As a social media platform alone YouTube has become one of the most used social media on the internet. It has established itself as the second largest search engine on the web and is used by more than a billion users daily. Clearly it is one of the most influential platforms on the internet and many businesses have identified a need to have their brand visible on the site. For advertisers it is becoming increasingly attractive for investment due to the engagement and roi that can be driven. This blog looks over some of the user statistics and rationalises why they have occurred and what it means for brands looking to invest in a YouTube advertising strategy.
Brands obviously are wanting their products to be pride of place in front of their consumers. As YouTube has such a large audience there are so many ways to deliver product placement to viewers in advertisements with highly engaging visual content. With consumers considering making a purchase, the sheer library of content provides highly tailored information for the viewer researching. Through YouTube therefore intent and consideration can be heavily influenced which is evident with a study from Google finding that more than half of consumers shopping online cited that a video had helped them choose the specific product or brand to buy from. Further to this Google found that more than 40% of shoppers defined YouTube to be the prime driver for their discovery of a product they later bought.
For targeting, YouTube has some of the deepest targeting parameters which allows advertisers to greater affect intent at a critical point in the discovery stage. This is so key and is a fundamental advantage that YouTube has over other platforms. With such a breadth of audiences as mentioned, combined with data pulling from YouTube’s parent company Google it is highly efficient and effective. Compared to traditional advertising, viewers pay a lot closer attention to what they are viewing and therefore a connection is more likely to be made. It is estimated that viewer attention of TV advertising is about 45% whereas YouTube holds attention rates of more than 80%. Therefore, in order to reach consumers at a point where they may consider your product or service YouTube holds better attention from your viewers.
Cost has been a large factor in why brands have seeked to invest in the platform. For lead generation it has one of the lowest costs compared to traditional PPC methods. Instead of being charged for impressions like on Facebook, YouTube drives costs per view for as little as 1-2p. The reason for this is YouTube’s feature TrueView, which means that only those who engage or hold retention with the content will be charged to the advertiser. Furthermore, if the advertiser uploads a 10 minute advert it does not affect the cost so if appropriate for educating the viewer and informing the advertiser of their ad performance they can do so.
How often do you use YouTube and has it ever impacted a purchase decision of yours?
https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/marketing-strategies/video/video-purchase-funnel/