The holiday shopping season is already in full swing, especially with just 27 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. And with so much noise from brands and publishers around what to buy, there’s a premium on attention across all screens.
Still, understanding key social video insights and consumer behaviors can help cut through the noise during the busy holiday season. Below, we take a look at our top tips to make an impact with holiday shoppers via social video.
Show Consumers What They Want
Some of the top US TikTok clothing trends right now are to the point: #christmasoutfit and #thanksgivingoutfit have both gained significant engagement velocity in the last 30 days, in part by speaking directly to what consumers are looking for.
While consumers still search for broader content around shopping and clothing at this time of year, these are popular topics during the holidays. Apparel brands can publish content (and partner with creators) to target the “why” for consumers and quickly move into the sales funnel.
You see this even more directly from brands like Amazon. Along with the aforementioned trends, #AmazonJackets is also a top clothing trend on TikTok right now. The topic is direct and undoubtedly leads right to ways in which viewers can buy a jacket from Amazon.
Choose the Right Creator Partner
Individual creators have accounted for 89% of US YouTube views in the first 8 days of November, a trend unlikely to slow. Despite the success of many creators, brand partners are looking to avoid becoming white noise in a sea of posts.
For instance, the top six US YouTube creators in November thus far (through Nov. 8) have all published 20 or more videos. A single-video partnership may generate a solid bump for a brand working with any one of those successful individuals. However, there’s also a high likelihood that a single-video partnership fades into the background quickly with some of these creators publishing hundreds (!!!) of YouTube videos per month.
Diving deeper into audience make up, views, and engagements per video, publishers can unearth the right fit and the most likely partner to reach their intended audiences.
For example, on the high end, MrBeast is generating the most views per video (73.1 million) and engagements per video (3.1 million) of any US creator so far in November. Elsewhere, other creators are still generating hundreds of thousands of engagements per video, and may be able to partner for a lower rate.
Find The Shoppers You Want, Where You Want Them
Beauty creators come from all over— as do their audiences. For brands looking to reach specific audiences, understanding unique viewers can guide a more targeted partnership strategy.
For instance, Erin Degan was the top beauty creator by unique US viewers, with 12.5 million viewers. She is based domestically, as are the next four creators by unique US viewers. But No. 6 is Barber Maestros, who’s based in Brazil. A basic look at US creators wouldn’t surface Barber Maestros as a partner opportunity.
Digging even deeper, brands can determine which beauty creators reach the largest number of US female viewers aged 13 to 24. That list changes even more. While Erin Degan remains No. 1, Emma Grace and Lucy Seitz rise, and MissDarcei (from Canada) comes up at No. 4 with the specified audience.
Know What Specific Shoppers Are Actually Watching
Beauty and personal care shoppers aren’t ONLY watching beauty content. And assuming as much could actually cost brands money when looking for video partnerships.
Tubular consumer insights data shows that over the last six months, consumers who shopped for beauty and personal care products on Amazon were watching related video content around anti-aging (8.4x more likely than the norm) and K-Beauty (8.3x more likely). BUT, they were also 9.7x more likely to be watching Food Network content, 9.0x more likely to watch content about Greek cuisine, and 8.3x more likely to be watching content about Greek life.
Understanding these video behaviors saves dollars and prevents blending into a competitive background by identifying areas where partnerships can stand out.