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Southeast Asia

Why it’s time to rethink full-funnel marketing with video: YouTube’s influence on shoppers

JeeSoo Lee, Ibrahim Shadid / July 2024

A mindset shift toward video marketing is taking place.

Marketers who’ve reexamined its potential are starting to recognise how a platform like YouTube, once perceived as being for brand building, influences shoppers across the full funnel.

YouTube is the one place where people can watch millions of exciting creators and artists, and go deep into expansive worlds of content.

The digital video platform has continuously evolved. So marketers miss out on unlocking YouTube’s full potential when they base their understanding of it and strategies on TV advertising, which came before.

In fact, YouTube drives results across the marketing funnel — from awareness to consideration and action.

Our latest studies on consumers in Southeast Asia (SEA) point to YouTube as the platform shoppers use to research products and make purchase decisions. That behaviour is fueled by YouTube’s content, AI-powered marketing campaigns, and creators.

To help you optimise performance across the marketing funnel with YouTube, we dig into the consumer truth and AI-powered innovations that underpin the platform’s success.

Consumer truth: Shoppers use YouTube to make purchase decisions

For many shoppers, the path to purchase is a complex one, involving thorough research on what to buy. And YouTube plays a key role in that decision-making process.

In SEA, 2 in 5 consumers say they use online videos while researching,1 and 86% of them use YouTube in their research journey.2

They also turn to YouTube to explore the products they’re interested in:

A red play button overlays an Xbox gaming controller, highlighting that 89% of consumers use YouTube to research electronics to learn about the products, demonstrating YouTube’s crucial role in enhancing the shopping experience.
A red magnifying glass overlays a food mixer, indicating that 88% of consumers use YouTube to research home appliances to learn about the products, suggesting how marketers can effectively boost engagement on YouTube with video marketing strategies.
A red finger points at a smartphone, showing that 88% of consumers use YouTube to research smartphones to learn about the products, showcasing YouTube’s role in their purchase journey and driving purchase intent.
A red tick overlays a facial mask bowl with a leaf, indicating that 84% of consumers use YouTube to research personal care items to learn about the products, suggesting how marketers can use AI campaigns for video marketing to drive purchase intent.
A red credit card overlays a singlet, indicating that 77% of consumers use YouTube to research clothing or shoes to learn about the products, suggesting how marketers can further enhance the shopping experience through helpful YouTube videos.

Source: Shopper Pulse, SEA (excluding Malaysia). On which of the following websites or apps did you watch online videos to learn about the products/subscriptions/services etc.? Base: Total n=26,458, Used YouTube n=9,244, Used Facebook n=6711, Used TikTok n=5,840, 2022–2023.

Source: Shopper Pulse, SEA (excluding Malaysia). On which of the following websites or apps did you watch online videos to learn about the products/subscriptions/services etc.? Base: Total n=26,458, Used YouTube n=9,244, Used Facebook n=6711, Used TikTok n=5,840, 2022–2023.

Source: Shopper Pulse, SEA (excluding Malaysia). On which of the following websites or apps did you watch online videos to learn about the products/subscriptions/services etc.? Base: Total n=26,458, Used YouTube n=9,244, Used Facebook n=6711, Used TikTok n=5,840, 2022–2023.

Source: Shopper Pulse, SEA (excluding Malaysia). On which of the following websites or apps did you watch online videos to learn about the products/subscriptions/services etc.? Base: Total n=26,458, Used YouTube n=9,244, Used Facebook n=6711, Used TikTok n=5,840, 2022–2023.

Source: Shopper Pulse, SEA (excluding Malaysia). On which of the following websites or apps did you watch online videos to learn about the products/subscriptions/services etc.? Base: Total n=26,458, Used YouTube n=9,244, Used Facebook n=6711, Used TikTok n=5,840, 2022–2023.

Besides providing information about products, YouTube inspires shoppers to make purchases. A Kantar study found that YouTube drove 3.8X greater purchase intent than other social platforms on average.3 And at least 69% of SEA respondents agree that YouTube Shorts makes them feel more confident in their purchase decisions.4

On average, YouTube drives 3.8X greater purchase intent than other social platforms for various products, as suggested by a man flashing a red triangle on a game controller, smartphone, and a face mask bowl.

