How to Get in Touch with YouTubers You Want to Advertise with AQER Follow Oct 25, 2018 · 8 min read

Traditional marketing is dying. It is becoming less and less efficient, as people see so many ads, they become numb to marketers’ efforts to attract their attention.

This is where word-of-mouth marketing kicks in. People tend to trust the opinions of others more than any ad — and knowing how to take advantage of this is more than just a trend. It is becoming a necessity for companies that want to stay afloat and keep gaining more customers.

Influencer marketing is one advertising method that exploits our tendency to trust each other. Word-of-mouth marketing has evolved thanks to the technologies we’ve started using, namely the Internet. YouTube is watched for hours by millions of people every day, and they trust bloggers’ opinions.

So, if you know what YouTubers to cooperate with, you can impact your potential customers’ decisions. Influencers’ opinions matter to your target audience, and if they promote your product (not in a blunt way, of course), you can expect your revenue to grow.

Chances are, you already know all of this, and you already want to partner up with a YouTuber. The main issue you have in mind so far is how to talk to YouTube influencers to convince them that promoting your product is worth the effort. Without further ado, let’s find out the next step.

What Do Influencers Do?

Before you write to an influencer, you need to understand how they usually work, and what they can do for you.

First of all, we are going to focus on YouTube influencers. The main way they promote products is by including it in their content. Yet if a blogger works on other platforms, as well, he or she can promote your product there via posts and sharing the link to a new video. However, keep in mind that videos are the best type of content for advertising — it’s just that our brains love videos, and remember more from them as a result.

There are several types of influencer advertising content you can benefit from:

Gifting and unboxing . You provide your product to the YouTuber for free, and they either mention it (for instance, using beauty products in a makeup tutorial video) or make an unboxing video.

. You provide your product to the YouTuber for free, and they either mention it (for instance, using beauty products in a makeup tutorial video) or make an unboxing video. Reviews . Similarly, you provide your product to the YouTuber, and he or she makes a video review on it after trying it.

. Similarly, you provide your product to the YouTuber, and he or she makes a video review on it after trying it. Giveaways . You provide your product and the YouTuber hosts a giveaway using it, i.e., gives it away to one or several viewers.

. You provide your product and the YouTuber hosts a giveaway using it, i.e., gives it away to one or several viewers. Competitions . You can either host a competition yourself with your product (or anything else) as the prize and encourage influencers to spread the word about it, or encourage the YouTuber to host one himself or herself.

. You can either host a competition yourself with your product (or anything else) as the prize and encourage influencers to spread the word about it, or encourage the YouTuber to host one himself or herself. Native advertising. This one deserves a separate article. Native advertising means incorporating your product promotion into the main content in a way that the ad is indistinguishable from the main narrative. Basically, it means that people can’t tell when they are being promoted to. While this is becoming the most popular trend in influencer marketing on YouTube due to its efficiency, it may be a bit controversial; viewers are tricked, in a sense, as they don’t notice the transition to ads.

Before Starting Work with a YouTube Influencer

Now that you have an idea of what you should expect from a YouTube influencer, let’s take a closer a look at what you need before you start working with him or her.

Product

Of course, it is essential for you to have the item or service being promoted. Needless to say, your product should be high-quality so the YouTuber will like it and be genuinely excited when promoting its perks.

Budget

There’s nothing in this life for free. Influencers know the power they have, so they monetize it. Your budget will depend upon desired outreach, the extent of your campaign (it could be a one-time mention or an ongoing ambassadorship), and the influencer’s price list. Prepare to spend several hundred dollars, though.

Target Audience

Any marketing campaign can be successful only if you’ve defined your target audience properly. Don’t think that it’s just about the demographics. It’s about the psychometrics, as well; i.e., what your potential customers do daily, what they like or hate, what they fear, etc. Once you have described your average potential customer, you will be able to select the YouTubers properly and convey the appropriate message for their viewers.

Ad Campaign Strategy

You need to know exactly what you want from the influencer, and how this endeavor will fit into your global ad campaign. While it’s good to offer some ideas in terms of format and key messages, let the YouTuber do their thing and be creative. If you don’t, the ad will sound insincere, and this will damage the reputation of both the YouTuber and your brand. Keep in mind that the key messages should align with your product positioning.

