Bear with me — I realise it sounds slightly as though I have only just discovered YouTube. However, I audit and manage a significant number of programmes, and YouTube creators rarely feature as standalone partners. I believe this represents a massive opportunity for growth, especially when exploring the evolving world of LLM presence and the shift in investment highlighted in the recent Affiliate and Partner Marketing Association report, which shows budgets moving beyond CPA-only models.
I have incredibly fond memories of a campaign we ran about seven years ago with Booktubers (a wonderful community of creators who review books and host “Bookathons” or reading groups). The campaign targeted multiple regions, allowing partners to choose the books they loved, perform unboxings, and share bespoke codes. The results were excellent; more importantly, they delivered long-term value, continuing to drive traffic and sales long after the campaign ended. Even now, we have a few creators in our programmes delivering consistent sales from long-form informational content. Yet, these partners remain the exception rather than the rule — should we be doing more?
Impact in the US recently announced an integration with the YouTube Shopping Affiliate Programme, allowing creators to tag affiliate links directly within the platform as they edit and launch content. This is a brilliant step toward making the user journey seamless. For regions where this isn’t yet available, the traditional “link in the description” still works effectively.
I am a major advocate for cross-channel integration and demonstrating how affiliates interact with the consumer journey. We must make the potential of YouTube partners a key part of that narrative. Perform any question-based LLM search, and you are almost guaranteed to see not only editorial content but also YouTube videos. These videos are powerful because they answer long-form queries so effectively; according to Search Engine Land, there is a 30% citation rate for YouTube in Google AI Overviews.
While the industry is rightly focused on editorial content, we shouldn’t overlook YouTube creators. They offer a unique set of benefits:
- High-quality content with “always-on” value.
- The ability to repurpose content for paid advertisements.
- High LLM rankings and strong brand associations.
- The ability to showcase in-store experiences or detailed product demonstrations.
When a stakeholder asks for more “influencers,” don’t automatically default to Instagram. My experience is that YouTube partners thrive in the affiliate channel when engaged correctly. Their format and “always-on” nature make hybrid commercial models — combining flat fees with strong CPA — a highly viable option.
I would love to see YouTube creators grow within the channel. Start by searching for terms related to your brand to see who appears, or test LLMs with queries your product can solve.
Don’t just think about Instagram Stories; explore YouTube to create ranked content where your brand surfaces at the point of research. Invest in their time and reward them for the LTV they continually bring. It’s time to unlock the channel potential of this potentially underutilised creator type!
