YouTube is a powerhouse platform for influencer marketing – and for good reason. 

Unlike competitor platforms TikTok and Instagram, YouTube has been around for a surprisingly long time. The platform first launched in 2005, making it a cool 20 years old. 

Because of its longevity, plenty of YouTube influencers have been around for a while, too. YouTube was the original place to upload vlog content and talk directly to followers. Even now, it still holds huge appeal as the best place on the internet to find user-generated long-form video content.

Every month, over 2.5 billion people use YouTube globally, making it the world’s second-largest social network (only Facebook has more users). 

And it’s not just the user base that’s impressive; YouTube also dominates engagement. In 2024, viewers worldwide streamed over 1 billion hours of YouTube content per day from their TV screens alone. 

With this kind of scale and viewer loyalty, YouTube influencer marketing offers all sorts of opportunities to reach audiences and make the most of the platform’s search-driven content discovery.

In this blog, we'll take a closer look at YouTube influencer marketing and discuss how it can take your campaign performance to the next level. 

Along the way, we'll look at how to find the right YouTube influencers for your brand, from nano-influencers to mega-influencers, and how to set up a collaboration that helps you meet your campaign goals.

In this guide:

What is YouTube influencer marketing?

YouTube influencer marketing involves setting up partnerships with popular YouTube content creators (aka YouTubers) to promote products or services. 

YouTube was among the first platforms to give rise to modern “influencers.” Even as early as 2006, some YouTube creators were able to amass audiences rivaling television shows. 

These days, some individual YouTubers have hundreds of millions of subscribers on their channels. The biggest YouTube influencer, MrBeast, has nearly 400 million subscribers.

With numbers like these, savvy advertisers saw an opportunity to tap into creators’ reach and credibility by sponsoring their content or sending products for review.

And the numbers don't need to be huge – even nano-influencers (those with a small but highly engaged audience) can help you reach niche audiences that are likely to generate leads.

Over the years, YouTube influencer marketing has exploded in popularity. Collaborating with YouTubers allows brands to tap into hyper-engaged communities in virtually every niche – from beauty and gaming to tech and DIY. 

Today, loads of brands partner with YouTube influencers as a part of their overall marketing strategy. 

With so many engaged viewers, YouTube influencer marketing campaigns can greatly impact brand awareness and online visibility, not to mention sales.

The benefits of using YouTube videos for marketing

YouTube offers some distinct advantages over other social platforms when it comes to influencer marketing.

Long-form video content

The key difference between YouTube and social media platforms is long-form content. While other social media apps like TikTok and X focus on short-form video, YouTube allows creators to upload videos up to a whopping 12 hours long (or 256 GB)and it offers a venue for shorter clips with YouTube Shorts.

For marketers, this extra runtime is gold – it lets influencers showcase your product in-depth, tell stories, give demonstrations, and provide viewers with far more detail than an Instagram post or TikTok video ever could. In turn, your target audience gets a richer understanding of your product, making influencer endorsements on YouTube highly engaging and persuasive.

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Enhanced search capabilities

Another big benefit is that YouTube is essentially the world’s second-largest search engine (after Google), and you can manually search YouTube videos and YouTube influencer content in ways that just aren't possible on other short-form video platforms.

Which is all to say: content on YouTube has a long shelf life. Consumers can discover an influencer’s video about your brand months or even years after it was published through search and recommendations. 

This long-term discoverability means a one-off collaboration can continue driving awareness and traffic well into the future, unlike content on other platforms.

It's also worth noting that YouTube is one of the only major social platforms that allows creators to include clickable links within video descriptions. 

This makes it easier to drive conversions and direct organic traffic to your website. Viewers can watch a favorite influencer review a product and then directly click through to your site or a special landing page to shop. 

These links shorten the marketing funnel from inspiration to action.

A better return on investment

YouTube influencers can be great for boosting your ROI. In fact, businesses earn an average of $5.78 for every $1 spent on YouTube influencer marketing campaigns – a stunning 578% return on investment. 

It’s no surprise, then, that brands are pouring more budget into influencer partnerships. The global influencer marketing industry is now valued at over $21 billion, more than double its value before the COVID-19 pandemic. YouTube’s share of this pie is significant, as the platform consistently leads in influencer marketing spend.

Using YouTube influencer content to meet your goals

YouTube influencer marketing can drive awareness, consideration, and conversions at different stages of the sales funnel.

By choosing the right type of content for your campaign goals – be it product tutorials, unboxing videos, or heartfelt testimonials – you can embrace YouTube’s unique strengths to great effect.

Product introduction and feedback

Partnering with niche YouTube influencers to "unbox" or review a new product can generate buzz and give you some authentic feedback.

