Google Partners share their top advice for preparing video adverts for Christmas.

Though it may only be August, Google have advised advertisers to begin planning and structuring Christmas campaigns for December. Christmas is the prime time for online advertising, especially in areas such as retail and TV. Many marketers will begin brainstorming which adverts to use to best promote their company over the festive period. Over this time, YouTube is reported to be the most effective form of advertising.

Here are the facts;

  • YouTube has an 82% customer reach with 42 million monthly viewers.
  • YouTube brought in over 80 million views for the top Christmas Ads. The 2016 John Lewis advert has over 25 million views on YT!
  • Christmas Ads watches on YouTube are increasing by 57% each year.

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But how can you utilize YouTube in your Christmas marketing strategy? In the last Google Eleveses Live video (Elevenses: Planning YouTube with TV at Christmas), a simple, effective strategy explained how to build the best brand campaigns on YouTube.

  1. Advertisers should use the best audience data by observing customer patterns, affinity audiences and custom affinity audiences. By doing this, it will enable you to understand the customers you want to target in your video campaigns, using the most suitable formats and messages. 
  2. Advertisers should use the best Creative Formats. Google reported that TrueView Christmas Ads gave a 5% increase in brand consideration and Bumper Chirstmas Ads increased this by 78%.
  3. Use Creative Insights for Christmas. You should use existing brand themes and bumpers, to maintain consistency and effectiveness. Bumpers used should include one clear message, rather than multiple. This will keep your adverts clear and concise.
  4. Advertisers should aim to deliver in Mass Moments, meaning they promote during times of mass YouTube watching. This could be enhancing a campaign on Black Friday or Cyber Monday to optimise your customer appeal.

In order to compete with other brands, advertisers should be prepared to double their current YouTube spend over the Christmas period. Finally, Google stated that YouTube adverts deliver a higher Return on Investment (ROI) than using TV adverts. Why wouldn’t you use it?

So, although it may still be Summer, we should put our Christmas thinking hats on and prepare for December now.