BY: LARRY HARRIS, CEO, SIGHTLY
Several weeks ago, Google hosted their big Brandcast event. And by all accounts it was an epic event. From celebrities and bands to some bold and exciting new products, the YouTube team laid out a stellar forecast for 2018. There are a couple stand out stats from that event:
#1. 1.8 Billon logged in users each month watch more than 150 million hours of YouTube on TV screens every day.WOW! TV screens represent new opportunities for YouTube advertisers. 50% of US 18-to-49-year-olds are "light TV" viewers, but 90% of this group uses YouTube, according to a recent Nielsen study. Google has added tools that specifically support GoogleTV advertisers. For instance, AdWords will now be available to better target audience segments. And in this case, advertisers will be able to leverage an audience segment of "light tv viewers," a population that has been somewhat elusive for advertisers...until now.
Television and video viewing has clearly evolved. TV is no longer just about a time period and the living room. The viewing has become more about the content and less about the timing of a program or the device that it is watched upon. This change has been impacting how advertisers reach audiences. Now it is time for audience targeting to fully catch up. When advertisers focus on what we call "People-Centered Targeting™" they can go well beyond a demographic-focus to deliver a more relevant experience.
This is exciting news for us at Sightly, we know how to target by audience locally and how to create personalized experiences. The consumer expects relevance and it is time to deliver.
#2. Over 70% of YouTube Campaigns Drove Lift in SalesGoogle has been working with Nielsen Catalina Solutions (NCS) to look at the offline sales of products. The question at hand: how effective is YouTube advertising at moving products off the shelves. The answer thus far has been VERY. So much so, that Kellogg now spends 60% to 70% of its overall marketing budget on digital with a large portion of that going to YouTube. We are going to keep our eye on this new Brand Lift measurement as it evolves.
Sightly has some vertical specific performance stats, if you are interested check out our performance case studies.
#3. YouTube's daily viewing was up 29% in the month of April according Nielsen's Digital Content RatingsWhile this growth stat didn't come from the Brandcast event, it is an impressive growth rate. And according to recent research by Pew, 85% of teens use Youtube. If you are an advertiser not considering YouTube as a part of your media mix what are you waiting for?
