Master YouTube Influence
The Steps To Become A YouTube Influencer And Grow Your Business
Introduction
What is a YouTube influencer?
It is someone that has developed a channel and has a huge number of subscribers in their chosen field. YouTube is a massive platform and it provides huge outreach for influencers. With the right influencer marketing you can set trends on the platform and make a great deal of money. Imagine doing something that you love everyday and bringing entertainment and pleasure to millions. Every possible niche has at least one influencer on YouTube and some niches have several. There are influencers in travel, video gaming, product reviews and many more. Some of these influencers earn significant incomes. You are not going to become a YouTube influencer overnight. It requires dedication and consistent effort to achieve influencer status. Decide what your influencer goals are and then create a plan to achieve them. If you like creating videos that people love to watch then the life of a YouTube influencer is a good option for you. There is a lot of money to be made as a successful YouTube influencer. You may have seen examples of the incomes that some of these people are generating. It is the best job in the world as you are highly paid for something that you love doing. In this special report we will provide you with the advice and guidance that you need to begin your journey as a YouTube influencer. By following the steps in this report, you will give yourself the maximum chance of success. 2 In the next section, we will discuss some of the most famous YouTube influencers…
Learning from some of the most Famous YouTube Influencers
Some people are skeptical about making a lot of money on YouTube. They don’t believe some of the numbers that are published about the incomes that the top influencers are earning. The truth is that they are making a ton of money and use different ways to achieve this.
The Top Influencers on YouTube
The number one influencer on YouTube is a guy called PewDiePie. He has been number one for a while now. He now has over 110 million subscribers to his channel. Since he started with YouTube he has created and uploaded over 4,000 videos. In a few days of launching a new video it will usually garner millions of views. His real name is Felix Kjellberg and he is originally from Sweden and now lives in the UK. He is in the video gaming niche which is very popular. People love to watch his videos where he streams himself playing games and commentating as he goes. It is estimated that he earned $3 million in 2021. We believe this to be on the low side as he has several different streams of income. No matter what his true earnings are as a YouTube influencer they are significant and he is living proof that top influencers can earn a fortune. 3 The second biggest influencer on YouTube is the channel named the “Kids Diana Show”. This channel has over 90 million subscribers and is about a girl called Diana and her brother Roma unboxing toys and participating in great adventures. YouTube users cannot get enough of these kids opening their toys. It is hard to believe that this is so popular. It is estimated that the channel makes around $700,000 every month and it is growing. A simple idea that has made the creators a fortune. Another success story is the channel “Like Nastya”. They have over 88 million subscribers and are catching up fast with the Kids Diana Show. As soon as a new video appears it soon has millions of views. The videos feature the little girl Nastya (Stacey) and her father having a lot of fun with her friends and more. Vlad and Nicki is another popular kids channel on YouTube is next with just under 80 million subscribers. This channel features two young brothers that like to play with toys and have a lot of fun in their videos. Their videos often feature their parents as well. Next up are “Dude Perfect” which are 5 guys from the US who provide comedy videos and perform a lot of different stunts such as trick shots in sports. These guys are now up to 57 million subscribers and their videos all have millions of views. There most popular video is about flipping a water bottle and has over 400 million views. MrBeast is another top YouTube influencer that a lot of people have heard of. He now has more than 90 million subscribers and his videos are as popular as ever. He tackles different challenges in his videos. Other popular influencers include Kimberly Loaiza who is from Mexico and creates lifestyle videos and Smosh who are a comedy team.
YouTube Influencers have changed how Marketing works
The emergence of YouTube influencers has changed the way online marketing works in a big way. Businesses now recognize the massive reach and the power that these influencers have and they are willing to spend big bucks with them for product shoutouts and more. Influencer marketing is definitely here to stay. There are not just influencers on YouTube but on other social platforms too such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Tik Tok and more. If these people can be influencers on YouTube, then so can you. In the next section, we will discuss how to start your YouTube Influencer journey… 5
How to Start your YouTube Influencer Journey
The first thing to say here is that becoming a YouTube influencer that has the potential to earn a significant income is not an easy thing to do. If it was then there would be many more people doing it. You have seen examples in the last section of the top influencers and what they do. All of these influencers earn a lot of money from the YouTube platform, sponsorship and more. The most important thing that you can do to start your YouTube influencer journey is to believe that it is possible for you.
