Audible – a YouTube Influencer Marketing Case Study

Audible – a YouTube Influencer Marketing Case Study


Audible, an Amazon-owned company offers a large selection of digital audiobooks, radio & TV programs and audio versions of newspaper and magazines. Audible is one of the recognizable brands owing its success to video marketing on YouTube by collaborating with many popular YouTube channels back in 2015. Today, we look back to Audible’s approach and strategy with top YouTube influencers. Let’s dive in:


Audible Partners with YouTube Influencers and Stars


The primary objective of this YouTube marketing campaign was to increase the number of signups for Audible’s monthly membership by targeting audience from diverse demographics. Audible wanted to drive engagement and generate brand awareness among their audience by sponsoring top YouTube channels.


Audible identified many YouTubers several of which were on the Forbes’ list of Highest-paid YouTubers at the time and YouTube channels in the following categories:

  • Gaming
  • Entertainment
  • Film & Animation
  • People & Blog
  • Education
  • How To & Style
  • Science & Technology

The approach adopted was to come up with creative ideas to integrate the Audible brand into the content created by the YouTubers making it relevant for their audience. There were many recognizable names in the list of YouTube stars including PewDiePie and Roman Atwood. Other YouTube influencers like Tyler Oakley and iJustine. Many YouTube channels like The Game Theorists and Minute Physics were also approached. Let’s look at some of the examples of how YouTube influencers integrated the Audible brand into their videos:


Jack Douglass – Jacksfilms


In this video, Jack is seen answering questions his fans sent to him on Twitter. After the 12 minute mark, he thanks his sponsor Audible and then asks what is audible? He then proceeds to explain what Audible stands for with some funny and random full forms. The brand name gets repeated multiple times until he finally tells his fans that Audible is not an acronym but an awesome service offering thousands of audiobooks and users can download a free audiobook when they signup. The key point to notice is that the brand name is repeated in his classic style making it look authentic. Also, the video is titled “The Best of JackAsk” so the video will be searched by the fans of the popular series for some time to come giving the brand long-term visibility and views.


Roman Atwood


Popular YouTube prankster Roman Atwood in one of his videos integrates the brand Audible by making fun of himself. He talks about how he has difficulty reading books and understanding them. He goes on about how Audible is the best option for him and people who find it difficult to read books. The inclusion of Audible into the video appears natural due to Roman’s creativity.


Results of the Campaign


Targeting a total subscribers base of over 132 million, the videos released as a part of this campaign accumulated a total of over 83 million views in the first half of 2015. It led to an increase in the number of signups as Audible had provided these influencers with a link to share with their audience. Clicking on the link would allow the user to download a free audiobook. Such an incentive drives action instead of mere product recommendations.


Final Thoughts


This campaign is a stellar example of how smart YouTube influencers integrate brands into their video content. To Audible’s credit, they partnered with channels having high viewership and sponsored the influencers to talk about the brand. Today, Audible is at the forefront of the audiobooks and audio entertainment domain and deservedly so.