Why You Need to Look Out for B2B YouTube Influencers in 2023

Fiverr, a freelance services marketplace, wanted to build a talent pool of creatives—writers, designers, video editors, and more—to help businesses find all these services in a single place. The company knew these creatives went to YouTube to hone their skills and pick up new ideas.

So, Fiverr collaborated with YouTube influencers to build awareness for its platform, establish social proof, and bring more users and clients. Today, over 3 billion searches on YouTube come for a single keyword: Fiverr. 

Fiverr’s gamble on YouTube influencer marketing is a case study for B2B brands to strategically work with influencers and reap the rewards of video marketing. 

While the B2B influencer marketing space was projected to generate $11.7 billion in revenue in 2022, YouTube gives you the best of both worlds: influencers and video marketing. So, let’s break down seven key reasons why B2B brands should bet on YouTube influencers in 2023. 

7 Reasons Why B2B Companies Should Look Out for YouTube Influencers

Conventionally, B2B brands have partnered with influencers on LinkedIn and Twitter to build meaningful relationships with their audience. But with video becoming a top priority for B2B marketers, YouTube influencers are more in demand. That’s not all. 

We’ll explain five key reasons why B2B YouTube influencers should be at the core of your marketing strategies in 2023. 

1.  Educate customers and earn their trust 

B2B marketing relies heavily on addressing buyers’ pain points and positioning your business as a viable solution. Marketers want to create educational and meaningful content to win prospects’ trust instead of pushy sales tactics using multiple lead generation tools. 

Educating your customers to solve a problem independently can establish you as a trustworthy resource. 

When you create this content in partnership with YouTube influencers, you can add more authority to your videos. Since these influencers already enjoy their viewers’ trust, you can simply borrow this trust to build more positive relationships with your target audience. 

Here’s a great example of educational content by Justin Tse. He collaborated with Notion to create this 20-minute video, sharing his own process of using Notion for multiple business needs. This can help new Notion users pick up great tips to get the best out of the tool.

At the top of the video description, viewers can find a link to try Notion.

Source

You may want to check out Justin Tse when he was on the  Convince & Convert Social Pros podcast. Listen to How Justin Tse Gained 1.5 Million Followers.

Remember that this content will also help in sales enablement. Studies show that 76% of sales representatives consider video an important part of the sales process. It helps engage prospects, warm cold emails, and influence purchase decisions.

2.  Establish the brand as a thought leader

Impulse decisions or flashy ads don’t drive the B2B buying journey. Businesses have to stay front-of-mind for their audience through meaningful thought leadership campaigns. 

To become an industry thought leader, your business has to produce inspiring and original content that:

• Presents a contrarian opinion
• Goes beyond the mainstream
• Adds proof to existing conversations
• Shares anecdotal lessons or case studies

This is where YouTube influencers can become a huge asset for you. When you have ideas to build thought leadership, partner with key opinion leaders in your industry on YouTube. Co-create content with them—like webinars, 1:1 chats, or video guides—to present your original ideas seamlessly. 

For example, Wavo collaborated with a niche influencer, TK Kader, to feature their case study on Kader’s video series. This 1:1 interview tells how Wavo started and explains why they succeeded. It also shares the CEO’s perspective on GTM strategies. 

Source

Besides demonstrating thought leadership on YouTube, you can repurpose this content to fuel your LinkedIn prospecting efforts and get better ROI. 

3.  Access a niche, hyper-engaged audience

Building an audience on any channel is a painfully long and tedious process. You have to work consistently hard on content creation and engagement. But collaborating with B2B influencers gives you easy access to your core target audience. 

Since these YouTubers have built a strong rapport with their followers, you can directly relay a message to your primary buyers. 

Consider it an easier way to get your foot in the door and make people tick with the power of your ideas. That’s how MailJet appealed to one of its main buyer personas—sales representatives—through this video by Patrick Dang. 

Patrick covers the use of ChatGPT for sales email marketing and plugs MailJet as one of the best tools to automate the email outreach process. So, MailJet reached more than 3000 target buyers through this influencer collaboration.