You need a Goal and a Plan
The best way to start your YouTube influencer career is to set a goal for what you want to achieve from it. You need to define exactly what you are going to do and make your goal challenging and inspiring. When your goal is inspiring it will provide you with the high levels of motivation that you will need to keep working at it every day. Your goal will define the type of videos that you will make and help you to figure out who your target audience is. It is essential that you start with total clarity about what you are going to do with your YouTube channel. This will lay the foundation for your business. Once you have established your goal you need to create a plan to achieve it. Your plan will define the actions you will take each day to edge closer to your goal. You are not going to create a perfect plan but you do need one to guide you. 6
Create your Channel
If you do not have a YouTube account then you need to create one. You will need a free Google account to do this such as a Gmail email address. Your channel will need a name and you need to visualize how you want it to look. The best channels have compelling artwork and you can outsource this on Fiverr.com if you do not have the skills to do it yourself. Your channel name should let users know what you are doing. Make it as easy to remember as possible. It is good to perform some keyword research using the Google Keyword Planner to get ideas for video titles in your chosen niche. Use a keyword in your channel so it helps users understand what it is about. Alternatively, you can create a brand name for your channel. Some people use their own name or create an alias. You could also use letters as an abbreviation. The influencer, Marques Brownlee, uses MKBHD as his channel name. This has the advantage of being a short name and it is easily recognizable on YouTube and other social channels. Choosing a memorable channel name is very important. You want users to remember your channel name easily.
What Niche are you in?
Choosing the right niche for your YouTube channel is essential. If you have a strong interest in something such as tech gadgets or travel then this is a good idea. To be successful as a YouTube influencer you need to choose a niche that will be popular with YouTube users. 7 Some YouTube influencers are in more than one niche. There is nothing to stop you doing this as you progress but we recommend that you choose one niche to get started. Is there money being spent in your chosen niche? Are there products and services in the niche where you can make money from sponsorship or affiliate marketing?
What will your Voice be?
This is something that you mustn’t overlook. You need to create engaging videos on your channel to amass views and subscribers. Defining your voice at the beginning is the best way to go. You know who your target audience is so how are you going to connect with them? Creating a profile for your ideal subscriber is a good thing to do and it will help you define your voice. Think about the demographics of your profile subscriber. What is their age range, gender, interests, hobbies, employment status, location and more? You will give yourself a much better chance of being a successful YouTube influencer the more that you know your audience. Creating a subscriber profile will provide you with clarity and help you to determine the type of video content that you need to create for your audience. The most successful YouTube influencers do not pretend to be something they are not. It is best for you to “be yourself”. This will make it easier for you to create engaging videos for your audience. It is not easy to maintain an “act” where you are pretending to be someone that you are not. Use your personality to engage your audience. They are not expecting you to be a Hollywood star so don’t waste your time trying to be one. Be 8 natural and passionate about your niche in your videos and the views and subscribers will come.
Make Engaging Videos
YouTube influencers are not shy about being in front of the camera. If you have a problem with this then you need to overcome it. You are only going to build a lot of subscribers through KLT (know, like and trust). Your audience cannot achieve KLT with you if they never see your face on your videos. Think about the type of videos that you can create for your channel. “How to” videos are extremely popular on YouTube and a lot of users search for these. If you are an expert in your niche then create videos that show your audience how to overcome problems. Another popular type of video on YouTube is the product review. Here you will discuss different products and talk about what you like and don’t like about them. You can use affiliate marketing here to make commissions from recommending products. Always think about the value that you can provide with your videos. Never create videos that are “salesy”. People do not like to be sold to. Show and tell is the best thing to do. Make your videos entertaining no matter what type you are creating. A lot of niches change often and you can be the YouTuber that provides the latest information about these changes to your audience. New products and services, changes to the way things work such as rules and regulations – the possibilities are almost limitless here. Just keep your finger on the pulse of what is happening in your niche. It doesn’t matter if you have competitors in your niche – in fact, this is a good thing because it proves that there is demand for videos about the 9 niche. You can be different with your videos by adding your own personal spin to them.
Create a Content Schedule
Creating a content schedule will keep you focused and ensure that you will never run out of ideas for future videos. Start by brainstorming ideas for your niche. Write everything down and you should have a pretty long list once you have finished your brainstorming session. You can get inspiration from other video creators on YouTube. What are they doing and how can you do it better? Don’t concern yourself about coming up with totally unique ideas for video content. If there is a video that is popular in your niche, how can you make this even better? Solving the problems that your audience has in your niche needs to be your main aim. If you don’t know what these problems are then you need to find out. Your audience will really appreciate you creating videos that will answer their burning questions.
