YouTube takes video marketing up a notch with emerging AI technology and shoppability features
Social media basically reads our minds, and the technology that used to just be how we stalked ex’s is now telling us how to shop.
Not to be outdone by Instagram and TikTok, Google-owned YouTube is diving into the AI-directed affiliate game in a huge way.
On March 22, YouTube began testing an algorithm in the U.S. that can identify products in videos and recommend points of sale to consumers, promising HUGE affiliate sales. (Example: they would start giving you ads for the life jacket in this tear-jerker.)
This feature uses image recognition and machine learning to make it easier for consumers to purchase items they see their favorite streamer use, promote, or wear through purchase suggestions and pre, mid, and post-roll ads. What a time to be alive!
There are over 5 BILLION videos viewed on YouTube every day (more than five times more than TikTok or Instagram), and the self-publishing content giant is still the second largest search engine on the planet.
Coupled with a PPC strategy around suggested products, discovery ads, and good ol’ fashioned reviews from YouTubers, there are a number of ways to succeed in video advertising.
The applications of such technology seem limitless. For those with a private label lifestyle brand, reaching out to YouTubers now could create tons of sales in the future.
There is some question about when this technology will be effective, but popular videos on YouTube tend to live for a long time. Becoming an early adopter might pay huge dividends.
Time to TikTok dance your ass all the way to the bank!
