Finding YouTube influencers: 10 ways to find suitable creators

Find YouTube influencers by searching for topics your customers care about. Combine a product or question with words such as review, explanation or comparison. Make a list of suitable video creators and review their recent videos and audience before contacting them. Do not choose based only on subscriber numbers: the creator must also suit your product and plan.

Below, you’ll read where to search, how to compare creators and what to include in a proposal.

Searching for YouTube influencers starts with the audience you want to reach

First, write down who you want the video made for. What should that person gain from it? This answer lets you search more precisely than using only your product name.

• Audience: who uses your product? Which country do those people live in and what language do they speak?
• Topic: what questions do they have about your product or how to use it?
• Goal: do you want to explain something, raise awareness of your brand or direct people to a product page?
• Budget: what can you pay for the creator’s work, the product and any extra costs?

A fictional example: you have a Belgian shop selling panniers. You want to reach Dutch speaking people who cycle to work. So do not only look for sports channels. Videos about cycling to work, rain and carrying belongings may be a better fit.

The creator’s place of residence does not show where all viewers live. A creator from Antwerp may also have many viewers from the Netherlands. So ask for viewer data if the country matters to your collaboration.

Finding YouTube creators: eight ways without a paid tool

Keep a list while searching. Note the channel link, a suitable video, the language and why the creator appeals to you. You do not need to assess every channel in detail yet. Do that once you have a number of possible candidates.

1. Search for your customers’ questions.

   On YouTube, for example, try “bike bag laptop rain” or “what to take on your bike to work”. This helps you find creators who are already explaining your topic. Also try different words for the same question.

2. Search for reviews and comparisons.

   Add “review”, “test” or “compare” after your product type. Check whether the creator explains who the product is suitable for. A discussion covering pros and cons reveals more about the approach than enthusiastic footage alone.

3. Search through Google as well.

   Try site:youtube.com fietstas review Nederlands. With site:youtube.com you can focus the search on YouTube. Then change the topic or language to continue searching.

4. Add a country or place.

   Use words such as “Belgium”, “Flanders”, “the Netherlands” or a city that matters to you. This helps you find local topics. It does not prove that the viewers live there too.

5. View Shorts and hashtags.

   Search for a topic with a hashtag, such as #fietsenand watch the short videos. Then open a suitable creator’s channel. Do they also make the type of video you are looking for? A short demonstration is different from an in depth product test.

6. Follow collaborations between creators.

   Look out for guests, joint recordings and other channels mentioned by a creator. See who contributes to the video’s content. This can help you discover smaller channels that you did not find with your initial searches.

7. Ask your customers and look in groups.

   For example, ask: “Which YouTube creator helps you choose cycling gear?” Also see which videos people share in groups about your topic. Review a recommended channel yourself before adding it to your list.

8. Find creators from other platforms on YouTube.

   Have you come across a suitable creator on Instagram, TikTok or in a podcast? Check whether they also have an active YouTube channel. Assess the videos on that channel separately. Good results on another platform do not say enough about a YouTube collaboration.

Searching for YouTube influencers through databases and Creator Partnerships

Does searching yourself fail to produce enough suitable creators? You can then consider these two options. First check what they offer before paying for anything.

9. View a database or an agency directory.

   A database is a collection of creator profiles. Check whether you can search by YouTube, topic, language and country. Also ask how recent the data is. An agency may show only the creators it represents. The directory will then not include every possible candidate.

10. Check whether you can use Creator Partnerships.

    According to YouTube’s announcement Creator Partnerships is the successor to BrandConnect. Availability may vary by market and account.

    Check whether you can use this option with your account. If not, continue searching with the earlier methods and contact creators directly.

Assessing YouTube influencers by videos, audience and figures

For every serious candidate, watch several recent videos that resemble your plan. Do not compare a twenty second video with a fifteen minute product test. Also choose videos that have been online for roughly the same length of time.

See how the creator explains the topic

Watch at least one suitable video all the way through. Is the explanation clear? Does the topic receive enough attention? Does the tone suit your brand? Also review earlier advertising. Does it fit with the video or is it separate from it?

Then read some of the comments. Questions about use, price or experiences can show what viewers care about. Isolated emojis or a suddenly high number of comments do not, on their own, prove how engaged the audience is.

Ask for the viewer data you need

Are you seriously interested? Ask for recent figures about the audience as a whole. You do not need viewers’ names or other personal data.

