Since the days of the TV sponsor, broadcast shows have been monetized through ads. But the interactive potential of the mobile devices used by many today to consume entertainment is bringing a whole new level of shoppable capability into the viewer’s experience.
As we saw in Hulu’s approach to engage the viewer with ads beyond the confines of programming, other services are taking the shopping experience directly into the video itself. YouTube and Snapchat have unveiled their takes on this within just a few days apart from each other.
On June 18th, Google announced drive results with new direct response solutions on YouTube, which allows businesses to add a “shop now” button to their video ads that will show viewers products they can order on the spot.
Google said that making the video into a storefront format worked well for the brand, Aerie. The clothing and undergarment seller “achieved a 25% higher return on ad spend than the previous year—with nine times more conversions compared to their traditional media mix.”
On June 23rd, when Snap presented at NewFronts, the digital media world’s annual summit of presentations, it revealed that it was launching shoppable shows. Snapchat already hosts its own line-up of shows on Snaps, called Snaps Originals. But a new one called “The Drop” will showcase what Variety described as “‘exclusive streetwear collabs’ from celebrities and designers.”
As detailed here, Snap was also building its case as a good choice for advertisers based on the following statistics:
- As of June 22nd, Snapchat reaches over 100 million people in the U.S., including 90% of people aged 13-24
- 229 million people worldwide reportedly use the app every day
- The company now also has more daily users aged over 25 than all of Twitter’s self-described “monetizable user base”
- Total daily time spent watching shows on Discover more than doubled from Q1 2019 to Q1 2020
- Average time spent watching by people over 35 also doubled from Q1 2019 to Q1 2020
As brands are only interested if that can be correlated to their own advertising goals, Snap also shared a Nielsen study showing that a Bud Light ad campaign on Snap was found to be nine times more effective at targeting than television advertising. It also worked well as a supplement to television campaigns. The 20 separate ad campaigns that appeared on Snap showed an average 23% bump.
Marketers and brands today, be aware of these changing trends and alter your ad strategies accordingly.