YouTube has introduced ‘shoppable’ cards within videos called “TrueView” for brands to sell products directly to individuals. This feature aims to connect the moment a person experiences a video with their impulse to make a purchase. In their blog post, YouTube says,
TrueView for shopping allows you to showcase product details and images – along with the ability to click to purchase from a brand or retail site – all within your video ad. It’s available for TrueView in-stream video ads on YouTube. And since we know that 50% of views on YouTube come from mobile devices, we’ve made sure that it works seamlessly across mobile phones, desktops, and tablets.
TrueView is built on YouTube’s new “cards platform” that beautifies video annotations, and now, advertisers can direct viewers to specific products that are associated with or featured directly in the video. YouTube says early testers of TrueView for shopping saw increases in sales. Wayfair, an online home goods retailer, saw a 3X revenue increase per impression served compared to their previous campaigns. Beauty retailer Sephora also tested TrueView to drive +80% lift in consideration and +54% lift in ad recall with an average view time of two minutes.
TureView video ads will be available on YouTube’s buying front-end in the coming months, but for now, only a handful of brands have access.