Because creators often give their honest opinions and demonstrate the product in use, viewers get a feel for the item ‘in action,’ which builds trust. This can be really helpful for gathering insights and social proof when launching a brand-new product.

Top-of-mind awareness

Consistently sponsoring YouTube content helps keep your brand visible and memorable. 

Influencers can integrate your brand into their usual approach for entertaining or informative videos, so your message reaches their fans in a way that feels familiar. 

These advertising campaigns are designed to make your brand the first one consumers think of in a category, like running shoes or meal kits, through repeated, positive exposure.

Maximizing reach via social sharing

YouTube influencers can widen your reach beyond the platform by encouraging viewers to engage with branded hashtags or challenges. 

Many YouTubers are active on multiple social networks, so an influencer marketing campaign might involve a YouTuber introducing a hashtag in a video, which then spreads to Instagram, TikTok, X, and so on.

This cross-platform boost expands your visibility and taps into broader social conversations.

Sharing brand values and story

YouTube allows for more personal, narrative content. Brands often collaborate with influencers on videos that go behind the scenes or highlight shared values. 

For example, a sustainability-focused brand might work with an eco-conscious vlogger on a "day in the life" video showcasing both the influencer’s lifestyle and the brand’s mission. 

This kind of authentic storytelling helps forge a deeper connection with the audience by humanizing the brand and aligning it with the audience’s values. It can also be great for your engagement rate.

Typical YouTube influencer marketing formats

Not all YouTube collaborations look the same. In fact, influencer integrations can range from a subtle mention of a brand in one or two YouTube shorts to an entire video dedicated to promoting a product.

Below are three of the most common YouTube influencer marketing formats, along with how each works.

1. Product placement

Product placements are the most organic form of influencer marketing on YouTube. This is when a YouTuber naturally integrates a brand or product into the regular content on their YouTube channel rather than making it the sole focus. 

For example, a beauty influencer might casually mention the moisturizer they’ve been using while doing a "get ready with me" video, or a cooking channel might use a particular brand of cookware while preparing a recipe. The product is placed in the content, but the video is primarily about something else (a makeup look or a recipe, for example).

This approach feels very authentic to viewers. The influencer is showing the product in a context that makes sense for their channel. Often, they will include the product name on screen or link it in the description for interested viewers. 

In these kinds of YouTube videos, influencers tend to mention why they like the product or how they use it, but it doesn't feel like a forced ad. 

Because product placements blend in with regular content, these videos tend to attract viewers just as well as any other upload, rather than turning people off, as an interruptive paid ad might.

2. Product reviews and feedback

Product review videos are a staple of YouTube. This is where you'll see someone focus on one product or set of products from the same brand, often giving their honest opinions, pros and cons, and a demonstration. 

One hugely popular type of review format is the unboxing video, where the creator films themselves opening up a new product’s packaging and reacting to it in real time. Unboxing videos became a viral trend because they capture the excitement of discovering what’s inside the box, and viewers feel like they’re experiencing the product first-hand along with the creator.

In a typical unboxing or review, a YouTuber will show everything that comes with the product, test it out (either immediately on camera or over a period of days/weeks), and then summarize how well it works or whether it’s worth the money. 

This format is ideal for introducing a new product or a new model upgrade – the audience gets a good look at the item, and they're more likely to buy it over other brands if the review is positive, and they have lots of information to help them make their decision.

Brands benefit from reviews because they are essentially detailed testimonials. Even if the review is balanced and mentions a few negatives, it comes off as more credible than a polished ad. For new product launches, coordinating with influencers to send them early samples for review can generate buzz and provide social proof to potential buyers who research the product on YouTube.

3. Product promotion

Product promotion videos are the closest to traditional YouTube ads, but are delivered by the influencer in their own style. 

In a promotion, the entire video (or a significant segment) is dedicated to pushing a specific product or brand message – you're probably compensating the YouTuber for their work, too. 

These YouTube videos could take the form of a skit, a creative challenge, or a straightforward endorsement – but it’s clear that the content is sponsored, and the goal is to highlight the product.

Sometimes, the influencer will create content about the product. For instance, they might do a comedy sketch or other standalone video that heavily features the brand’s offering, combining entertainment with promotion.

The key to product promotion content is to provide value or entertainment to the audience so they stick around. Anyone with a successful YouTube channel likely has a few ideas for making the ad content fun or engaging. The benefit here is that you get a very explicit brand message out there – you can work with YouTube creators on talking points, tell them which product features they should mention, and so on. 

These videos aim to create demand and drive action (sign-ups and purchases, for example) by combining the creator's influence with classic marketing tactics.

How to find the right YouTube influencers for your brand

Not all influencers are created equal – the right YouTube influencers for you are those whose values, audience, and style fit your brand’s mission and target market.