Reaching out to YouTube Influencers

It’s rarely a good idea to write to the first YouTuber that pops up on the search results page based upon your keyword. While the topics covered are an important criteria, you also need to understand his or her target audience and demographics to make sure your potential customers are likely to be among them. Otherwise, you may end up spending money on promoting your product to people from a region in which you don’t even operate.

Start with the ‘About’ Channel Section

Every YouTube channel has the ‘About’ section where YouTubers usually leave something like an ‘email for business inquiries,’ which is a clear sign they are up for cooperation with brands. Using this email, you can contact the YouTuber either directly or via their agent (if they’re a hugely popular YouTuber). Sometimes, you can also find some information on the types of cooperation the YouTuber is seeking on this page.

Have Your Goals All Lined Up

You should be completely prepared to discuss all the details of product promotion. In order to do this, you need to know what you expect to achieve with the YouTuber’s help. Being precise about your goal will allow the YouTuber to understand what you want from him or her, and will guide them when they create the content. In this way, the risk of being dissatisfied with the results becomes a lot lower.

The best way to make your goals clear is to stick to SMART methodology, set key performance indicators (KPIs) and determine how you are going to track them. This is how you’ll be able to know whether this endeavor turned out to be successful or not.

Think Through the Subject of Your Message

The subject line of the email is the first thing they see, and its job is to grab their attention and intrigue them enough to keep reading. Popular YouTubers get dozens or even hundreds of emails with offers for cooperation every day. You need to show that you respect their time and that you can be precise. Here are some tips on how you can do that:

Mention a sponsorship opportunity and the brand it comes from

Mention a particular product (e.g., “Sponsorship Offer: [product])

Mention any time attachments (e.g., relevant until…)

Compose Your Email Wisely

Remember that your offer is an opportunity for an influencer to work and continue developing their status as an active promotion expert while being helpful to their viewers at the same time.

Your best bet when approaching an influencer is to remain straightforward while highlighting right away what you both will get from this potential collaboration. Show that you value their time and don’t want to waste it. Be precise, and abandon the usual marketing or selling tricks you use in promotional letters for your potential customers.

Here are four essential things to include in your offer:

Mention the person’s name . This is a good trick to show that you aren’t just copying and pasting text. Psychologically, it allows the reader to react more positively to the content of the letter.

. This is a good trick to show that you aren’t just copying and pasting text. Psychologically, it allows the reader to react more positively to the content of the letter. Introduce the essence of your product/service in 1–2 sentences. Keep it simple and short while highlighting why your product/service is good and/or unique. Use impressive stats if they fit into the context.

in 1–2 sentences. Keep it simple and short while highlighting why your product/service is good and/or unique. Use impressive stats if they fit into the context. Emphasize mutual benefits . Describe your goals and what the influencer will get out of it, as well. Money is not enough as a reward. You can suggest promoting him or her via your own channels to increase outreach, etc.

. Describe your goals and what the influencer will get out of it, as well. Money is not enough as a reward. You can suggest promoting him or her via your own channels to increase outreach, etc. Mention your budget as precisely as possible. It’s not always possible to know your exact potential marketing expenses, especially if you are contacting an influencer for the first time and don’t know the average quote. In this case, you can mention your minimum budget and add that you can exceed it.

Use Specialized Tools and Platforms

This is an alternative route you can take, and the ride there can be even smoother. There are dozens of specific ready-made solutions for establishing professional connections with prepared, categorized lists of influencers. Here are just a few of the renowned influencer marketing platforms and tools waiting for you out there:

Neoreach

AspireIQ

Upfluence

Tagger media

Traackr

Influencer

The reason these solutions are in demand is that using them comes with a lot of perks. You don’t have to search for influencers from scratch using YouTube and Google search — there is a database of influencers that you can filter according to a number of factors. Moreover, these influencers are vetted, so the risk of encountering an irresponsible YouTuber is mitigated. Finally, your finances are safe thanks to third-party involvement (some platforms introduce smart contracts, instead).

Summary

Partnering up with an influencer is not a five-minute thing. You need to prepare well before you reach out to an influencer: define your target audience, set your goals, and determine the ad campaign strategy. When you write your email, focus on being precise about your product/service, mutual benefits, and budget.

This endeavor is worth your time and effort, so keep this in mind. Word-of-mouth marketing is the horse you should bet on. It is the oldest and most efficient channel. Amplify your message with the help of influencers’ voices, and you’ll see how profitable it is.