Millennial parents are becoming advertisers’ doors in most households. In a quick view of the new generation of parents, both mom and dad work long hours in front of the laptop, the eldest swipes hundreds of 15-second videos on his mobile phone, and the youngest child watches YouTube. Most families might have this kind of scenario every day, giving plenty of opportunities for brands to market their new line of clothing or the hottest toys in the market.
Leonard Lauder, Chairman Emeritus of The Estée Lauder Companies, coined the term Lipstick Effect during the 2011 economic crisis. Even with last year’s financial downturn, 70% of the parents’ Christmas gift spending per child is $100 or more. Parents seem to be extra generous during the holidays, but how do they respond when brands target parents in their holiday advertising?
Kids Are Always Online, So Are The Parents
According to a CNN report, parents spend considerable time on screen, similar to their children. Because of this, advertisers should consider targeting the “big kids” in the house when launching their heartwarming video holiday ad campaign. Here’s why.
Based on the data from different verticals that consumers spend most during the holidays: Retail Companies, Consumer Packaged Goods, Alcohol or Adult Beverages, Household Appliances, Non-Alcoholic Beverages, Home and Garden, Quick Service Restaurants, Consumer Electronics, and Fashion Brands, seven out of nine industries are above the overall parental percentage view. In addition, 42% of advertising money goes to campaigns targeting parents and has 6% more ad spend than the non-parent audience.
Businesses in the Retail Industry lead the list of campaigns to deliver ads to parents, followed by Consumer Packaged Goods, with 61% and 53% ad spend allocation. With e-commerce booming, 32% YoY growth during the pandemic, both verticals saw an opportunity to stay connected with the parent market. In contrast, consumers spend only 21% targeting parents, as the media budget plan splits almost equally across all age groups.
Personalized Ads: Ok for Parents
In one of Statista’s reports, almost 60% of millennials agreed that the relevancy of online ads is getting better compared to previous years. As audience targeting gets precise, advertising effectiveness increases and eventually leads to conversion.
YouTube Ads focused on parents delivered great results under the home and garden categories, and the retail verticals, with 16% and 14% click-through rates, respectively. These two industries also went above the overall CTR for parents, averaging 13% across all different industries.
Despite seeing slightly higher success in targeting parent audiences, these three verticals have seen significant differences in ad engagements vs non-parents. For instance, YouTube advertising campaigns for non-alcoholic, quick-service restaurants and fashion brands generate higher than 50% or more engagement vs non-parents.
Win Millennial Parents in Your Next Ad Campaign
Our blog, YouTube Holiday Data Report: Parents ignored by advertisers, shows how important it is to include the parent audience in your holiday campaign. Psychological behavior in spending evolves together with technology. Looking at the growing market of millennial parents, they are considered more tech-savvy compared to other generations. Understanding the evolution of consumers will give companies higher success in advertising to parents.
For marketers who have used YouTube effectively to market to younger audiences, YouTube viewership across platforms and generations allows for different creative testing to reach the entire family.