Video Creation
Whatever videos you decide to create for your YouTube channel they need to be high-quality. This does not mean that you need Hollywood style equipment to make your videos. You need a good quality HD camera and a good quality microphone. In addition to this, we recommend that you invest in a tripod or stand for your camera. Nobody is going to be impressed if your videos are low quality in any way. Yes, you can shoot videos using your smartphone but the quality may not be the best. We recommend that you invest in a good camera 10 and a microphone. You need to take your YouTube influencer business seriously. There are good free tools that you can use for video editing. For Windows computers you can use the Movie Maker which is free from Microsoft. Apple computer users can use iMovie. You can purchase other video editors that will do a lot fancier things but this is not necessary to get started. Search Google to see what other free video editors are available. We recommend that you do your video creation and editing using a desktop computer or laptop. These devices are a lot more powerful than your phone or tablet. Using a larger screen is a good idea as well especially when it comes to editing. If you are going to create “how to” videos and need to record your screen then you will need good screen recording software. OBS Studio is free and works with both Windows and Mac computers. It has everything that you need to get started. When you are recording yourself on camera you need to be in the middle. You can use the “rule of thirds” where you break up the screen into thirds and position yourself in the center. Be prepared to practice with your camera until you get this right. Rather than creating a script for your video and then reading this out when you record, we recommend that you create a list of important points that you need to raise in the video. Reading from a script can look and sound very unnatural which you want to avoid. 11
Use Video SEO Techniques
YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world after google. Many people use YouTube to search for what they want as they would prefer to watch a video than read a blog post for example. No matter how good your videos are, if YouTube users cannot find them with search, then you are wasting your time. You need to SEO optimize all of the videos that you upload so that you give them the best possible chance of appearing in the search results for specific keywords. For each video that you create, perform keyword research for it first. You can do this for free using the Google Keyword Planner. Identify the keyword terms that you think users will search for to find your videos. Put your most important keyword in your video title. There is a video description box under the video and you must add text here and include your keywords in it. You can also add URLs to your video description. Add tags to your videos which contain the keywords that you want to appear in search for. We recommend that you remind your viewers to subscribe to your YouTube channel and “like” your video at least once. You can also ask them to leave a comment. Telling people what they need to do online is necessary. Never assume that they will just subscribe. Finally, you need to create compelling thumbnails for your videos. If you do not add a thumbnail image then YouTube will select a section of your video as the image. This was OK a few years ago but it isn’t now. You can use Canva.com for free to create great looking thumbnails for YouTube videos. Be consistent with your thumbnail designs so that you stand out from the crowd and that users will instantly recognize your videos. Outsource the creation of your thumbnails on Fiverr.com if you want to. 12
Post New Videos Regularly
If you want to be a successful YouTube influencer then you need to be consistent. A lot of good influencers post new videos 2 or 3 times each week and this seems to work well for them. You can work up to this number if this is not possible for you to start with. As your subscriber base grows, they will expect you to be consistent with your video posting. If you start by posting videos on a Tuesday for example then stick with this. Tell your subscribers that you will post every Tuesday and do everything that you can to ensure you stick to this. Posting new videos regularly will help to develop your library. As the number of videos grows on your channel, the more content that you will have for your subscribers to watch. This is good for your overall standing on YouTube as it tells the algorithm that your videos are popular.
Use Social Media to Promote your Videos
All successful YouTube influencers have social media channels that they use to promote their videos. You do not need to create a profile on all social media platforms. What you do need to do is to find out where your target audience hangs out and make sure you have a profile on those channels. If your audience mainly uses Facebook then it is unlikely that they will use Tik Tok as well for example. Do your homework here and find out which social platforms your audience uses. You can also take a look at 13 the YouTube channels of your competitors to see what social channels they are using. Once you have the necessary social channels in place you need to add content to them. Of course, you will want to tell your followers whenever you launch a new video on YouTube. But it is better if you can do more than this. It will take time to build up a following on the various social channels and publishing valuable content regularly is the best way to do this. Tell the story of your YouTube channel on your social channels. Why did you create it? What are your aims with the channel? Ask your social followers for ideas for new video content you can create. Get them involved as much as possible. Engagement and interaction are essential to build up and maintain a good following on social media platforms.
Monitor the Performance of your Videos
After you have uploaded a few videos, you need to start monitoring how well they are performing for you. There are a lot of helpful metrics available in YouTube analytics. You can see at a glance how many views your videos are receiving; the number of comments users are leaving and other important metrics. By paying careful attention to these metrics, you can see which of your videos create the most engagement. Ask yourself why this is the case. What is it about these videos that makes them the most popular? You can find Audience Retention Graphs in YouTube analytics that will show you what kind of habits your viewers have. Use this information to discover: • Your most popular videos (by engagement) • Times when viewers click away from your videos or your channel 14 • Comments that can help you to improve your videos You need to be prepared to make consistent improvements to your videos. This information is very valuable to you. For example, if you see that viewers are clicking away from one of your videos at around the same time then investigate why this is happening. Some people are likely to leave valuable comments about how you can improve your videos or provide you with ideas for new content. When you receive a comment on your videos be sure to respond to it as quickly as possible. Always thank users for making constructive comments. In the next section, we will discuss using YouTube promotional tactics… 15
Using YouTube Promotional Tactics
When you have created and uploaded some videos to your YouTube channel there are specific tactics you can use on the platform to promote your channel and videos. Most people that upload YouTube videos do not use these tactics but you should because they will help you to get more views and subscribers.
