YouTube Effort Boosts Awareness, But What About Ad Sales?
Four months ago YouTube launched a marketing blitz to make audiences and advertisers more aware of its homegrown talent. So how has the campaign worked so far?
It depends on how you’re measuring. The campaign’s first phase –which debuted in April and promoted YouTube creators Michelle Phan, Bethany Mota and Rosanna Pansino — increased people’s awareness of the trio fourfold, a YouTube spokeswoman said. The brand awareness lift was measured based on an online panel of 18-to-34-year-olds surveyed by researcher Ipsos. The spokeswoman declined to comment further, other than to say that YouTube plans to roll out a third phase later this year.
Awareness is fine, but audience is a more important measure from a business perspective. Advertisers and their wallets tend to follow people’s eyeballs. And considering that YouTube timed the campaign’s first two phases to major advertising events (the Digital NewFronts and Cannes Lions festival), advertisers appear to be as much the target audience as viewers.
