What if you could increase the millennial audience your video ads reach by 42%?
Multiply engagement by 10X? How about boosting views of past videos by 500%? And
what if you could do it all by rethinking YouTube’s role in your media plan? Check
out our latest research to find out how.
Cord cutters are so last year. These days, it's all about "cord nevers." A recent study suggests 18% of the total population has never
signed up for cable. By 2025—just a decade from now—Forrester predicts half of U.S. viewers under 32 will not
subscribe to a pay TV service.
Advertisers are facing a new normal; viewers today are watching as much video
online as they're watching on television.1 As time in front of the
TV declined last year, 18-49 year-olds' time on YouTube jumped 44% according to Nielsen's
Google-commissioned analysis, primarily due to mobile viewership.
If YouTube is the new tube, how should media plans adapt? Based on recent research
from Visible Measures and Nielsen, as well as our own Google data, we'll take a
look at three ways brands and advertisers can maximize their video investment by
rethinking YouTube's role in their media plan:
1. Recapture reach and increase effectiveness by combining TV and YouTube
There's a simple way to recapture a declining TV audience without spending more on
media. We did a study of 3,000 U.S. campaigns and looked at how total reach of
millennials would be impacted if campaigns had replaced some of their TV
advertising with YouTube ads. We found that without spending an extra dollar, 46%
of campaigns would have benefited from a TV and YouTube combo, with an average
increase in millennials reached of 42% compared to TV alone.2
Boosting existing TV campaigns with YouTube advertising also increases brand
metrics. In another recent study of 656 campaigns, brands that added TrueView to TV
saw relative lifts of 23%, 18%, and 13% on ad recall, brand awareness, and
consideration, respectively, among their YouTube audience.3
Source:
Includes Nielsen data for 2,984 TV campaigns in 2015. Analysis
identified campaigns that would have benefited from combining YouTube
and TV while holding cost constant and optimizing for reach
To maximize the reach and effectiveness of your campaign, combine the new tube with
the old. Test the YouTube/TV combo to see if it works for your brand. If the best
way to reach your biggest audience is, in fact, both ways, revisit media
allocations in 2016 and consider shifting some of the reach and awareness dollars
currently allocated to television to YouTube.
2. Grow your brand's video engagement by 10X on YouTube
We all know a good video ad leaves you wanting more. TrueView ads—YouTube's
skippable-ad format—give viewers a chance to act on their desires. And act they do.
We looked at the results for 89 U.S. brands that ran Brand Lift studies and found
that viewers who completed TrueView ads—watched to completion or at least 30
seconds—were 23X more likely to visit or subscribe to a brand channel, watch more
by that brand, or share the brand video.4 Even viewers who were merely
exposed to TrueView ads were 10X more likely to take one of those actions.
Source: Google August 2015 Meta-Analysis: Measuring TrueView impact on brand channel engagement.
Get the most out of these engaged views by giving viewers something to engage with.
Check your brand's YouTube channel: are you happy with what you're offering them?
If not, use the CCC method for content creation to populate your YouTube
channel with videos that will keep an engaged viewer entertained. Make sure the
content cadence you recommend meets viewers in each of the video micro-moments they experience with your brand, whether
they're using YouTube to watch what they're into, to learn, to do, or to buy.
3. Increase views of past content by 500% to maximize video ROI
Most video ads are fleeting. Online, in-feed, or on TV, they run for 15 or 30
seconds and they're gone. But YouTube is different. There, four of the top 10 trending videos last year were ads. Branded videos
on YouTube have a long shelf-life, earning views for months, if not years. TrueView
ads on YouTube are a great way to not only promote new video, but to drive
viewership of your brand's past videos, increasing engagement with your brand
overall.
Research done by Visible Measures shows that each new video brands promote using
TrueView actually drives interest in past content, increasing the ROI of previous
investments in video. Visible Measures dubs this the ripple effect. When brands use
TrueView, they actually see views of previously existing content increase by up to
500% after posting new videos.
Source:
Visible Measures September 2015 "Build Relationships with Your
Consumers by Optimizing for Ripple Effect and Brand Resonance" white
paper.
