Spring is a time for renewal. Cleaning out the dusty corners, shaking out the covers. It’s also an excellent time to reconnect with customers, refresh communications and shine some new light on what you can offer.
The arrival of spring is a prime opportunity to market to families looking to stretch their legs and find new days out in the sun. Marketing that is seasonally in tune has the potential to resonate strongly with customers.
As always, video has a role to play here. Looking to shake off the winter hibernation period, consumers will be looking for inspiration to keep everyone busy. From DIY to recipes for lighter food, papier-mâché instructions to day trip reviews in time for the two May bank holidays, YouTube is a go-to channel.
And you know you’ve got their attention. YouTube commands the fullest share of viewer attention – 83% fully or mostly pay attention to what’s on the screen compared to 53% seeing video across other social platforms. This is largely down to the way audiences show up on the platform - with intent.
Whether you’re a football fan, home cook, parent or DIYer, brands have the chance to engage with customers who self-segment and, in many cases, are in-market for your product or service.
Age and gender used to be the only proxies for finding your customers. Now we have better tools to help you know their intent, i.e. what they want (or might want). Features like Advanced Audiences use intent signals to predict who’s most likely to engage with your brand and deliver you results. And it works. Campaigns that use intent-based targeting on mobile have 20% higher Ad Recall lift and 50% higher Brand Awareness lift than campaigns that use demographic targeting.
The massive consumer shift to mobile is nothing new, but at this time of year is a critical trend to act upon. Warmer days mean more time away from the desktop, more time in-store, more time out visiting friends and family - and looking for a gift along the way. Mobile video needs to take into account context - what people are watching and where.
The DIYer might be looking at a ’how to’ video, possibly while already in a hardware store. Parents may be already en route for a day trip and open to entertainment ideas to break up the journey for the kids. In these scenarios, video ads are meeting a need as much as showcasing a product.
Time is also critical: short and sweet are the watchwords if your consumer is on the move making speedy decisions. Think of the DIYer in front of a wall of MDF. The 6-second Bumper may be more palatable to him or her than a 20 second unskippable ad.
One company making a great success of video is Tesco, which has been threading the concept of Food Love Stories across its whole media mix. On YouTube, Food Love Stories are the hook of major calendar events such as Valentine’s Day, Halloween and Easter. The focus on family and friends saw the retailer’s TrueView shoppable ads drive a 9% uplift in purchase intent and made the campaign a ‘best-in-class’ in 2017’s YouTube Works for Brands awards.
Spring brings with it the sense that we’ll start this year as our best selves. That’s really what the DIYers, gardeners, family visitors and day trippers are trying to do. So how are you going to spring clean your video strategy for 2018?
By Charlotte Morton, head of B2B marketing at YouTube
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