Source 

Pro tip: To benefit from influencer collaborations, follow a consistent publishing cadence for your brand pages and use a YouTube scheduler to post content effortlessly. 

4.  Amplify your message to a bigger audience 

Another reason why B2B YouTube influencer marketing is becoming an increasingly popular marketing tactic is the reach it promises. Brands can maximize exposure and reach a much bigger audience through influencer partnerships. The virality of social media video makes this even more compelling for businesses. 

Marketers can leverage these influencer partnerships to:

• Promote new product launches
• Spread the word about company updates
• Build brand awareness in the initial stages
• Educate their audience and incentivize buyers

 

For example, Jordan Platten creates content for agencies and gets an average of 20k views on his videos. Collaborating with him can put your brand in front of over 200k subscribers and get many impressions. 

Source

Pro tip: Use business-related content by influencers to train your sales teams and help them deliver smooth pitches in cold calls. 

5.  Supplement your SEO strategy 

Let’s face it; brands are constantly diversifying their SEO game to win top rankings through videos. Since Google (and other search engines) display results in multiple formats, videos can bag you the top spots. 

 

Improving your SEO performance through video can directly translate to sales as well. Research indicates that 95% of enterprise buyers use video to make purchase decisions. 

Source

 

This is where YouTube influencer marketing achieves twofold results for B2B brands:

1. Getting visibility on search engines with top rankings
2. Helping prospects make informed decisions and drive conversions

B2B marketers can strategically tap into the opportunity gap for video content on search engines. Work with influencers to create educational content and maximize your appeal among your audience. Repurpose their content using online video makers to distribute across multiple channels. 

Here’s a great example by Ansible. The brand created this 18-minute beginners guide with 

Techno Tim and reached over 150,000 viewers. This video also ranks on Google for the keyword “Ansible for automation” and educates new/potential customers about using the tool. 

Source

6.  Gain high ROI through cost-effective campaigns

Studies show that B2B businesses earn $6.50 in revenue for every $1 spent on influencer marketing campaigns. Besides revenue, brands also reap the rewards in their lead generation efforts by:

• Building brand awareness: Influencers give you direct access to a massive audience. So, if you’re a new brand or don’t have a strong online presence, influencer campaigns can add credibility to your name and create more brand recognition. 
• Engaging prospects: Educational and engaging video content can help buyers get the hang of your business and make informed decisions. You can also build an email list and distribute influencer content to create a positive impression for leads in the pipeline.
• Creating brand advocates: Influencers can also help in building customer advocacy. By delivering meaningful content from subject matter experts, you give existing customers in your CRM more reasons to stick with your brand. 

For example, HubSpot worked with Adam Erhart to advertise their website building and hosting solution. With over 150k views, HubSpot earned great traction and ROI from this video.

Source

7.  Create social proof through influencer endorsement

Influencer marketing on YouTube can also help B2B brands take an edge over their competition by establishing social proof. 

A video testimonial and a genuine mention from an influencer can create a positive reputation among online communities. These testimonials act as case studies for your business and can bring more conversions since they influence the buying decisions of most viewers. 

Besides testimonials, creating user-generated content and hosting live events can also help establish social proof. This type of content will show viewers how they can effectively use your product/services and answer their questions—like this one by Omar Farook. 

Framer worked with Omar to create this video explaining how Framer is better than Webflow for specific users. The video has over 32k viewers, ranks on top for Framer vs Webflow searches, and builds a strong case for Framer. 

Source

Bring your B2B YouTube influencer marketing plan to life 

Even with the raging popularity of social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok, YouTube continues to be a goldmine for B2B marketing. Working with YouTube influencers gives you an edge to establish a strong presence, earn social proof and credibility, and drive sales. 

Learn more about YouTube marketing for your B2B business, and get ready to one-up your competition. 

 

Author bio

Eduard Klein is an International Digital Growth Marketer, Blogger, and Entrepreneur with a global mindset. He is the founder of RocketGrowth and guides through the process of starting and growing a digital business, and riding the wave of digital technology and marketing without getting swept away.