The impact of the 2020 pandemic has reshaped consumer behavior and will continue in the years to come. Hence, customers’ buying journeys have skewed to brands with an established digital presence. For example, users spend more time searching the web for product reviews and honest opinions from recent shoppers before purchasing.

Rising YouTube Watch Time: Holiday Shoppers Tune In More Than Ever

The video company hit 200 million US users last year, and it’s forecast to close the year with 206 million users, 5 percent higher than pre-pandemic. Out of more than 200 million YouTube audiences, more than 100 million viewers watch YouTube videos on more giant screens.

At the height of solitary confinement, Statista.com indicated that nearly 64 percent of respondents would use YouTube more than in 2019. Similarly, last year’s third quarter showed that 62 percent of YouTube users access the platform each day.

Cyber Five Doorbusters Are Still YouTube Dependent

Last year’s pandemic has disrupted doorbusters annual shopping traditions. Purchasing the latest shoes or trendiest bag is different from walking into a physical store than scanning digital catalogs.

Large companies with brand loyalty with the public are also affected by this disturbance in the customer journey. So what’s the fix? Improve brand lift thanks to positive user feedback and honest product reviews by regular users.

YouTube reported that 68% of YouTube users are looking for input from video creators. Before the explosion in video views and connected television, consumers viewed over 50,000 years of YouTube product review videos.

Last year’s Holiday shopping experience is slightly different, as most stores are closed, doorbusters ram to brands’ digital storefronts instead. 75 percent of shoppers agreed that relevant ads helped create a more personalized encounter with then brand when watching YouTube video streams—making a more meaningful holiday shopping experience. In addition, 87 percent of YouTube shoppers said video product reviews enable them to quickly decide whether to skip or check their online shopping baskets.

Stores Saying Yes to the New Normal, But Viewing Habits Remains

The holiday season is perceived to be the busiest period for advertisers. Naturally, auctions become competitive because millions of brands are vying for a spot on their target audience screens. As a consequence, the cost of media increases.

Strike Social data scientists observed trends before entering the infatuation for the month, November, and December purchases. The rate of change in advertising spending last September was less than 1 percent. Whereas October showed an uplift of 40% on all verticals.

While most advertisers predict a decrease in View Rate as containment subsides, our data show a more stable result since September. The median percent change in View Rate from June through October is below 0.6%. VR can vary from vertical to vertical and at different times, but overall, the difference in percentage doesn’t give advertisers any reason to be concerned.

An Image Is Worth A Thousand Words, But Video (Ads) Can Catch Hundreds Of Thousands Of Viewers.

The holiday season is a time for marketers to reach their audience through a more personalized ad with the help of hyper granular targeting. Lately, these Black Friday doorbusters have spent more time watching YouTube content – video product reviews. The newly formed behavior allowed brands to deliver a unique shopping experience through their ad campaigns, but this comes with a cost.

With media expense increasing this Cyber Five weekend and the rest of December, e-commerce sales are expected to grow by 10% this year than 2020. Besides the rise in sales and cost, YouTube’s overall watch time has also jumped by 80% YoY, thanks to Connected TV’s growth.

Q4’s hike on CPCs and CPVs is inevitable. So October can be advertisers’ calm-before-the-storm moment. With three-quarters of preparation, marketers’ should have all the “gears” ready to ride out the holiday’s “whirlwind” auction.

by strikesocial