All of you, no doubt, have been thrown a curveball or two - or perhaps more - by the unfolding COVID-19 outbreak. SearchStar is no different, with the future of ADFUTURES20 cast into doubt and our event partners making murmurings - rightly - of cancellations.

What a shame it would have been to cancel ADFUTURES20, give the success of FacebookXADFUTURES earlier in the year. So, turning a challenge none of us were expecting into a positive for everyone involved, we decided to take YouTubeXADFUTURES online.

What a fantastic decision that turned out to be. With just two weeks to work with, we took what was going to be an intimate in-person event at Google HQ and turned it into a webinar for all, welcoming a far larger 150 people into the “room” for a morning of insight and product announcements.

YouTubeXADFUTURES20: In Summary

With Google and YouTube involved, this was no ordinary webinar; NDAs needed to be signed, addresses gathered for swag and prizes to be won.

Unfortunately, because of the required NDA we’re unable to simply share the video in this blog post. But if you would like to watch and discover more about the future of YouTube and video advertising, and don’t mind signing on the dotted line, please just get in touch >>>

As a quick teaser of all the glorious content inside, below you’ll find a quick summary of everything Dan talked about, followed by the synopsis of each of the talks from Google and YouTube. What isn't below is Rob Langan's Intrepid Travel case study, to see that you'll have to watch the webinar!


The State of YouTube

Dan Fallon, SearchStar

Dan started his State of Youtube presentation by highlighting just how shrewd Google’s $1.6bn 2006 purchase of the business was. Indeed, the platform took $15bn in ad revenue in 2019 alone, and that figure is growing.

But why is it so successful, and why does it continue to grow?

Firstly, tv simply isn’t what it used to be - its ability to reach and deliver ROI is eroding. To illustrate that, achieving an 80% reach in 2013 cost £1.1m. Today, that reach would cost £2.7m. Addressable YouTube makes far more sense to get the reach.

Secondly, YouTube is far more accessible to smaller businesses. A huge number of “start-up” businesses have seen huge success on YouTube. For them it simply makes sense. They can push very targeted content out to a closely defined audience. With YouTube you can be a big brand to some people - those who matter - and totally unknown to audiences who aren’t in your target market.

The other joy of YouTube, for Dan, is the platform’s ability to work across the entire funnel. You can craft creative that targets every step of the customer journey, from brand awareness, to more in-depth explainer videos, right through to sales messaging.

The Weird And Wonderful World of YouTube

Roxanne Brownlee, Google

YouTube is not just an online streaming platform. Every day, a billion hours of content are consumed on YouTube - this incomprehensibly large number is 6x the daily global watch time of Netflix. YouTube is a cultural phenomenon which has disrupted linear TV, community building, social influence and consumer behavior. This talk will show you how. Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of YouTube.

The ABCDs of Effective Creative

Kelsey Bowers, YouTube UK

“On YouTube, people watch what they want to watch. And they aren’t an easy audience—the entire internet and every other video on YouTube are just a click away.” What makes a great YouTube creative? Kelsey will deep-dive into the ABCDs of effective YouTube creative; how to attract, brand to, connect with and direct action from your audience.

Putting The You on YouTube

Subir Majumdar, YouTube Ads

You can't always outspend your competitors, but you can out think them. Subir will talk through what success on YouTube looks like, the best in class features, and how you can construct a winning strategy, whatever your marketing goal.