There are two reasons consumers favour YouTube for research and decision-making. One of them has to do with the “shoppertainment” trend. An immersive experience that blends shopping with entertainment, its gross merchandise value is set to hit over $1 trillion by 2025.

The growth of shoppertainment is linked to consumers’ insatiable appetite for novelty and stimulation — 93% of respondents in SEA considered these factors important in their lives.5 And YouTube is satisfying the demand for an entertaining shopping experience with its engaging video formats and content.

The second reason for YouTube’s appeal to shoppers is it connects them with creators who showcase products in creative ways. In Indonesia, for instance, 61% of viewers say YouTube has the most impactful creator and influencer content that would lead them to research, consider, or make a purchase.6 An example is the humorous product demonstration videos of the popular Indonesian creator Willie Salim.

YouTube’s AI-powered evolution: More engagement, efficiency, and creator empowerment

As consumers’ needs evolve, YouTube has kept pace by boosting engagement and enhancing the shopping experience on its platform.

Creators can now tag products in their YouTube videos, Shorts, and livestreams, so that viewers can seamlessly browse and purchase featured products while watching the videos. Audiences in South Korea can even discover and buy products in real time through YouTube’s shopping tab and live shopping channel.

AI-powered ad campaigns that run on YouTube have also fuelled shoppers’ consideration and purchases via the platform.

For instance, Performance Max, which is powered by Google AI, can make more accurate predictions about which ads and creative combinations perform best for different customer intents. It then delivers them accordingly to help brands optimise toward their business goals.

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In the case of Shopee, the leading SEA marketplace had aimed to expand its app presence in the region and Taiwan. Recognizing YouTube’s potential in driving user engagement, including app installs, it used the engaging YouTube format of vertical videos in its App campaigns to reach the most relevant audience. That resulted in a 5% increase in app installs and a 3% improvement in cost per install.

For the Vietnamese cosmetics brand HV Net, it was able to make its products more shoppable by using Video action campaigns. It ran experiments to optimise for the ABCDs of effective creative and achieved a 7X increase in conversions and a 78% decrease in cost per acquisition.

From the get-go, YouTube’s role in marketing has been more than brand-building. With its millions of engaging creators, captivating content, and continuous AI innovations, it’s the one place that lets you influence customers at every stage of the purchase journey, and drive performance across the full marketing funnel.

Contributor: Ann Hsieh, Video Specialist

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JeeSoo Lee

Analytical Consultant Google

Ibrahim Shadid

Principal Analytical Lead Google

1 Shopper Pulse, SEA (Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines and Singapore), Which sources of information did you use when deciding on what to purchase? Base: Total n=26,458, 2022-2023

2 Shopper Pulse, SEA (Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines and Singapore), On which of the following websites or apps did you watch online videos to learn about the products/subscriptions/services etc.? Base: Total n=26,458, Used YouTube n=9,244, 2022-2023.

3 Google-commissioned Kantar Context Lab Meta Analysis, SEA (ID, MY, PH, SG, TH, VN), Base a list of studies selected and compiled by Kantar consisting of all available CPG Context Lab Studies completed from 2018-2023 that contain YouTube and Social Platform results from SEA Region. This list includes 274 Studies where YouTube Video Ads were measured and 74 Studies where Social Platform Video Ads was measured. Uplift refers to difference in metric between Test & Control Groups. Average Uplift delivered by YouTube on Purchase Intent ("very likely" to purchase the brand) was 3.1 pts, while Average Uplift delivered by Social Platforms was 0.8 pts. YouTube was able to drive an uplift for Purchase Intent 71% of the time and 45% of the studies where YouTube was measured reported an Uplift above Average, 2018–2023.

4 Google/Material, Power of YouTube Shorts 2024, SEA (Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand), n=1,806, Ages 13-54, Field Dates: 17 Nov. 2023–22 Nov. 2023.

5 Kantar Global Monitor, ID, MY, PH, TH, VN, 2023.

6 Google/Talk Shoppe, Indonesia, Creator-made Ads Ecosystem 2023 study, n=2,000 weekly video users, A18-64.