9 Surprising Ways You Can Use YouTube for Influencer Marketing

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Instagram isn’t the only influencer platform for brands. Believe it or not, YouTube was one of the first social media platforms to host and connect influencers to brands before “influencer” became an official term in marketing.

Combine the fact that by 2022, online videos will make up more than 82% of all consumer internet traffic 15x higher than it was in 2017, and 92% of marketers believe influencer marketing is an effective form of marketing. It’s easy to see that Youtube combines the two best marketing tools any brand would need for online success: video and influencer marketing.

As amazing as YouTube and influencer marketing can be, you’ll still need the right tools and tips to make the most out of your experience for your audience and brand.

For this article, we spent some (okay…a lot) of hours on YouTube learning from the best brands and found nine surprising ways you can use youtube for influencer marketing.


1. Use YouTube Influencers for Unboxing Videos

Ask your partnered influencer to create an unboxing video of your new or current product on their YouTube Channel. Ipsos found that a brand’s packaging design can influence a consumer’s purchasing decision.

YouTube is the only social media platform known for the most viewed unboxing and unwrapping videos. About 40% of shoppers will sit and watch hours of unboxing videos from their favorite YouTubers.

Fun Fact: YouTube found that the amount of time people spend watching unboxing videos on their phones alone is the equivalent of watching the holiday classic “Love Actually” more than 20 million times.

2. Use YouTube Influencers for Giveaway & Contest

If you’re hosting a giveaway or contest, ask your YouTuber to create a video to promote it and attract new customers and followers to your brand.

Giveaways are one of the best ways to promote and highlight the features of your product or services. They have a 34% higher conversion rate when compared to other forms of online activities.

In October 2019, YouTuber Rico The Giant achieved 100,000 subscribers and to celebrate he hosted a giveaway with his new sponsor Nintendo. The prize, a new Nintendo Switch Lite Giveaway, which at the time had been released in September 2019.

Here’s a pro tip when it comes to YouTube sponsored or partnership giveaway. Send viewers to your website and request contestants to submit an email to enter or subscribe to the influencer and your Youtube channel so you can increase your subscriber count.

Lastly, be sure to track entries and website traffic from your influencers with a custom URL. So you can track your giveaway. This gives you insight if your giveaway needs a marketing boost or you reach your influencer marketing goals.

3. Use YouTube Influencers for Product Launches

For your next product launch, get exposure from a well-constructed influencer campaign on YouTube. Publicity found that 80% of new products fail. With a well thought out marketing strategy for your new product launch, you might fall into the 20% of successful outcomes.

Every marketer knows that adding video marketing for product launches can help to increase your exposure are more than static images. Here are the video statistics to prove it:

  • 72% of customers would prefer to learn about a product or service by with the help of video
  • 50% of internet users look for videos related to a product or service before visiting a store.
  • 97% of marketers say video has helped users gain a better understanding of their products and services.

Here are three ways you can use YouTube influencer to promote your product launch:

The influencer can create a teaser, hint, or “coming soon” video for your brand. Giving their subscribers an exclusive tip before your product launches.

Ask the influencer to create a promo ad for your product launch. It can be as simple as displaying or using your new product and listing its features.
Your influencers can offer exclusive invites to their followers to your launch party to help increase attendance and awareness.

When Fenty Beauty launches new products, you can find influencers post reviews to promote and highlight it’s best features.

4. Use YouTube Influencers for Ads & Promotions

A study using eye-tracking technology found that YouTube ads hold visual attention 62% of the time, compared to 45% of TV ads. Making YouTube is a top contender against Facebook, for being one of the top social media platforms to run ads.

When Wix did a rebranding and new marketing campaign in 2018, they used a series of popular YouTubers to spread the word.

First, they used YouTube Trueview ads on popular videos.

Then they asked other YouTubers like Shameless Maya to create videos to educate and entertain viewers with Wix, advertising its features and beautiful templates.

5. Use YouTube Influencers to Get Reviews and Feedback

YouTube isn’t just for selling products; it’s also a sneaky way of getting candid feedback from real customers.

We do live in a decade where people freely and shamelessly tell us what they think about a brand and celebrity on social media. But when it comes to guided and constructive feedback for companies, it can be hard to find.

