Dear pre-roll ads, consumers have a love-hate relationship with you. You pop up before their desired video, making them pause before viewing the content they have selected, but usually, show them something that they would need or use. For small business owners, video pre-roll and custom intent videos are 5 – 10-second windows where you can showcase your services and how your customers can engage and shop with you online. This has become even more important during the pandemic.
With more Americans working from home, video consumption has increased, and what’s even more interesting is that YouTube has found specific trends in our video consumption during these times. These trends are particularly important for business owners who focus on fitness, self-care, beauty, and cooking. Within these industries, YouTube has found notable crossovers in this viewership – it’s called The Human Needs Model.
Why The Human Needs Model is Important
Social anthropologist, Susan Kresnicka established The Human Needs Model. In this model, Kresnicka and her team found a specific overlap between self-care and social connection that lead to a consumer’s identity. YouTube took this methodology and applied it to the Pandemic video view trends, and the results were amazing! If you are trying to figure out what digital avenues would be the best fit for your digital marketing efforts, you must consider pre-roll ads. The return on investment for these specific industries would most likely be very beneficial. Let’s dig a little bit deeper into this thought process!
The global pandemic is not over. But, its shocking onset allowed us to see an astonishing uniformity in content trends around the world. That uniformity helped demonstrate the reality of our shared needs: to experience a sense of connection, feel as good as possible, and project a strong sense of self.
YouTube Culture & Trends
Everyone needs a little self-care.
I think we can all agree that after a few months of sticking to our homes, and those that reside in those homes with us, we could all use a little self-care. Life has always been and always will be about balance, but when the scales tipped to make most American’s domestically “landlocked,” it can be difficult for some (or many of us) to adjust. From February to May of 2020, YouTube saw a massive spike in views on self-care related videos. Check out these stats directly from YouTube.
As the pandemic evolved, so did Americans’ need to find balance and mindfulness. For yoga, barre studios, and gyms that reside in states where they are still not allowed to re-open – you need a YouTube channel – yesterday. Consumers are looking for ways to relax and unwind directly from their homes. With a little help from digital marketers like us at Media Caffeine, we can help transition your studio into a digital sanctuary. By adding video pre-roll ads into your studio’s digital marketing strategy, we can convert consumers to your digital memberships on your website and increase your YouTube subscribership, all while building the bond and brand trust with your attendees.
Social Distancing has created digital marketing trends and remote social connections.
Raise your hand if you have become obsessed with #WithMe videos? YouTube agrees – we love them! Imagine if we could take that digital trend and turn it into a way to share your product or services with potential customers. Are you with me?
Here’s a great example from Blossom DIY. Blossom DIY is a blog that focuses on lifestyle, fashion, parenting, and you guessed it – DIY. This video gives quick and easy tips for fun ways to stay entertained while at home and even better, leads viewers over to their website to consume even more content.
You may be reading this thinking, “That’s great for a blog, but how could this apply to my business?” Let’s try this example, shall we?
You own a cooking equipment store. Walk-in traffic and online sales have been slower than usual, and you have a new line of mixers that you would like to showcase. First and foremost, if you don’t have a YouTube channel, you will need to set one up, and set aside an hour a week to film your content. If you are working with us at Media Caffeine, we can handle the video editing and give you tips on how to set up your filming space. Once you have some cooking content with the new mixer line ready, we will set you up with a pre-roll ad campaign. In this campaign, we can feature your Mix #WithMe series and build brand awareness and conversions to your online shop.
When customers make a purchase after participating in your Mix #WithMe campaigns, they have a personal connection to you and your brand, increasing the likelihood that they will come back to make future purchases with you.
This type of methodology can be applied to so many industries. If you are curious if it will work for yours – just ask.
Shelter-in-place forced all of us to try new things!
How often have you said or heard a friend say, “I would love to try that, but I just don’t have the time.”? All of that changed in March of 2020.
According to YouTube’s data, a lot of us wanted to see if we could try our hand at salon services that we would have otherwise outsourced. Salons were closed, but our hair still grew, and so did our need for guidance.
Those in the beauty industry are no stranger to YouTube, with names like Tati Westbrook, Lisa Eldridge, and Wayne Goss, caching millions of subscribers, there is tons of beauty content for consumers to view. So beauty brands, estheticians and stylists – why aren’t you doing a pre-roll ad campaign yet? We can make sure that your video ad is populating on videos that relate specifically to your business.
Now is the time to try Pre-Roll ads.
This smattering of data is just the tipping point of what YouTube can offer for users and advertisers. For businesses that are converting their focus to online sales and service, pre-roll is a must. If you still aren’t convinced that this is the right fit for your business, consider this note from our Senior Search Strategist, Shannon Eshel.
“Now is the perfect time to start a paid search campaign or to diversify your existing one. The online market is exploding. You can buy groceries online, have a doctor’s visit virtually, and even buy a car completely online. It’s the perfect time to grow your PPC traffic and to check out new avenues such as Pre-Roll and Custom Intent Video campaigns. With more and more people watching YouTube these days, creating a video campaign is a must! You can get quality leads at meager prices, but in a year from now, the market will be saturated, so that’s why I recommend getting in now!”
The more time passes, the more competitive the keywords in your target market will become. Reach out to us today to see how we can help you get your first pre-roll and custom intent video campaign off the ground and converting new sales.
Check out our Paid Search Services.
Charts sourced from YouTube Culture & Trends “Watching the Pandemic” Report.