When it comes to purchasing products from YouTube, 6 in 10 YouTube subscribers say they trust their favorite YouTube creators rather than celebrities. This is why YouTube is one of the most popular platforms for influencer marketing.
Brands conduct influencer marketing campaigns on YouTube to drive views and subscribers, spread awareness, and boost conversions.
To achieve that, you must first find and connect with the right YouTube influencers.
After helping 1K+ companies discover influencers that are ideal for their brand, we know which factors play a crucial role when deciding which influencers are suitable for you.
Plus, we found ‘the secret’ to connect with YouTube influencers and get a positive reply (we can send up to 800K emails with a 36% positive reply rate).
In this guide, we’ll show you:
- How to find YouTube influencers?
- How to get their email addresses?
- Tips to effectively connect with them
How to Connect With YouTube Influencers (Our Best Tactics)
Here’s a step-by-step process, along with examples to help you effectively find and connect with YouTube influencers.
1. Find YouTube influencers
According to the most recent stats, YouTube has 113.9M+ active channels. To make the right choice, you need clearly defined criteria and options to easily narrow down to YouTubers that fit that.
Simply put, you need to look at three main things:
- Is there an alignment between your target audiences
- Does the influencer’s values and persona align with your brand values and image
- What are their engagement metrics?
Once you have that, below are 4 best ways to find relevant influencers for your campaign.
1. Use an influencer discovery platform
An influencer discovery platform is one of the best methods to connect with YouTube influencers. The reasons are – it’s fast, most precise (you can make a decision based on real data), and you can discover influencers at scale.
That’s why, brands like Pearpop, Amazon, and Linktree used our platform to find relevant influencers.
With our creator discovery dashboard, you can search through 10M+ YouTube creators in any niche or location. Here’s how it works.
- Enter primary details like location, gender, language, etc.
- Select the platform – YouTube.
- Select from among 40+ filters like keywords in bio, hashtags, engagement rate, etc., to get a precise list of YouTube creators
- Export the list with email addresses
You can even experiment with the filters in our dashboard to find influencers with a multi-channel presence or who have collaborated with similar brands in your niche.
2. Search on YouTube
If you’re looking to search manually for free, start with YouTube. Here are three strategies you can try.
- Search for relevant keywords. For example, if you are selling makeup, enter keywords like, “makeup tutorials” or “best makeup products”. This will help you get YouTube creators who create quality content for these topics.
🚀 Pro-tip: Also, go through the recommended searches to discover new keywords in the same niche.
- Search for hashtags. Many influencers use hashtags like #sponsored and #ads in the description to disclose sponsored content. You can search for multiple hashtags like #makeup and #sponsored to find influencers who are already doing brand collaborations.
🚀 Pro-tip: Expand your influencer network by finding parallel industries that cater to the same audience. For example, lifestyle influencers that cater to women who are interested in makeup products.
- Use YouTube’s Explore section. You’ll find popular content in different categories, where you can discover influencers. This method is recommended only if you cater to a wide category instead of a niche one.
- Conduct a competitor analysis. Use search terms related to their brand and add hashtags like #sponsored. You’ll find several influencers already collaborating with their brand and who might be open to new opportunities.
3. Use Google
Many companies create influencer lists that you can easily find with a Google search. While it may take time to vet the influencers you get from these lists, it’s a good place to start.
You can search for [your niche] + YouTube influencers list:
For some niches, besides articles, but you’ll also find YouTube videos where people break down who they think are the best YouTubers in the niche.
You can even try a different combination of modifiers like “[target country] + youtubers” or “[niche] + best youtube channels”.
4. Attend industry events
Big industry events often attract new and emerging influencers along with already established ones.
This gives brands an opportunity to form personal connections with YouTube influencers, evaluate their influence beyond metrics, and have in-depth discussions about potential collaborations.
For example, here’s one event that beauty influencers would be a part of.
You can find similar events in your niche by participating in close-knit communities on platforms like Reddit and Quora or using Google search to stay updated on upcoming events.
Read More: How To Find YouTube Influencers
2. Get the influencer’s email address
Once you’ve shortlisted a set of influencers, the next step is to reach out to them. For that, you need to find their email address.
The easiest way is to look at their “About Channel” section. Most influencers list their email address here.
You can even visit the other social profile links in the section to find their email addresses.
If you are looking to get email addresses in bulk, this method may take a lot of time. Instead, you can rely on our YouTube email finder tool.
We have data on 100M+ influencers and their contact information, such as email addresses. To get emails from YouTubers you want to work with, you need to upload a list of channel IDs. We’ll provide email addresses and 40+ data points for each influencer on the list.
Or, if you still haven’t shortlisted YouTube influencers, you can use our dashboard to discover and get emails from YouTubers that align with your criteria.
