YouTube’s Latest Creator Updates Target Shopping

YouTube users are voracious viewers of shopping-related content.

The platform clocked more than 30 billion watch hours of these shopping videos in 2023, while content that helps people shop saw a 25 percent jump in watch time.

So naturally, the online video behemoth would like to ensure there’s plenty more for them to see in 2024.

The company unveiled a spate of enhancements on Tuesday to keep creators cranking. These include the ability to make curated collections of product recommendations, a new affiliate hub to find items for shoppable content, expanded bulk tagging that works for creators’ own merchandise and the integration of Fourthwall, which specializes in building no-fuss creator shops.

YouTube wants to make shopping better, not just for creators, but for their followers too, so they can easily access pricing, ratings, reviews and more without leaving the platform or picking through words in the description.

Bridget Dolan, managing director of partnerships for YouTube Shopping, told WWD that it all is part of a dynamic that brands should be paying attention to.

Dolan’s 20 years as a Sephora executive under LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton gives her a particular retail perspective, and that extends to her role of shaping the creator community for the world’s most popular online video-sharing platform.

“Viewers are interested in what creators have to say, and then you’re really seeing which creators and which products the viewers are interested in,” she said. “And from that, you’re able to provide more targeted ads that give them things that they’re interested in.”

She sees another avenue of opportunity in the platform’s affiliate program. Since it launched in July, the program has racked up more than 300 participating brands, including Sephora, Ulta, Target, Walmart and other retail heavyweights. If any of them have a big sale or drop in the works, or some other upcoming major moment they’d like creators to focus on, they can increase the commissions and then see which personalities sell well for them based on YouTube’s analytics.

For her previous employer’s Sephora Savings Event, which is on now and continues through April 15, YouTube creators received early access to information on which products would be bestsellers. This allowed them to create relevant videos in time for the event through the affiliate program.

The strategy lives on in the new affiliate hub. The hub gives creators a way to see a sale or other event in advance, so they have plenty of time to create content and have it ready. It’s not just about posting the right video or product review, but putting it out there in the right moment, driving shoppers to particular channels or stores.

Of course, the format of the videos matters, too.

In the U.S., the company’s long-form video-on-demand has been the bread and butter for loads of creators, according to Dolan. But now the popularity of concise clips via YouTube Shorts is surging. “It’s shocking how fast Shorts is growing, and shopping Shorts are growing just as fast,” she said.

Meanwhile, other parts of the world, like South Korea and Brazil, are embracing live shopping. “Live is having a place in the U.S. and in the U.K., too, [usually] around when a creator has a hot drop of their own merchandise, or if you have a big moment…like those moments that are highly anticipated.”

Strategizing for those big moments takes more than kismet. Aligning creators and brands requires a coordinated strategy — and sometimes, YouTube goes beyond its video platform and into the real world to pull it together.

Dolan brought up another example: Coachella.

On Monday, the company invited creators to its Los Angeles office to hear Revolve discuss some of the looks that it expects to see at the festival or in the Coachella shop in its marketplace. The purpose was to prepare creators, so they can recognize the looks while covering the event, which starts this weekend.

“They can tag the products; they can create content ahead of time, and be anticipating that moment — and then be there, livestreaming and talking about what they’re seeing at Coachella,” she said.

That’s not the only in-person meet-up YouTube is planning. Dolan casts YouTube as a sort of party host that facilitates connections. On a monthly basis, other gatherings will play up themes, such as how to differentiate the storytelling behind a brand. These are smaller, more focused meetups compared to, say, the teeming masses of creators at VidCon. Biweekly webinars are also on the menu, with YouTube inviting brands to discuss products they want creators to know more about.

Even the new collections capability can extend a brand if used right.

“One of the trends that we’re seeing for creators is, if a creator is a beauty creator or a fashion creator, we’re seeing a blending where viewers want to know what fashion [the beauty creator] is wearing, or what beauty the fashion creator is wearing,” said Dolan.

“We’re seeing that they’re interested in the couch behind them, every aspect of their lives. Everybody’s becoming more and more lifestyle.”