Why not ask your influencer to create a product video and ask customers or viewers for reviews on your product.

YouTuber Marques Brownlee is so famous that brands will offer him products before they even hit the market. That’s because he not only has over a million subscribers, but he has a community-engaged, willing to comment, and buy from brands. When he hosts video reviews, he asks followers to give their own feedback.

Around 30% of the comments are trolls or making jokes, but 70% are writing statements to voice their opinions on the gadgets he reviews clearly. Here’s an example of the comment section for the video “Apple iPhone X Review: The Best Yet!

Pro Tip: Feel free to use social media listening tools like Mention to find any comments or mentions made about your brand.

6. Use YouTube Influencers to Promote Discounts & Deals

If it’s your first time working with influencers asking them to offer customized discounts and deals for their followers, it is an excellent place to start.

Brands can give an influencer a free gift/products to create a video or lookbook, and a unique promotional code for their followers. This discount can range from a 10-30% discount on their purchases. Be sure to make the code valid for a limited time. Offering discounts for a limited time can create a sense of urgency for followers to act fast and buy now.

For example, YouTuber Sophie Aris is a Gym Shark Influencer and occasionally does lookbooks videos of their latest collection. She ends the video by offering a customized discount code: ‘Sophie’ so viewers can get 20% off.

Wishpond’s coupon tool makes it easy to create and giveaway coupons, vouchers, and unique codes to your fans. Click here to get started!

Instagram isn’t the only influencer platform for brands. Believe it or not, YouTube was one of the first social media platforms to host and connect influencers to brands before “influencer” became an official term in marketing.

7. Use YouTube Influencers as Brand Ambassadors

What’s the difference between an influencer and a brand ambassador?

A brand ambassador is a long term partnership with a person or an influencer that involves representing or being the “face” of the brand. Ideally, this representative uses already established networks and relationships to market the brand with (on and offline) marketing tactics.

An influencer is someone who simply influences followers that brands can partner with to tap into their network for sales and brand awareness.

A brand ambassador is more of a long term and in-depth partnership.

Once you’ve found an influencer that your team loves to work with and has brought fruitful results, consider making them a life long partner and work with them to continually market and advocate for your brand.

When beauty Youtuber LaurasViews became a REN skincare Brand Ambassador, she not only made a video to announce it (with a special discount), but she made created videos specifically for Ren to help market new products and rebranding.

Here are three guides to help you start, maintain, and market your brand ambassador program:

8. Use YouTube Influencers as Test Subjects

Popular YouTubers are known for buying and trying products. They have a unique first-hand experience with what people in their industry, community, and their followers give honest feedback and reviews.

Ask YouTubers to be your product or service guinea pigs. Get constructive or creative ideas to improve your product. It’s also a sneaky way to provide exclusive content to that influencer to market that product or future projects.

The YouTube influencer can share their feedback privately with your brand, or they can create a video to generate buzz for your brand.

When YouTubers Niki and Gabi created their video “Testing Kardashian /Jenner Products,” their video got 8 million views and helped to increase purchases.

9. Use YouTube Influencers to Drive Traffic to Your Website

You can use influencers to drive traffic to your website. If you’ve just launched your website or need a boost in traffic, reach out to an influencer and ask them to shout out your brand and link your website in their video description.

This simple yet effective method is sure to bring you results. However, using incentive has a way of making people click faster/more. Try to offer a product, video, or exclusive content to drive people to your website.

Summary

Keep in mind as you work with influencers, it’s not about using a YouTube influencer with millions of followers, it’s about getting results while cultivating a mutually beneficial relationship for you both.

Here’s a quick recap of the nine surprising ways you can use youtube for influencer marketing:

  1. Use YouTube Influencers for Unboxing Videos
  2. Use YouTube Influencers for Giveaway & Contest
  3. Use YouTube Influencers for Product Launches
  4. Use YouTube Influencers for Ads & Promotions
  5. Use YouTube Influencers for Reviews and Feedback
  6. Use YouTube Influencers to Promote Discounts & Deals
  7. Use YouTube Influencers for Share Exclusive Content
  8. Use YouTube Influencers as Test Subjects
  9. Use YouTube Influencers to Drive Traffic to Your Website

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