May 18, 2021 In an Increasingly Online World, Utilize YouTube Advertising to Enhance Corporate Awareness

Due to the novel-coronavirus pandemic, most companies’ sales, promotional, and recruiting activities are increasingly conducted in non-face-to-face settings. This makes it more difficult than ever to get noticed and gain familiarity with consumers. Furthermore, the pandemic has altered social trends; nowadays the majority people are spending more time at home and more time online. In turn, this has led to significant increases in the amount of time people spend on both video-streaming and video-sharing services.

Target audiences, such as potential and existing customers and job-hunting students, are watching more YouTube content and seeing more online ads than they are of outdoor advertising (digital signage and billboards), public transport advertising, in-taxi advertising, as well as advertising across the four main mass media (newspapers, magazines, radio and TV). In fact, Google stated the following (link in Japanese) last year.

2020 saw a dramatic increase in the number of people watching YouTube in Japan. In September 2020, the number of monthly YouTube users exceeded 65 million, 74% of users of the video service reported that their use of YouTube had increased.

From 2019 onwards, the internet advertising market has surpassed the TV advertising market, and, as mentioned above, this growth trend is accelerating. Nowadays, rather than choosing between TV and digital advertising, many companies have separate strategies for both mediums and are implementing appropriate campaigns for each.

In response to the above developments, a growing number of companies are commencing YouTube advertising activities.

The implementation of YouTube advertising campaigns is not limited to companies operating in B2C markets. Rather, as YouTube content is watched by a diverse range of users, the platform is an effective tool for B2B companies too - especially those that are having issues raising their current low levels of familiarity. So, YouTube is a medium that may be used by both B2C and B2B businesses that have concerns about how to reach their desired target audiences regarding their company and services.

An area where this is particularly noticeable is regarding employee recruitment, for this YouTube advertising is more effective than ever. This is largely because target audiences are highly engaged with the video sharing service.

One of the best ways to boost online recruitment activities is to develop a recruitment website. By sharing with jobseekers a true representation of the company, potential recruits can learn about the company, the workplace, and gain insights into the corporate atmosphere. As a result, candidates are better informed and can more effectively decide whether they’re a good cultural fit for the company, thereby reducing the chance of a mismatch. This is a key reason why many companies are currently investing much time and effort into their recruitment websites.

In addition to company-managed recruitment websites, jobseekers often gather information about potential employers through job-search sites. However, the company profile pages on these sites often consist of an abundance of text alongside a few small photos. This can make it difficult for jobseekers to envisage the working environment and culture. In addition, jobseekers are rarely deeply interested in the company they are viewing, and, even if they can get a feel for the company, not many are motivated enough to visit the company’s website to explore more in-depth career information.

With YouTube advertising, to increase familiarity and reduce job-seeker mismatches, companies can better express their culture and working environments, as well as promote their unique strengths in video format and then distribute that content to appropriate target audiences.

Both mass media and public transport advertising often cost several million yen - even for short campaigns. With YouTube advertising, however, companies can start small and have the flexibility to adjust both the scale and duration of their campaign. Furthermore, unlike TV commercials, it’s possible to specify target audiences, which makes it a cost-effective way of advertising.

For companies considering the use of different vendors for their video production, advertising, and recruitment website development, it can be very difficult to ensure project alignment and coordination with each of them with regard to the target audience, the purpose of the video, the budget for advertising activities, and consistency with the recruitment website.

At Mitsue-Links, we can provide all of the above-mentioned services. To learn more, at our upcoming "YouTube Video Advertising Seminar", scheduled for June 18th, we will be covering everything from "an introduction to YouTube advertising" to "the benefits of YouTube advertising, and what to look out for when distributing content" and "the key points of video production".

We’re looking forward to your attendance.