An exciting holiday season awaits brands as various surveys estimate an increase in holiday spending in 2021, foisting an unprecedented surge in e-commerce sales as well. Brands need to intensify their holiday marketing on YouTube to exploit this surge and boost sales!
Also, if you’re a brand and haven’t developed a YouTube marketing strategy for the holiday season yet, embark on the task immediately! Surveys have also forecast an early start to holiday shopping this year.
Holiday Season 2021 to Witness Increased Spending
According to Deloitte’s Annual Holiday Retail Forecast, holiday retail sales will likely increase by 7-9 percent in 2021! Overall, the holiday sales might total $1.28 to $1.3 trillion between November 2021 and January 2022.
What’s more? Deloitte has also forecast that e-commerce sales will grow by 11-15 percent year-over-year during the 2021-2022 holiday season, resulting in e-commerce holiday sales reaching up to $218 billion this season.
A key finding of the Adobe Holiday Shopping Forecast is that online spending would top $200 billion during the holidays season for the first time closing in at $207 billion as the global spending during the November-December period likely reaching $910 billion – a growth of 11 percent year-on-year.
The Annual Holiday Shopping Intentions Survey by the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) has forecast an 8.9 percent year-over-year increase in holiday season sales in the November-December timeframe, with global sales reaching $923 billion. The Survey also found that the average holiday shopper might spend an average of $637 this holiday season.
Launch Your Brand’s Holiday Season YouTube Campaign Now!
It is anticipated that consumers will not just spend more this year but will also start spending early – before the holiday season even begins!
According to the ICSC survey, 75 percent of shoppers will start shopping earlier this year than they usually would. The survey points out various reasons behind consumers beginning shopping early – to secure products are available (45 percent), benefit from early deals (42 percent), and ensure on-time delivery of products (42 percent).
In Inside Google Marketing: 3 rules driving our holiday retail strategy, the Performance Media Lead of Google North America, Michelle Scruggs, points out, the same trend is playing out this year as well. By September this year, 31 percent of respondents of a Google survey in the US said they had already started their holiday shopping.
Another significant survey also shows that holiday shopping will begin early this year. According to Accenture’s 15th Annual Holiday Shopping Survey, 34 percent of 1,500 surveyed consumers expressed intention of shopping earlier this season due to worries over not getting what they need in time for the holidays.
The Accenture survey found that 75 percent of consumers plan to buy gifts for their close family and 41 percent for neighbors, colleagues, and friends. It also found that younger generations are likely to be the biggest spenders, prioritizing time and money on shared experiences and spending money on gifts such as travel, dining, salon treatments, etc.
Early holiday shopping was witnessed in 2020 too
This won’t be the first time that many people plan to begin their holiday shopping early. According to the annual survey by National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics, in 2020, as many as 42 percent of the respondents had started their holiday shopping earlier than they usually do. By early November 2020, 59 percent of holiday shoppers had started making purchases, and 26 percent had completed their holiday shopping.
Why YouTube Marketing Will Boost Your Sales
Brands need to focus their immediate marketing efforts on getting the most of this holiday season by engaging with their potential customers and the best platform to do this is YouTube.
The reasons why brands must launch YouTube marketing campaigns to boost sales this holiday season go beyond the simple fact that YouTube is the world’s second-largest search engine.
YouTube inspires shoppers throughout the shopping journey. These facts on YouTube Shopping Decisions Statistics and YouTube Brand Discovery Data will make it clear why you must invest in YouTube Marketing to boost sales during Holiday Season 2021:
- 68 percent of YouTube users watched YouTube to help make a purchase decision
- 90 percent of people say they discover new brands or products on YouTube
- Over 40 percent of global shoppers purchase products they found on YouTube
- Over 80 percent of shoppers say they are open to learning about products on YouTube from brands
- 80 percent of people switch between online search and video when researching products to buy
As many as 75 percent of shoppers agree that YouTube enhances the traditional shopping journey by delivering unexpected inspiration, according to 3 Ways Digital Video Has Redefined the Digital Landscape by Amy Lanzi, North America Practice Lead at Publicis Commerce.
Lanzi points out in her article, “Due to the personalized experience of YouTube, they’re not finding noise, but things that make their experiences and their lives better. For example, average daily uploads of videos with “Shop With Me” in the title increased by over 60%, year over year”
The article further highlights 89 percent of YouTube viewers agree that YouTube creators give recommendations they can trust, and 87 percent say they feel like they get the highest quality information about products on YouTube.
According to a survey earlier this year by the video creation service Animoto:
- 93 percent of the consumers surveyed said that video is helpful when purchasing a product
- Video emerged as the number one choice of the surveyed consumers among the various content by brands on social media
Holiday Season YouTube Marketing Strategies
Google itself gives simple tips on How to stand out on YouTube over the holiday season that you can follow to stay above your competition this holiday season which includes:
- ‘How-to’ videos for holidays: Publishing ‘how-to’ videos for the various queries that generally arise in people’s minds as they plan for the holidays.
- Collaborate with YouTube creators: The holiday season is a time for celebration, not just for brands but for YouTube creators too. One of the holiday trends on YouTube that creators follow is ‘vlogmas,’ as part of which vloggers post short videos every day in December. Brands can partner with creators to promote their products to make the video watching experience more personalized throughout the holiday season to get the most out of the feeling of warmth that dominates the season!
- Putting your best creative foot forward: Tis a season of festive spirit, nostalgia, warm and fuzzy feelings. Brands must ensure their holiday season marketing strategy includes videos that evoke these feelings to stand out and grab the attention of their potential consumers by using any element, including emotional storytelling, social experiments, recreating old memories, or funny animation.
- YouTube is the way to go: Whether owned or paid media, the holiday season marketing campaign would yield better results on YouTube than other media. Having a digital-first approach would give better ROI than just running ads on TV or print. YouTube videos offer a more personalized experience, gaining more audience trust than on TV.
- Engage more with viewers and make them feel special: Capitalize on the optimism and free time that the holiday season brings by creating better content to make the viewers feel special. Engage more with bonus content, offering memberships, discounts, or running contests through the holiday season and make the season more cheerful for your audiences.
As consumers worldwide prep up for the holiday season and buy gifts for their loved ones, let your brand be their number one choice.
Strategize and launch your holiday season YouTube campaign now! Contact Touchstorm. Let our certified YouTube experts help your brand have a profitable holiday season!
