Elevate your social strategy with YouTube

Discover how to tap into YouTube’s unique ecosystem and achieve social success

YouTube is unlike any other platform. It's a universe of content, from bite-sized Shorts to in-depth documentaries, which can be viewed across any format, from your phone to the living room. It fosters deeper connections that are leaned-in and intent-driven. And for brands, it's where those connections ignite opportunities.?

By tapping into this unique ecosystem, you can reach audiences who are actively seeking content related to their interests — leading to more meaningful engagement and more impactful campaigns.?

And if YouTube isn’t already part of your social strategy, you may be missing out on a large chunk of your audience. YouTube Connect brought together industry leaders and top creators to share how brands and agencies are integrating the platform into their social mix. Here’s what you need to know:?

Driving and measuring outcomes that matter?

With AI-powered tools and a diverse range of ad formats across Shorts, In-stream, and In-feed, you can drive measurable, lasting results and achieve your marketing objectives — whatever they may be.??

According to a custom MMM meta-analysis we commissioned with Nielsen, on average, YouTube drives 2.3x higher long-term ROAS than paid social.*

Shorts offer a powerful way to reach and engage consumers — and now they can be up to 3 minutes long. In fact, 40% of YouTube Shorts users in the U.S. aren't on TikTok or Instagram Reels at all.** That's a massive audience waiting to be discovered!

And according to MediaScience, among heavy users, YouTube Shorts ads are viewed longer, are better liked, and are seen as more personally relevant than ads on TikTok.**

We heard from Sejal Shah, global head of Shorts, that "YouTube has the reach and engagement you're looking for… and we're making it easier than ever to connect through our social-friendly products.

We announced a new suite of ways for your brand to stand out and make valuable connections on YouTube. For example, format buying controls on Video View Campaigns (VVC) allow customization across cost-per-view (CPV) formats so can do things like run a campaign exclusively in the Shorts feed, or showcase only your horizontal creative In-stream. And video enhancements on Demand Gen let you unlock additional YouTube inventory. Google AI flips your original video and creates videos in new aspect ratios, all while preserving key elements so your message can shine across YouTube's diverse formats. Find out all the latest social-first features here.

Enabling brands to tap into the power of creators?

Creators are the heart of the YouTube community, and their influence is undeniable. By collaborating with creators who align with your brand values, you can tap into their engaged audiences and build trust through authentic storytelling.?

With 4.8 million subscribers and over 700 million views, creator Michelle Khare said that “YouTube’s audience is your ride or die — the most engaged, the most dedicated, and they actually care about you.”?

John Battaglia, head of Social Enablement at YouTube, shared how partnership ads powered by BrandConnect let you leverage authentic creator videos in your campaigns — and they're now available globally across all AI-powered campaign types in Google Ads. We've also introduced a new central hub to simplify collaboration and management, putting the power of creator partnerships at your fingertips.

Beyond creator-made ads, Shah talked about new ways to make the most of creator-fan connections. YouTube Select Creator Takeovers let advertisers own 100% share of voice on select top creator channels for your awareness campaigns, and are now generally available in the U.S. and will be expanding to select global markets in 2025.

During a recent YouTube Select Creator Takeover with a sports creator, one advertiser was able to increase their brand equity with a +21% lift in brand favorability amongst those who watched their ad.****

Chad Coleman, Chief Brand Officer at Dude Perfect said that, “For 15 years, YouTube has been our home for our most premium, most engaging content. YouTube Select Creator Takeovers is another way for us to work with brands and partners to continue creating the exciting content that our audience loves."??

Driving a deep sense of connection on YouTube

When people are on YouTube, they’re open to getting inspired and discovering new things. They’re purposeful and intentional — they go deep on things they care about and they feel good about the time they spend on the platform.??

According to a survey conducted by Kantar, if viewers in the United States could only watch one service for an entire year, the #1 platform they chose was YouTube. This was true for GenZ (18-26) viewers as well.*****

So not only are a lot of your potential customers watching YouTube, they love to be there. And this love translates into loyalty for your brand — and allows you to show up during key moments to accelerate the path to purchase.?

As community and interaction evolves on YouTube, ads will continue innovating so that you can get better results. Shah summarized it beautifully saying, “YouTube has the audience you’re trying to reach, the engagement, and the trust that can drive true influence — so don’t miss out! You have strategies that are clearly working for you elsewhere, and we think YouTube is where you can get even more of the results you need to power your growth.”

Want more exclusive insights? Sign up for Re:View to dive into the latest thought leadership around marketing, video culture, and more.

* Source: Equity-to-Sales MMM Meta Analysis commissioned by Google, covering a 2-year measurement period of 20 CPG brands from across the 2021-2023 timeframe. "Long-term ROAS" is defined as impact of each marketing channel in driving brand equity & this brand equity's impact in driving sales, relative to the marketing channel's media spend.

** Source: Google commissioned MediaScience 'The Power of Adjacency' Study, United States, February 2024

*** According to a survey by Morgan Stanley AlphaWise, 84% of TikTok users are already using YouTube Shorts, whereas 40% of YouTube Shorts users are not using TikTok at all (US, April '24). Source: AlphaWise Survey Methodology: Online survey among ~2,000 16+ gen pop U.S. consumers, conducted during March 2024. Total sample is representative of the U.S. general population in terms of age, gender and region. The margin of error on the total sample is ±1.8% at 90% confidence level; higher for subgroups. Where applicable, findings are compared to past waves conducted since 2020.

**** Source: Kantar - Context Lab Methodology, September 2024

***** Source: Google/Kantar, WhyVideo, n=2177 weekly video viewers 18-64 (US), n=652 GenZ (18-26), fielded from (1/17/24-2/7/24). Competitive set includes 9 market competitors: Linear TV, Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, Max, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat