Tara Walpert Levy, Google VP of Brand and Agency Solutions, announced the latest live shopping and CTV product updates from YouTube at Advertising Week New York.
These announcements paint a clear picture of what’s to come in the world of streaming and commerce.
Levy explained in a post on the Google Ads & Commerce blog that the pandemic accelerated both the shifts to streaming and eCommerce. She continued,
“As the number one streaming platform for ad-supported reach, YouTube is the place where hard-to-reach audiences come to be entertained and connect with creators and content they love. It’s also where audiences come to shop.”
As a result, YouTube is bridging the gap.
In addition, starting November 15, the platform will host a week-long live shopping event featuring popular holiday gifts from Samsung, Verizon, and Walmart.
In Real-Time, Inspiring Shoppers
Shoppers are seeking inspiration and advice from a variety of sources as in-store and digital commerce continue to converge.
According to Levy, YouTube creators have been at the forefront of this shift, sharing useful, credible, and entertaining shopping content that cuts through the noise. She claims that 89 percent of viewers polled trust recommendations from YouTube creators.
Amy Lanzi, Commerce Practice Lead North America, Publicis Groupe, explains how YouTube plays a role in consumers’ purchasing journeys in the video below.
YouTube also began testing an integrated shopping experience earlier this year, according to Levy, which allows viewers to tap into the credibility and knowledge of trusted creators to make informed purchases on YouTube.
YouTube first experimented with “shoppable” on-demand videos, and the platform is now experimenting with “shoppable” live streams as well.
Recently, YouTube collaborated with several top creators to test their new live shopping features, as well as shoppable live streams with leading retailers on their channels.
In the video below, White and Jill Toscano, Walmart’s VP of Media, discuss how their partnership with YouTube has allowed them to better understand and adapt to consumer needs.
The YouTube Holiday Stream and Shop will begin on November 15 with a week of shoppable live streams that will provide viewers with access to new products, limited-time offers, and live Q&A with creators and other viewers.
Reaching More Customers Through Connected TVs
As I mentioned in a recent post, streaming households in the United States surpassed cable TV households for the first time last year.
According to Comscore OTT Intelligence, YouTube currently accounts for 40% of all ad-supported streaming watch time.
According to Levy, 60 percent of YouTube CTV viewers are now watching video content with others, and “people are connecting more deeply with each other by sharing the YouTube content that they love most on the big screen.”
Brands can use this opportunity to broaden the reach and impact of their advertising campaigns.
This month, advertisers in the United States can fully measure their YouTube CTV video investments across YouTube and YouTube TV. In Comscore Campaign Ratings, this provides a more accurate picture of true incremental reach and frequency (CCR).
According to the post, Nielsen Digital Ad Ratings (DAR) CTV measurement is now available for YouTube TV and will be available soon for YouTube CTV in the United States.
Recently, YouTube upgraded Video action campaigns to automatically include CTV inventory.
Watch YouTube’s Advertising Week keynote below to learn more about their latest announcements.
Learn more from Youtube.
