On average, over 20 million videos are uploaded to YouTube every day. Somewhere in that pile are the creators your brand needs.
YouTube creators build dedicated followings, known as subscribers, one video at a time.
YouTube creators now post long videos, Shorts and live streams. Shorts alone averages over 200 billion daily views. Check which format a creator actually posts before you compare their numbers with anyone else's.
How Big YouTube's Audience Is, and Where It Lives 📊
👀 YouTube ads reached 2.53 billion users worldwide in January 2025.
👥 India had the largest YouTube ad audience in January 2025, at 491 million users, followed by the US at 253 million and Brazil at 144 million.
📽 YouTube runs local versions in over 100 countries, across 80 languages, so look for creators in your own market and language.
Finding the right YouTubers takes some care, because a big name in search results is not always the channel you think it is.
Since YouTube introduced handles in October 2022, every channel has a unique one, the @name in its web address. Channel names are not unique, though, so another channel can use the same name as a popular creator. Check the @handle before you contact anyone.
Here are five ways to find the right ones, starting with the free methods.
1. Search on YouTube & Google 👀
A good place to start is searching around on the YouTube platform itself.
We recommend typing into the YouTube search bar ‘Your industry of interest’ and the keywords ‘experts/influencers.’ Then review the results that appear at the top of the page.
#️⃣ Searching Hashtags = Big Results
Using hashtags in your search on YouTube will further improve your search and provide instant and relevant results.
Creators often add hashtags to their video titles and descriptions to make their content easier to find. YouTube shows up to three of them by the title and ignores every hashtag on a video that carries more than 60. Try the hashtags linked to your brand, campaign or niche. The more specific the hashtag, the more focused the results.
Users are able to click on hashtags and view other YouTube videos that contain the same hashtag.
If you are a nutrition brand, for example, a search for #vegan brings up videos and channels from creators who tag their food content that way.
If an influencer has used a hashtag relevant to your business, it shows that your product or service is most likely relevant to their audience.
Connecting with influencers who are already creating relevant content creates authenticity within the content, generating conversations and interest in your brand.
Get Googling 👩💻
Alternatively, conducting a thorough Google search could present the ideal influencer for your campaign or brand.
Tailoring a Google search is another great starting point, where we suggest typing in ‘Your industry of interest’ with the keywords ‘experts/influencers.’ Then review the results and articles that appear at the top of the page.
Taking a look at the ‘Videos’ tab on your Google search could also produce other possible influencer results.
Specificity is key in such a broad search engine, especially if your product is unusual. Refine the search with terms from your niche, such as "organic food" or "cruelty-free".
2. Use a Creator Database with Filters 🔎
A creator database does the first round of filtering for you. Click Analytic covers 400M+ creators across Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and you can search YouTube channels free, without signing up.
- Sort by average views per video, not only subscribers. Average views across the last 30 uploads show how many people actually watch.
- See each channel's content mix, so you know if it is mostly Shorts, long videos or live streams.
- Open a full report on any public creator with 1,000+ followers: engagement, audience quality, fake followers, demographics and past brand deals.
To build your first shortlist, we suggest you start with these filters:
> Your preferred range of Subscribers
> An engagement rate that is normal for the channel's size, not one fixed minimum
> Your desired Influencer Location, and the country their audience lives in
> Your audience's age range and language
Why no fixed minimum? Engagement rate is the share of viewers who like, comment on or share a video, and it usually drops as a channel grows. A rate that looks weak for a small channel can be strong for a very large one, so compare each creator with channels of the same size in the same niche.
Running a search with these filters gives you a list of channels that match. Open any result's full report to check its audience, engagement and past brand deals before you reach out.
