A version of this article originally appeared on CreatorIQ.
In my role at YouTube, I’ve had a front-row seat to the evolution of creator marketing. We’re in an era where creators play a pivotal role in shaping consumer decisions, but not all creators are equal at driving results for your business. Trust, attention, and relevance are key to successful creator marketing that moves consumers from discovery to purchase. And, in the realm of creator marketing strategies, YouTube uniquely empowers trusted creators to convert authenticity into loyal fandom for your brand and products.
Deep audience trust thrives on YouTube
Creators on YouTube have cultivated deep, trusted relationships with their audiences. And, because of that unique connection, they have the power to be incredibly influential. They are the trusted subject matter experts on everything from kitchen remodeling to parenting to picking the perfect foundation. We offer powerful ways for you to partner with them. According to an Ipsos survey, users are 98% more likely to trust the recommendations of creators on YouTube vs. those on other social sites/apps,1 and 68% agree that YouTube creators are more trustworthy than traditional celebrities.2
Brands can work with YouTube creators to help viewers discover a brand’s products and to make purchase decisions more confidently. Seventy-eight percent of YouTube viewers agree that creators make them feel like they can make a quicker decision on whether or not to purchase a product.3 In fact, YouTube’s influence cuts down the average online video shopper’s journey by six days.4
Let’s dive into a few ways YouTube creator ads can lift your brand’s social strategy and get more results for every marketing objective.
An unfiltered approach can resonate on YouTube
There’s a misconception that brands need to spend a lot of money and produce ultrapolished, TV-quality branded content to make an impact on YouTube. The fact is, there are many ways to influence consumers on YouTube.
Urban Decay is a great example of adopting a more relaxed and relatable approach that has especially resonated with Gen Z. To promote its relaunch of their iconic eye shadow palette and understand the power of influencer marketing content, the company partnered with YouTube beauty creators Kelly Strack and Ashley LaMarca. Their product application videos, made in a casual style with a personal touch, yielded impressive results for Urban Decay, including a 3% increase in purchase intent, surpassing L’Oreal USA’s benchmarks, and a significant 278% surge in search lift.
Tell your story in all the ways people like to watch
Streaming across different screens, video lengths, and content types is at an all-time high. From short-form to long-form content, podcast and live stream, YouTube is the one place where people watch them all. This gives brands unmatched creative freedom to align storytelling with their social strategy. Whether it’s a six-second short-form video or a 15-minute-long tutorial, YouTube is the only platform where your message is not constrained by length or format.
Creators are the power users of multiformat creativity. On YouTube, the different content lengths and formats help them find and grow their audiences. Brands can leverage that know-how by partnering with them to develop authentic, platform-specific stories, across all the ways audiences like to watch.
Uber, for example, aimed to increase awareness and drive sign-ups for its new Teen Accounts product among parents of teens. To do this, Uber partnered with YouTube creator, Pantons Squad (@pantonssquad6), creating both vlog-style Shorts ads as well as in-stream ads to show the Teen Accounts feature in action and to connect with parents in a relatable way. The approach drove outsized impact, helping achieve Uber’s best-ever brand lift results, fueling a significant 24% awareness increase among parents, driving a 110% lift in “uber teens” searches and contributing a 6% lift in conversions.
In another example, Sephora opted to partner with creators to solve a common holiday shopper pain point: the stress of coming up with the perfect gift idea. To meet those consumers in this critical shopping moment, Sephora partnered with seven YouTube Shorts creators, including Wendy Skin (@wendyskinn), Kenna Marie (@KennaMarie), and Stephanie Voltaire (@StephanieVoltaire), who created timely gift guides that ran as a Shorts-only campaign. Meeting its audience where they are proved to be a successful social strategy for the beauty brand, not only driving significant traffic to its website but also achieving 82% relative lift in searches for “sephora holiday” and best-in-class brand lift.
Work with creators of all sizes to maximize audience coverage
It’s easy to assume that because a creator has millions of followers, your partnered content will be a guaranteed hit. But that’s not always the case. Partnering with a variety of creators who have different follower counts, dominate different corners of the internet, and nurture different audiences is a great way to make sure your message is received across cultures and demographics. Luckily, YouTube is home to both the biggest names and resonant, niche creators, so you can create authentic content that reaches your target audiences more closely while creating stronger brand loyalty.
For example, Pepsi established deep connections with a diverse customer base through YouTube Creator Ads. The company partnered with six YouTube creators including Jack Mancuso (@CHEFCUSO) and Jenny Martinez (@JennyMartinezzz) to develop over 50 pieces of personalized content, such as Cook with Me videos tailored to resonate with specific audience segments. The ads outperformed the YouTube engagement benchmark by 43%.
The YouTube edge: deep engagement and lasting influence
Only YouTube has the breadth and depth across every screen and format for fans to truly immerse themselves in their passions, guided by the creators they trust the most. Where some platforms are fueled by a constant onslaught of fleeting trends, YouTube fosters lasting connections that survive and thrive beyond the hype cycle. I’m eager to see how modern marketers continue to take advantage of these unique benefits and tap into the power of our incredible creators.