For each figure, always ask which period and which videos it covers. Can the creator not share something? Mark it as unknown in your overview. Do not fill in the answer yourself.

Calculate likes and comments as an additional indication

You can compare likes and comments with the number of views. Add the likes and comments together. Divide that number by the views and multiply the result by 100. This gives you a percentage. Count the same types of actions for each video.

A fictional example: a video has 6.000 views, 240 likes and 30 comments. Together, that is 270 actions. The full calculation is (240 + 30) ÷ 6.000 × 100 = 4,5%.

Those 270 actions do not necessarily come from 270 different people. Views are not a count of unique viewers either. So the result does not mean that 4,5% of viewers commented. Use the percentage alongside the content, audience and figures from comparable videos.

There is no fixed percentage that predicts a good collaboration for every channel. Purchased views or subscribers do not prove genuine attention. They also do not guarantee customers, reach that arises automatically or a result from your collaboration. Does a figure stand out? Ask for an explanation rather than immediately assuming that the creator bought numbers.

Approaching YouTube influencers: put your idea and arrangements in writing

Use the business contact address that the creator publicly shares themselves. Briefly explain why you have chosen this channel. Mention a specific video, your idea, the desired period and your budget or how much flexibility you have in it.

You can adapt this fictional message:

Hi [name], your video about arriving at work dry is a good fit for our bike bags. We are looking for a Dutch speaking creator for an honest demonstration during a daily bike ride. Would you be interested in a paid collaboration in September? We are thinking of one video and have a budget of [amount]. We would like to receive your proposal, rate and recent data about the countries your viewers are from. We do not want to use the video ourselves as an advertisement. If that changes later, we will make separate arrangements.

Give the creator room to propose their own idea. They can indicate which type of explanation suits the channel. Before agreeing, ask for a clear quotation. What is included in the price and what costs extra?

Then record these points:

• How many videos the creator will make and what type of videos they will be.
• When the video will appear.
• The fee, any tax and product costs.
• How you check factual errors before publication.
• Whether you may use the footage yourself later, where and for how long.
• Which results the creator will share afterwards and when.
• What happens in the event of a delay or cancellation.

Also agree how you will assess the result. For an explainer video, you can look at views and watch time. Do you want to direct people to your website? Record how you will measure those visits. None of these figures alone proves that you have sold more.

YouTube collaborations: make clear arrangements about advertising

For paid product placement, sponsorship or endorsements, the creator must disclose this on YouTube. Local legal obligations also continue to apply. This is stated in YouTube’s explanation of paid promotion.

The disclosure on YouTube is therefore not your complete compliance check for the Netherlands or Belgium. Which additional obligations apply depends on the situation. Before publication, have the current rules for the relevant countries checked.

In any case, agree on the following aspects of execution:

• Use a clear disclosure, such as “Advertisement” or “This video contains a paid collaboration with [brand]”.
• Agree where and when the creator will mention the collaboration, so viewers can easily recognise the advertising.
• Record who will handle the disclosure on YouTube.
• Also discuss free products and payment per purchase, not just a fixed monetary amount.
• Check claims about your product. Do not allow performance or results to be promised that you cannot substantiate.

These arrangements are not a complete legal checklist for both countries. Have additional requirements assessed if, for example, you reach children or promote products with health claims.

Choosing YouTube influencers: compare your candidates with this checklist

Put your best candidates side by side. For each point, enter “yes”, “no” or “more questions”. This shows what you still need to find out before assigning the work.

• The creator covers topics that suit your product.
• The audience suits the language and country you want to reach.
• You have figures from several recent, comparable videos.
• The explanation and filming style suit your idea.
• You know what you are paying and what the creator will do for it.
• You have agreed whether you may use the footage and how you will check factual errors.
• The arrangements for advertising and sharing results are in writing.

Does the audience or topic not fit? Do not let a large number of subscribers be the deciding factor. Are many questions still open? Ask them first. If in doubt, start with one clearly agreed assignment instead of immediately committing to a long series of videos.

Also read how creators work on their channels

Would you like to understand the creator’s side better? Read about getting more YouTube subscribers and getting more likes on YouTube. To discuss how much editing your video requires, you can read the explanation of editing a YouTube video view. If you are also considering paid options, our YouTube services lets you compare packages for subscribers and views, including the available quantities and prices.