5 Reasons Why Influencer Marketing Is A Good Option

Influencer marketing is the newest buzzword in brand building and engagement, and it is really gaining traction. According to Statista, the market size of influencer marketing will rise nearly 30% from 2020 to 2021, going from US$9.7 billion to US$13.8 billion globally. 

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Part of the reason for this jump is most people stayed at home through 2020 and most of 2021, which meant more time spent on platforms like YouTube. Perhaps anticipating this, 55% of marketers used YouTubeto establish their brands in 2020. 

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With over 20 billion active users averaging 40 minutes a day on the platform, investing in an effective YouTube marketing campaignis well worth the costs. 

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Building a YouTube channel for your brandis easy enough if you follow the right strategy. However, getting enough traction so that many people will see and interact with your channel is a different story. 

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It takes a lot of time and effort to grow a YouTube channel. Approximately a minuscule 0.4% of channels manage to get 100 subscribers. Even then, it takes an average of 61 days for a new channelto get there. 

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You might have better success at creating brand awareness by placing YouTube ads, or you could partner with YouTube or other social media influencers to do it for you. 

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Who is an Influencer?

These influencers are usually experts in their niche and have painstakingly built a high level of trust among their followers. Consequently, companies and personal brands seek to partner with these influencers to promote or market their products or services by way of endorsements and product mentions. This social media marketing strategy is termed influencer marketing. 

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While true influencers have the hearts and minds of their followers, the level of trust they command is hard to quantify. So, instead of trying to discern that, most marketers rely on subscriber numbers, reach, or interaction levelsto determine if a content creator might be a good candidate for influencer marketing. 

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Depending on the niche and purpose of a YouTube channel, the ideal influencer may have anything from 1,000 to more than 1 million subscribers. 

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5 Reasons to Consider Influencer Marketing

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In most cases, influencer marketing is about creating brand awareness. The focus is on growing a YouTube followingthat is likely to discuss and purchase the product. It can create lead generation, conversion, and sales. There are five excellent reasons for brands to consider influencer marketing as a strategy for growth. 

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You Get to Tap Into an Existing Audience

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Knowing how difficult it is to grow a subscriber list, it makes better sense for brands to partner with an influencer to get exposure to their subscribers. You are essentially piggybacking on the influencer's fan base, saving yourself a lot of time and effort provided you choose the right influencer for your purposes. 

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In exchange for the promotion, you may promote the influencer on your other channels, pay for their endorsement, or both. In some cases, influencers gain more credibility when partnering with other content creators, especially if they are promoting something for a good cause. 

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One case where a YouTube influencer could tap into the fanbase to generate funds for a good cause was that of Tyler Oakley. In the video below, Oakley asked his 6.95M subscribers to support The Trevor Project, a non-profit organization to prevent suicides among LGBTQ youth. He raised $500,000!

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Hard cash is always acceptable, if goodwill is not something you can offer when partnering with an influencer. While you might not have the budget to tap a mega influencer (more than 1 million subscribers), you can certainly afford the $10 or so per post from a nano influenceror micro-influencer (creators who have between 1,000 to 10,000 subscribers). 

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You Build Instant Trust

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Most influencers spend a lot of resources to gain the trust of their followers. It pays off in the end because 82% of consumers depend on social media recommendations while making buying decisions. 

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However, this also means that influencers can only continue to retain their position of authority by maintaining the trust of their subscribers. Their continued credibility is their currency, so influencers must be careful when endorsing or promoting companies or brands to avoid offending or disappointing their base. 

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If an influencer throws their mantle over your brand, so to speak, they are transferring that trust to you. 

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You Can Tell Your Story

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Sometimes, you only need a bit of a leg up to tell your story and get people interested in what you have to say. Influencers can give you that boost if you can get them interested enough in your brand to talk about it. It doesn't even have to be a long campaign. A quick mention, a link, or an interview can go a long way towards getting your foot in the door and getting the attention of your target audience.

An excellent example of this is the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, founded in 2012 by Anthony Senerchia, Pete Frates, and Pat Quinn. Anthony Senerchia had been fighting Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, for fourteen years. So was Pete Frates. 

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Their goal was to promote awareness of the condition and raise funds for ALS research. The phenomenon really took off when in mid-2014, Hall-of-Famer golfer Greg Norman nominated then-NBC news anchor Matt Lauer to take the challenge. The challenge eventually raised $220 million globally. 

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Source: YouTube.com

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You Can Grow Your Following And Revenue

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Collaborating with influencers by sharing their content or inviting them as guests on your channel can help bolster interest in your brand significantly. Promoting influencer content not only makes you attractive to them but also leads followers to your channel and perhaps inspires them to add you to their subscription lists.

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An excellent example of this is Hot Ones, an interview show on the "First We Feast" channel. The premise is simple—eat increasingly spicy wings as the host, Sean Evans, interviews the guest. The clincher is that guests are celebrities or influencers, which brings fans flocking to the channel. "First We Feast" currently has 10.6 million subscribers, and the Hot Onesepisode with the most views was the one with Kevin Hart with more than 31 million views to date. 

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It is uncertain how much revenue the "First We Feast" channel generates as much of it may be outside the YouTube platform, which estimates it at somewhere around $2.6 million a year. However, reports estimate the net worth of Hot Oneshost Sean Evans at $40 million. That should give you some idea of how much the producers of First We Feast are making off influencers on the Hot Onesshow. 

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You Get to Learn From Them

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Perhaps the most overlooked of all reasons to collaborate with influencers is education. Many influencers are experts in their field or at least have been at it for a long time, and as a result, they have a wealth of experience. They can provide you with valuable insights about the market and actionable advice on how to grow your YouTube channel and brand most effectively. 

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One example of this type of mentorship is between beauty YouTubers Tati Westbrook and James Charles, the latter benefiting greatly from the sponsorship and guidance of the former. The relationship turned sour in 2019in a much-publicized online feud, causing James to lose subscribers and Tati to gain subscribers. 

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Interesting side note: James seems to have regained his footing with 24.5 million subscribers to date. Tati has 8.7 million subscribers, though, at one point, she had 10 million, perhaps due to some developments after the 2019 drama.

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Summary

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The struggle to gain traction for a new or stalled YouTube channel is real, and many will not succeed. Using influencer marketing strategies can significantly tilt those odds in your favor. However, it is worth noting that the best approaches to influencer marketing hinge on thinking about influencers as people and not commodities. 

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Yes, you count on their influence to help you with your YouTube or other social media brand. However, your influencer marketing campaigns should focus on building long-term relationships that can add value to all stakeholders, including your target audience. Those are the campaigns that will keep on giving. 

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Are you ready to find trending YouTubers with whom you can build relationships? Try Vling today!

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