In recent years, consumers have adopted the tendency to live life through two screens: with one eye on the television, and the other on their smartphone - where video has taken centre stage. Youtube, in just over 10 years, has become an unavoidable platform not only for brands but also for users. The platform has over a billion users generating billions of views every day. This is significant for the potential visibility of your products, if you get YouTubers to use or speak about them to their viewers! With millions of videos posted everyday (300 hours of video per minute), you can also learn more about your customers and the way they use and incorporate your product into their daily lives.
In the age of the internet, shopping is increasingly done online, providing another way YouTubers can entertain their audience - presenting their recent purchases in "Haul" style videos, and providing links for their consumers to purchase these for themselves. As marketers, you will have the opportunity to view who is buying and using your products, and additionally you will be able to identify brands which are competing directly with you. During these "Hauls" your YouTube consumers also present products that they've been reluctant to buy. Thus, in addition to gaining a better understanding of your customers, you will also learn about the strengths and weaknesses of your product.
Thanks to the internet, online visual tutorials have greatly increased. Initially, these amateur videos were filmed with the available means, however, today YouTubers put more energy into presenting products (and their final editing touches) in the most attractive way possible. For your business, this would be the way to examine more precisely the use of your products. For make-up brands like Maybelline, tutorials also allow them to see what other products are used in association by the consumer for optimal results. Finally, you may also be able to study when your products can potentially be misused or misappropriated.
Just like on other "social" platforms, users take their time to give their opinions of the products. For a business this can be both positive and negative. Consumer reviews via forums have considerable weight in first-time-buyers decision making. On YouTube this trend continues, however it has even more weight as it comes straight from the mouth of an influencer. Whether they are satisfied or not they share their opinions with their communities and it can act directly on the brand's image. As that enterprise you would therefore be able to rapidly identify recurring problems with a product and thus respond to best meet and satisfy your customers needs.
On YouTube, you can find videos where brands are immersed in daily consumer life. This allows you to note where your products find their place within everyday life. Elsewhere, you will also be able to identify the people who can influence the end decisions - like children in the extract below. This type of video will take you to other information such as: the products' best consumption periods within the day or whether the consumer is actually the buyer.
Influencers aren't alone in creating tutorials. Through educational videos, brands have the opportunity to showcase their products, but also advise users of the best way to use them. Additionally, there is also the chance for the business to jump on the latest trends within their market and thus be responsive to the current needs and desires of their consumers.
For a brand, creating a YouTube channel allows them to create a communication that the consumers won't find elsewhere. For example let's look at the H&M campaign with David Beckham. On advertising screens: the video is thirty seconds, on YouTube: the video is more than 6 minutes. Through YouTube channels, brands are able to include their customers in their world: making of, backstage etc... This type of communication therefore feeds the client relationship and also a wider target audience.
Youtube seems to be the ideal place to bring more information to the consumer without it being redundant. Brands can use a different medium than what clients may be used to, such as billboards or magazine ads. This type of video firstly allows a refresh of information content, but also brings a level of legitimacy to the company by allowing experts to have their say. Finally, the variety of the topics allows a brand to apply its campaign to a wider public audience.
Being on YouTube also provides the means to create engagement. Brands have the ability to directly incorporate Call To Actions into their videos. Lancome, for example, chose to put a CTA for consumers to subscribe to its channel. There are also multiple different ways CTA's can be used by brands on YouTube: links to external sites, notes, content promotion, annotations. Essentially there are many Calls To Action that enable better visibility and a higher rate of commitment from the consumers part.
From the points we have discussed, it is clear that YouTube is also a platform that allows brands to show ethical content: a broadened audience, exclusive messaging, available CTA's. Brands can thus forward their social and environmental commitments which have come to the forefront in recent times, where consumers are requesting and anticipating this kind of messaging. Beyond the societal aspect, partnerships between both brands and NGOs are beneficial to both parties. In fact, this allows a brand to develop an ethical image (and therefore to reach a wider listening audience) and NGO's benefit, for example, through increased donations.
Overall, YouTube is an ideal platform for brands for 2 evident reasons: It is possible to gain a better understanding of consumers, their opinions, their consumption habits, their profiles and use of your brands' products.
The brand can also create brand new messaging forms though video, messaging that will be different than traditional media. For brands, creating a youtube channel will no doubt establish a strong relationship with their customers.
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