Get emails of YouTubers you want to work with
3. Send a personalized outreach email
The best YouTube influencers get a lot of outreach emails every day. For them to consider yours, the email must be targeted and personalized.
Here’s a personalized outreach email template for an influencer you met at an event.
Hey {first_name} –
{rep_name} from {brand_name} here. Meeting you at {event_name} was a highlight. Our brief chat sparked some exciting ideas about potential collaborations.
We’re reaching out because we see a lot of synergy between your style and our brand’s vision. {custom content or personalizaton based on why you see a synergy}
Curious about your thoughts and looking forward to the chance of creating something amazing together!
Can I send you some more info?
{rep_name}
This email template has received an average open rate of 64% and an average reply rate of 17%.
If you want to reach a larger number of influencers, influencers.club offers a partnership program where our team handles outreach at scale and helps you connect with YouTube influencers.
Our team of 40+ creator sales experts handles the whole outreach strategy – from finding suitable influencers for your brand to sending the most convincing email copy and handling the replies. We can send up to 800K emails with an average 36% positive reply rate.
Once we get a positive reply and make a connection with the influencer, your team can take it forward from there.
4. Don’t forget to follow up
Many outreach specialists give up after not getting a response to the first email. But when it comes to outreach, you must follow up at least 2-3 times before checking off that influencer from your list.
In fact, the first and second follow-up emails increase your chances of getting a reply by 21% and 25%, respectively.
In your follow-up email, you should include extra information that might prompt them to reply positively.
Here’s an email template you can use.
Hey {first_name} –
It’s {rep_name} over at {brand_name}.
{{personalization based on content}}
Just a small reminder about that earlier email. We’re ready to get things rolling, and hearing from you would really help get us on the right track. Whenever you can, drop me a line with your thoughts.
Here’s some more info that you might need.
{{add more info}}
{rep_name}
Tips to Effectively Connect With YouTube Influencers
The strategies mentioned above are the ones we used to help 1k+ brands connect with their ideal influencers. However, to truly connect with YouTubers there are 3 more things you can do.
1. Engage with their content
Before reaching out to influencers, engage with their content and build a relationship. This could mean liking and leaving genuine comments on their videos or supporting their initiatives.
While doing this, you can also get an idea of the kind of content the influencer posts and the reactions they get from their audience. This helps you personalize your outreach and make it more impactful.
2. Prioritize long-term relationships
Building long-term relationships with influencers helps create a community of brand ambassadors to whom you can always reach out for future campaigns or endorsements.
Here are some strategies you can use:
- Show ongoing support for their work by liking their content, leaving comments, and staying in touch with them via email.
- Celebrate their personal milestones like birthdays, anniversaries, etc.
- Send personalized thank-you notes or gifts to show your appreciation.
- Give them exclusive access to new products or features and make them feel their feedback is valuable.
3. Respect their time and creativity
The most important thing brands must understand is influencers know their audience best. They know which content resonates with them, the kind of product features their audience would love to know, and what offers they’d like.
Brands must give them the creative freedom to come up with ideas and suggestions for collaborations. At the same time, understand that influencers can get things wrong, especially if you’re dealing with a complicated product. Provide them with guidelines and a direction to follow for content creation.
At the same time, don’t be too pushy by sending them with constant emails. Respect their time and give them space to get back to you before sending them a reminder.
To Sum Up
Compared to celebrities, YouTube influencers are 4 times more effective at increasing brand awareness for brands they work with.
By following the steps and strategies shared above (and experimenting a little), you can connect with YouTubers who can help you get your brand in front of your targeted audience.
And if you need an all-in-one platform that can help you find YouTube influencers and conduct outreach, get started today!
Schedule a demo call, we’ll find the best way to find the most precise results for your use case, and you can use the dashboard to connect with YouTubers at scale.
FAQ
YouTube videos have the potential to keep bringing more viewers and subscribers long after the content is published.
It also has one of the biggest audiences making it the perfect playing field for influencer marketing campaigns. When done right, great campaigns can not only drive awareness but also sales.
To find small YouTubers for brand collaborations, you can directly search on YouTube or use our dashboard to search through 4M+ YouTubers.
You’ll have 40 filters for precise and simple search and you can search as niche or as broad as you want and get exactly what you need.
YouTube influencers promote products through different ways like unboxing videos, YouTube shorts, hauls highlighting multiple products, hosting contests and giveaways, and creating in-depth tutorials and product reviews.
The right influencers for your brand are the ones that match your values and interests, niche, location, and age. These are the basic filters to help you create the ideal target group for your brand.
It depends on the type of YouTuber. But, for reference, a YouTuber with a 10,000 audience may charge about $200 per video.
