YouTube Has Launched a Live Test of Product Tags Within Videos

YouTube has entered into the next phase of their program that allows creators to tag specific items directly in their videos.

With e-commerce up 77% year-over-year since the start of COVID-19, this update "empowers businesses to provide an easier and more direct shopping experience to their ideal buyers."

YouTube also shared they were:

“...testing a new way for people to easily discover and purchase products featured in YouTube videos. Creators in this pilot can add certain products to their videos. Viewers can then see a list of featured products by clicking the shopping bag icon on the bottom left corner of the video.

From there, viewers can explore each product’s page to see more information, related videos, and purchase options for that product.” 

What you need to know about this update

The pilot is only being tested with a select group of creators and only users who live in the United States will be able to see these changes on their phones or desktops. 

We don’t know when this will be released to all creators. One thing is clear, however — the pandemic forced a massive shift toward e-commerce, which means it won’t be long before we should see video shopping capabilities across all social media platforms. 

🔎 Related YouTube resources:

• How to optimize YouTube for business (on-demand webinar)
• How to upload a video to YouTube, the ultimate checklist for brands
• 5 ways to ace your YouTube SEO strategy in 2021

Even without a direct release date, it’s important to start thinking about how you can add this to your video strategy for the year. With this new tagging ability, you would be able to create a seamless call to action for your product or services, overall creating a better UX experience for your viewers. 

Best practices to keep in mind for video

While this update helps give more direct access to purchase it’s important to add it as a factor to your video strategy not make it the whole strategy. Remember leaning on The Video 6 will guarantee that you maintain a high-quality standard for your branded videos. 

What are The Video 6? I'm so glad you asked:

Keeping these key elements in mind and being able to link directly within YouTube will allow you to elevate your video game and stay on top of the e-commerce world.