As Visible Measures CEO Brian Shin put it, "the ripple effect highlights the
importance of developing an easily accessible video library and continually
promoting new content to engage consumers. Our research shows that YouTube has
developed a platform that facilitates both an accessible video library and
effective promotion." If you're planning to create multiple videos for a campaign,
develop a content calendar that'll guarantee a steady rollout. A "distribution
drumbeat" will keep people coming back to all of the videos you've worked so hard
to create.
As marketers, our job is to drive reach and engagement with our brands through the
videos we create. Here are a few key ways advertisers can optimize their media and
content strategies to maximize their return on both:
Combine TV with YouTube to increase reach and recapture a declining TV audience
Expand your content library to engage an audience that wants to watch more on
YouTube
Keep views climbing on older content by promoting new content with TrueView
By unlocking the full potential of your YouTube advertising, you're not just
getting your money's worth, you're future-proofing for the next generation of video
consumers, who overwhelmingly turn to YouTube—not just preferring it over TV,
but over other online options—to watch the videos they love.
Sources: 1http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/young-or-old-everyone-seems-online-video-much-tv-now-167541 2 Includes Nielsen data for 2,984 TV campaigns in 2015. Analysis
identified campaigns that would have benefited from combining YouTube and TV while
holding cost constant and optimizing for reach. A detailed meta analysis by Goerg,
et al., will be available shortly on research.google.com 3 Based on YouTube Brand Lift meta analysis of 656 US. YouTube TrueView
campaigns that had matched TV ads running concurrently between April–September
2015 4 Google August 2015 Meta Analysis: Measuring TrueView Impact on Brand
Channel Engagement
Passionate community
Instagram has grown into a global community of more than 400 million accounts that share 80 million photos and videos each day.
Creative context
People come to Instagram for visual inspiration, and the simple design allows captivating visuals to take centre stage.
Visual language
Advertising on Instagram has the power to move people – inspiring them to see a business differently or take action.
400 millionmonthly active users
30 billionphotos shared
4.5 billionLikes daily
80 millionphotos per day
Email recived from Facebook:
At Instagram, our mission is to capture and share the world’s moments –
from the everyday to the spectacular. Businesses are also vital members
of the community, and have been since the beginning. We’ve seen that
business content fits seamlessly with the Instagram community.
We've now expanded advertising on Instagram to Ads Manager so businesses
like yours can be at the center of visual inspiration. Advertising on
Instagram is designed to help grow your business. And everything from
our targeting, ad formats and measurement tools are built so you can see
the results you care about.
With Ads Manager, advertising on Instagram is easier than ever. If you
don't have an Instagram account, you can still get started by using your
Facebook page. We invite you to be a part of this passionate community
and look forward to helping you achieve your business goals.
Now that video consumption has gone from primetime to all-the-time, how can brands
capitalize on video micro-moments? Lucas Watson, VP of Global Brand Solutions and
Innovations, shares three must-dos for brands that want to be relevant when
consumers turn to video.
TV time at my house used to be a compromise. After flipping through the limited
shows that were "on," we'd all settle on something that made everyone sort of
happy. Today, we can each watch exactly what we want, when we want, thanks to the
supercomputers in our pockets. Mobile video means my daughter can watch "Peppa Pig"
while my son catches up on "American Ninja Warrior" while I enjoy the US Open.
Everybody's happy. (Especially Dad.)
Three hundred hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute, so when we turn
to our mobile devices to watch video, we can choose from a nearly limitless library
of on-demand content. That makes what we choose to watch more personal than ever.
For instance, if I search YouTube for "surfing big waves" (watching wipeouts is
more pleasant than experiencing them), I get 170,000 results. I'd be lucky to find
even one show on basic cable dedicated to a niche topic like surfing.
Now that personalized entertainment is more convenient than ever, people are
experiencing bursts of entertainment anywhere, anytime. Video consumption has gone
from primetime to all-the-time—and to address this shift in behavior, we need a new
marketing model when it comes to video strategy.
When consumers look for
answers, discover new
things, or
make decisions, they're often turning to a device for help. At Google, we call
these micro-moments, and they can happen in search, on your brand's website, in an
app, and—increasingly—they're happening on YouTube.