Create a Channel Trailer
You have the opportunity to upload a trailer video to your channel and we recommend that you do this. This will help to convince users that have not subscribed yet to do so. The trailer can be set up to autoplay when a user lands on your channel page. Make your trailer video short but interesting and exciting. Make sure that you tell viewers to subscribe to your channel so that they do not miss out on the exciting videos that you plan to upload in the future.
Increase your Subscribers
You have the opportunity to create a subscribe link which appears on all of your videos in the bottom right-hand corner. This is a proven tactic that will help you to gain more subscribers to your YouTube channel. Another tactic for gaining more subscribers is to create branded watermarks. Users that view your videos will see this watermark and if they click on it then they will have the option to subscribe to your 16 channel. YouTube users are used to seeing these watermarks and you should get more subscribers using this tactic.
Make your Video Thumbnails Enticing
Don’t rely on YouTube to take a snapshot image of a section of your video to create your thumbnail. You need to create your own enticing thumbnails for every video that will draw the eye of YouTube users. It is not difficult to create good looking thumbnails. You can use a free online service like Canva.com to create YouTube thumbnails using templates. If you don’t have any design skills or want to outsource this task then you can find competent freelancers on Fiverr.com.
Use Enticing Titles
You need to get the balance of your video titles right. We recommend that you add your main keyword in your video titles but we also suggest that you make your titles as short as possible. The title of your video is the most important SEO element. Don’t just use the keyword in your title. A lot of other people will do this and it is just lazy. Add some more enticing words to draw viewers. Try to keep your title short as only the first 45 characters are displayed in the YouTube search results. In the next section, we will discuss how you can use your influence on YouTube… 17
How you can use your Influence on YouTube
This section is all about making money from your YouTube channel. Despite what you may have heard, it is not necessary for you to have millions of subscribers to generate revenue from your videos and channel.
Be a Micro Influencer
It may surprise you to know that there are a lot of businesses that are looking for YouTube channels that have a small number of loyal subscribers. If they can see a good fit with their business and their products and services then they are going to be interested in working with you. Loyalty is the key here. Sponsors will want to see that your videos are eagerly consumed every time you upload a new one. They will also check the comments, number of likes and more to gauge your engagement levels.
Create a Statistics File for potential Sponsors
Throughout this report we have recommended that you monitor key metrics for your channel and your videos. We also suggest that you keep a record of your metrics that you can show to any potential sponsors. Here are some metrics that you should start recording: 18 • The engagement rate for your videos • The subscriber growth for your channel • Demographics such as location When you think about it, sponsors are going to be interested in how engaged your viewers are with your videos. If you work with a sponsor then they will want you to promote their products and services in your videos. Just placing an affiliate link in the description will not be enough. It is important that you can demonstrate to potential sponsors that your channel is growing. Keep a not of your subscribers over time and also the increase in video views. How much of your videos do your viewers tend to watch? Retention rate is important and as your channel grows this should increase.
Be Proactive and find Potential Sponsors
Rather than wait for potential sponsors to contact you, we recommend that you be proactive and look for potential sponsors that are a good fit for your channel. You can use Google search to find companies in your niche. If your channel is still fairly small then contacting large companies is probably not going to work. Create a list of potential sponsors and then contact them via email and ask if you can send them the latest metrics for your channel and videos. Offer them the option to sponsor your channel / videos or the chance to advertise on your videos. 19
Sign Up for the YouTube Partner Program
If you are eligible, you can sign up for the YouTube Partner Program which will enable you to show ads on your videos. You will get a share of the revenue for displaying these ads. In order to qualify, you need a minimum of 1,000 subscribers to your channel and more than 4,000 watch hours over the last year.
Affiliate Marketing
You can promote related products or services on your videos. Sign up as an affiliate for these products and services and add your affiliate link in the description box. When a sale is made through your affiliate link you will earn a commission. 20
Final Words
The potential is certainly there to make a lot of money as a YouTube influencer. But you need to build up a good following on the platform first. Follow the techniques discussed in this special report and you will have the best chance of success.
You need to make engaging videos that YouTube users want to watch. People will naturally subscribe to your channel if your content is good. Choose a niche and become an expert in it. Answer the burning questions that your audience has.
There are a number of ways that you can monetize your YouTube channel. The best way is to find sponsors and advertisers to work with as they are likely to pay you the most. You can also sign up for the YouTube Partner Program and earn ad revenue and become an affiliate for related products and services.
We wish you every success in becoming a YouTube influencer! 21
Essential Resources
7 examples of influencer marketing on YouTube
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/youtube-influencer-examples
How to become a YouTube influencer
https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/become-youtube-influencer-699/
OBS Studio for streaming and screen recording
https://obsproject.com/
15 YouTube marketing courses to check out
https://influencermarketinghub.com/youtube-marketing-courses/