(This post originally appeared on UBM Tech site Digital Canvas Retail in July 2013)
Gone are the days of watching a western on TV. But for many retailers, developing an ad budget with a singular focus on television should also be riding into the sunset.
YouTube has long been nicknamed as a second largest search engine behind Google. But steadily more and more users are treating YouTube videos as a pastime no different than watching television. Business2Community noted that YouTube users average 3 billion hours of video viewing per month. That is a considerable percentage; comScore measured 44 billions views in June of this year, noting that Facebook, its closest competitor in views, only had over 700 million views.
Much of YouTube’s appeal goes beyond the various selections of videos available – from mashups of movie scenes to old TV programs. The key driver has been unique video content, and a breakthrough environment in which viewers find programming outside of television and cable attractive (Witness the Emmy nominations for Netflix’ House of Cards as to what is possible for programs produced outside of regular and cable production norms).
The end result is a highly unique value for a video ads exposure. Many independently made webisodes have gained a distinct audience, regardless if the producer is an unknown name or a well-known artist. Daryl Hall, of the music duo Hall and Oates, achieved success with Live At Daryl’s House, playing classic Hall and Oates tuned with recent acts. The program became so popular that it gained television syndication.
Such early successes should interest retailers looking for a relevant audience. These programs acquire the potential customers they are looking for. And media industry standards of varying kinds are acknowledging how these views are valuable. Billboard, the music recording sales chart magazine, recently announced that it was adding YouTube views into its Top 100 music charts. This reflects recent successes from music acts that have garnered high numbers of views.
Such changes also imply that YouTube should be considered as an essential part of a digital marketing planning. Google already provides an integration protocol for its Analytics solution. In addition Google introduced a new measurement protocol to complement its Universal Analytics tag. The protocol provides attribution capability that identifies the devices a visitor used to view a webpage. Marketers can gain a better understanding of viewers who migrated from a tablet to a desktop to see a Youtube video embedded in a website.
Analytics linked to YouTube provide a series of opportunities:
What other opportunities do you see for retailers displaying video ads on YouTube?
