product in a video format.

This strategy introduces your product to an influencer’s audience in an authentic way, thus bolstering your credibility through their positive endorsement.

In the example below, this YouTuber does a product review of a pre-workout product while he's experiencing "the pump" in the gym:

2. Contests

From beauty products to clothing, gadgets, electronics, free memberships and a few others—many brands have succeeded through giveaways and contests with YouTube creators.

Here's an example that compounded more than 17 million views to date with Mr Beast:

3. Tutorials

These work best for industries like software or tools that require an educational component. It can even work for novel dating apps, fitness trackers, and so on.

You can leverage them incredibly well for nearly any "how-to" problem your product or service solves.

Check out this Tutorial below on the functionality of Apollo.io, a lead generation tool for B2B organizations:

4. 'Get Ready With Me' Videos

The “Get Ready With Me” or "Day in The Life" vlog-style format often helps audiences feel deeply connected to the influencer they follow.

Usually, the influencer will showcase a mix of their daily routine, their pet and boyfriend, meals they eat, workouts, and interactions with people throughout the day.

This gives viewers a way to connect with the influencer on a more personal level.

These videos can even work well as YouTube Shorts, delivering an alternative format for short/catchy videos on the go.

Here’s an example from a popular content creator in the US, mixing her vlog with the launch of her app, 'Get Ready with Me', and a shopping haul:

What NOT To Do with YouTube Influencers

I cannot tell you the amount of times I've been asked by a founder to "hire actors" to run a video promotion for their product.

Influencers aren't actors, and their audiences know them for who they are. They know the influencer's personality traits, behaviors, daily routines, and so on.

Hiring an influencer to rehearse a script not only ruins your reputation as a brand, but it also ruins the influencer's personal brand.

Nobody wins.

Providing creative guidance is always an incredible way to work with an influencer, but creative control is not.

Wrapping up

YouTube is by far one of the most effective platforms for promoting your product as a B2C brand.

However, there is a 'right' and 'wrong' way of doing it. Try brainstorming with the influencer before taking away their creative control.

Their job is based on being an expert creator, and if you've looked into their analytics enough to trust them with your campaign, allow them to have creative freedom to show you what they can come up with.

They know their audience better than you do.

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