These moments of intent are redefining the purchase journey; people want the right
information right away. Brands' opportunities to connect with consumers through
video have exploded into millions of these moments. But to win at video
micro-moments, you have to know how to identify them and how to act on them.
In a micro-moments world, intent trumps identity.
Four types of video micro-moments
Video micro-moments generally fall into four categories: "I
want-to-watch-what-I'm-into" moments, when people are seeking videos on their
passions or interests; "I want-to-know" moments, when people are trying to learn
something; "I want-to-do" moments, when they're looking for step-by-step
instructions on how to make or do something; and I "want-to-buy" moments, when
they're using video to try before they buy.
Three ways to adapt your video strategy to micro-moments
Brands can ensure they're relevant and useful in these four video micro-moments by
understanding their consumer's intent on YouTube. Expand your focus from just
who consumers are (for example, 18-34-year-old women) to what they
want ("spring fashion trends"). In a micro-moments world, intent trumps
identity.
Here are three ways to make sure you're staying relevant and useful in moments that
really matter—when your brand has a meaningful role to play based on what people
really want:
1. Identify the micro-moments where your audience's goals and your brand's
goals intersect
People come to YouTube millions of times each day, looking for videos that meet
their needs, wants, and interests. Reimagine your consumer's journey as a
collection of these video micro-moments: What are his needs and questions, and when
does he look for them? Once you've mapped out your consumer's micro-moments,
understand your place on the map: Where does your brand have the right to play?
2. Be there when your audience is looking with useful content that answers
their needs
Once you understand how your brand maps to consumers' video micro-moments, you can
build a plan to be there when people are looking. The first step is creating
relevant, useful
YouTube content that adds value in those key micro-moments. The second is
making sure your brand shows up when they need you, with organic and paid search, for example, or with shopping ads on YouTube.
Sephora has become a resource in its customers' micro-moments by creating a variety
of video content. To answer beauty fans' calls for on-trend makeup and hair
tutorials, Sephora uses the CCC content model: the team creates their
own original videos,
curates playlists of videos on trending YouTube topics like "beauty hauls," and
collaborates
with YouTube creators to make content that feels organic in the YouTube
environment. To make sure its content is discoverable, Sephora uses TrueView
in-display ads, which give its videos prominent placement at the top of key beauty
search results.
3. Help your audience find you, even when they're not looking, with
relevant video ads
Even when people aren't actively looking for answers, brands can delight them by
showing up with messaging that's relevant to their interests. That means going
beyond demographic targeting and connecting with viewers based on signals of
intent or context.
Choice-driven ad formats are a great way to show that your brand understands and
respects people's intent; if someone chooses to watch your ad, it's a
powerful signal of their interest. Sephora, for example, uses TrueView advertising, YouTube's skippable
ad format. In-market and
affinity targeting can also help your brand serve messaging that's timely and
helpful to consumers based on their most recent and repeated digital behaviors.
Context is also key. First, there's the context of video. Video ads feel more at
home in a video context than non-video environments. But beyond sharing video ads
before or during video content, you can share your ads when people are in the mood
for that messaging. For example, when Sephora consumers are already watching beauty
videos on YouTube, they're more open to Sephora's beauty-related ads.
The purchase journey has been fragmented into hundreds of micro-moments. It's imperative that brands
be
there in these micro-moments with relevant, useful videos. Those who "get the
most points on the board"—and who prove themselves useful and relevant in the most
micro-moments—will establish the greatest brand equity in an era of infinite
consumer choice. If your brand isn't there in your audience's moments of need,
another brand will be.
Sources 1 The Consumer Barometer Survey, Question asked: "Why did you watch
online video(s)" n=2,119, Base: internet users (accessing via computer, tablet or
smartphone) who have watched online video in the past week, answering based on a
recent online video session, 2014/2015. 2 Google Consumer Survey, April 2015, U.S. online population ages 18-34;
n=385. 3 Google Data, Q1 2014–Q1 2015, U.S. 4 Google Consumer Surveys, March 2014, U.S. 10 platforms surveyed:
YouTube, Hulu, ESPN.com, Facebook, ComedyCentral.com, Tumblr, Instagram, Vimeo,
AOL, MTV.com