Finding a good match is crucial since you're more likely to meet your marketing goals if you can find influencers who will lead you straight to potential customers.

The simplest way to get your search underway is to use influencer marketing software like Brandwatch Influence. The platform can significantly help streamline this process. Use the discovery function and database to filter creators by category, audience size, location, and more. 

Look for YouTubers whose content theme relates to your product and who reach the demographic you want to target. For example, if you sell camping gear, you might reach out to a travel vlogger or an outdoor adventure channel.

Also, examine an influencer’s engagement rate and reputation. How do their viewers react to sponsored content? High view counts are great, but follower count isn’t everything. Remember, some wannabe influencers even buy fake followers to boost their chances of bagging YouTube influencer marketing campaigns.

Sometimes, a smaller creator with an avid, trusting audience can drive more conversions than a larger creator with disengaged followers. Make sure you review the comments and community around the YouTuber to get a feel for audience trust and interest.

It can be time-consuming to research and vet influencers, but it’s an effort well spent. The success of your campaign hinges on choosing YouTube influencers that genuinely appeal to your potential customers. 

Authenticity matters – audiences can tell if a sponsorship is a bad fit. By partnering with influencers who naturally resonate with your brand, you're more likely to achieve success.

Once you've found the right partners, Brandwatch Influence will help you manage those relationships, plan everything from your first video, and track your campaign's success.

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Compensating YouTube creators fairly

Influencers pour a lot of time and creative energy into their content. For many, managing their channel and creating content is a full-time job. 

For this reason, you should be prepared to offer appropriate compensation for a content creator's work. 

There are a few common ways to compensate YouTube influencers: by monetary payment, product gifting, through affiliate programs, or discount codes.

Monetary payment

Monetary payment is pretty self-explanatory. This is a straightforward fee an influencer charges to feature your brand in one or more videos. 

Payment can vary widely based on the creator’s subscriber count, average views, niche, and scope of work (a quick mention versus a full, dedicated video, for instance).

Mega influencers with more than a million followers may charge tens of thousands of dollars for a dedicated video sponsorship, whereas micro-influencers might charge a few hundred. Short-form content like Instagram Reels might come with a different price tag altogether. 

Do your research on typical rates in your industry and negotiate a fee that values the creator’s effort and reach.

Product gifting

Product gifting is sometimes used as an alternative form of payment. Particularly for smaller influencers, providing free products can be an acceptable form of compensation (or a supplement to a smaller fee). 

By gifting your product, you not only give the influencer something to potentially feature, but you also allow them to try it out. Often, brands will send a PR package with products and let the creator decide if they want to share it, without obligation.

Many smaller influencers are happy to post an unboxing or shout-out in exchange for freebies, as it helps them create content. (Especially if the product is something they would actually use and appreciate.)

Affiliate programs or discount codes

Another alternative to cash payments is affiliate programs or discount codes. With this win-win approach, you offer influencers a commission for any sales they drive. 

You could even give the YouTuber a unique referral link or discount code for their audience. This way, the creator earns a percentage for each sale (or a flat fee per conversion), which means they're more likely to actively promote your product. 

It also lets you directly track that influencer's return on investment (ROI). Many brands combine an upfront payment with an affiliate bonus structure for ongoing partnerships.

Most YouTube influencer campaigns are fee-driven. Given the significant effort to plan, film, and edit videos, creators often expect monetary compensation. The exact terms will depend on factors like the influencer’s reach, the content format, and how involved the campaign is. 

Whatever payment method you choose, always communicate clearly about deliverables and payment. Brandwatch enables you to house all these negotiations, agreements, and details in one place.

Remember, investing in fair compensation builds a good relationship (which will help set up future collaborations) and makes it more likely that the influencer will put their best effort into the campaign.

How to give your influencers creative control

While it might be tempting to dictate every detail of how your brand is presented, it’s generally best to allow influencers creative freedom in how they integrate your product. 

Remember, the influencer understands their target audience far better than you do. They know what style of content their viewers enjoy and how to naturally incorporate promotions without having viewers scramble for the unsubscribe button.

Remember to provide guidelines

You should always give clear guidelines about the key points or features you’d like mentioned and any must-say disclaimers or hashtags, but avoid micromanaging the tone or script.

If an influencer normally uses humor and silliness, let them do so with your product – trust that they know best.

If their channel is all about personal storytelling, they might weave your brand into a story. This can be great for authenticity. Remember, overly scripted ads stick out and tend not to perform as well because viewers notice immediately when the creator’s voice is lost.

Trust the process

By embracing the influencer’s creative style, you’ll get more engaging content and maintain audience trust. 

Many influencers will surprise you with how cleverly they can showcase a product while still entertaining or informing their viewers. This level of trust in the creator often results in better content and a more genuine endorsement. 

In the end, a collaborative approach – you provide the important facts and brand vision, and the influencer translates it into content that fits their channel – is the recipe for success.

Measuring campaign performance

As with any marketing effort, tracking campaign performance will tell you everything you need to know about your influencer campaigns. 

Set clear objectives up front: are you looking to increase brand awareness (views, impressions), drive traffic (click-throughs to your site), or boost sales (conversions from an affiliate link or code)? The metrics you focus on will depend on these goals.

Calculate your return on investment

For many brands, ROI is top of mind. Make sure you have analytics in place to measure outcomes. 

For example, if you give an influencer a unique URL, affiliate link, or coupon code, monitor how many sales or sign-ups come through it. 

If the goal is awareness, look at the view count, watch time, and engagement (likes, comments, shares) on the influencer’s video. YouTube’s analytics and third-party tools can also show you referral traffic coming from YouTube to your website.

It’s important to note that about 70% of brands actively measure the ROI of their influencer marketing, but 30% still don’t track it properly. Don’t be in that latter group – failing to measure means you won’t truly know if the campaign was worth it. 

Set up UTM parameters for links and use Brandwatch to tie results back to the campaign.

Look beyond video views

One of the key YouTube performance metrics is video views – in other words, how many people watched the sponsored video (and what percentage watched it in full). This tells you about your reach, but there are plenty of other performance metrics worth tracking, too.

Engagement – the likes, comments, and shares on each video – is incredibly important. High engagement can indicate that the content (and your integration) resonated with the audience. Reading through comments can also provide qualitative insight; see what viewers are saying about the product mentioned.

Audience demographics are worth tracking, too. Are the viewers of the influencer’s content in your target market (region, age group, interests)? YouTube Analytics can provide some demographic information, and the influencer can share their audience insights with you.

Next, look at referral traffic and see how many people clicked on your link in the video description or used your promo code. This is a direct measure of interest generated.

Conversions/sales are the ultimate bottom-line metric. Track how many viewers actually converted (made a purchase, signed up, etc) as a result of the campaign. This might be via your own analytics tool or by data the influencer shares (for example, how many times customers redeemed their coupon code).

Finally, look at social lift. Did you see an increase in your own brand’s social media followers or mentions after the campaign? A successful collaboration can often drive curious viewers to check out your brand’s channels or talk about your product elsewhere.

While YouTube's built-in analytics provides an overview of most of these metrics, using a third-party tool like Brandwatch Social Media Management gives you actionable insights to take your YouTube influencer marketing campaigns up another notch.

By analyzing these metrics, you can determine the impact of the campaign and calculate ROI. Perhaps one YouTube partner drove lots of site traffic but few sales, whereas another with a smaller audience brought in fewer visitors but a higher conversion rate – insights like these will inform your future strategy (maybe the latter's niche is more aligned with your buyers). 

Use the data to refine your influencer selection, messaging, and offers for next time. Continuous improvement is key to long-term success in influencer marketing.

While you're at it, make sure to comply with platform and legal guidelines. For instance, influencers should disclose their partnership, perhaps by using YouTube’s paid promotion tag and mentioning the sponsorship verbally. This transparency actually helps maintain trust and doesn’t hurt the effectiveness of the campaign.

Key takeaways

As we reach the end of our guide, you can probably see how setting up YouTube influencer campaigns helps you tap into YouTube’s massive reach and longevity.

A YouTube video has a much longer shelf life than a 24-hour disappearing Story or a blink-and-you-miss-it livestream, meaning your influencer collaborations can keep paying dividends over time.

Another advantage of long-form video is that it lends itself well to deeper storytelling. Unlike the short-form videos on other social apps, YouTube is quite rare in its focus on long-form videos. 

This gives your brand and the influencer more time to demonstrate the value of your product. Whether it’s a 15-minute review or a 30-minute tutorial, longer content lets creators highlight features, show results, and tell a story that makes the promotion more compelling.

The best bit about partnering with influencers is that they tend to drive action. They're trusted voices in their community, and you can tap into that too. A genuine endorsement from a favorite YouTuber can carry far more weight than any traditional ad.

The key to success is to plan, execute, and measure thoughtfully. A great campaign requires finding influencers, giving them creative freedom, and providing fair compensation. 

Once the partnership is up and running, don't forget to track performance so you can understand the ROI. Then, use what you've learned to make future campaigns even better. You can do it all with Brandwatch.

Influencer marketing on YouTube is part art, part science – nailing both aspects will help you get better results. The platform offers a potent mix of massive reach, engaged viewership, and creative potential. It’s simply a great channel for an influencer marketing strategy. 

It’s time to start building those partnerships and creating content that connects with your audience. Good luck, and happy collaborating.