A look back at YouTube Shopping in 2023, from five of your favorite creators
Dec 14, 2023 – [[read-time]] minute read
Every day, people come to YouTube to connect with the things and creators they love. And in 2023, we took a big leap forward towards making these connections deeper, easier and more fulfilling with YouTube Shopping.
It all started with our expanded YouTube Shopping affiliate program, allowing more creators than ever before to tag and sell the products they love directly to their audiences while earning competitive commissions.
We also made tagging these products more intuitive, allowing creators to add more products more easily and boost their earnings with features like timestamp tagging and our new bulk tagging feature.
With brands like Walmart, REVOLVE, Fenty Beauty and even creator-owned lines like Popflex joining in, the growth has been amazing. There are more than 350M shopping-related videos on YouTube (as of December 2023).
And with new features coming and more creators, brands and artists connecting their stores every day, there’s only going to be more people buying what they love from creators they trust on YouTube in 2024.
But before we turn the page to 2024, let’s look at how five different creators from very different categories leveraged YouTube Shopping to grow their channels – and boost their sales – in 2023:
LongHairPrettyNails let her audience decide what products are next.
I started my YouTube channel because I wanted to share nail art tutorials and experiment with the latest nail products. I got into trying all different kinds of nail products, discovering what I liked and didn’t like, and what my fans liked too. As my subscriber base grew, more and more people started asking me if I was going to launch a product of my own, and I was inspired to go out and do it! Eventually I was able to grow my own business – the first time I sold my own brand on YouTube I had 1,000 boxes sitting in a room and they sold out in ten days.
On YouTube, I can connect directly with my audience through features like the Community Tab and comments. And now, I can look to them to help me decide which colors, textures, and finishes I should launch next. Being able to see fan’s reactions to my tagged Shopping content also gives me a really helpful look at what they love most. These insights are really changing the game for me on my channel.
Hot and Flashy helped fans navigate the most anticipated sales of the year.
I know how much my audience anticipates the biggest sales of the year for brands like Nordstrom and Sephora, so I always make sure to lean in and try to help them get the best deals on all my favorite products ahead of these events.
I’ve built trust with my subscribers on YouTube, and not only have I been able to accelerate my affiliate earnings, but I’ve helped my audience navigate these sales to find products they’ll truly love!
Hevesh5 fueled interest and discovery by tapping into what’s now.
As a professional Domino Artist, I’ve been setting up and knocking down intricate domino projects for over 15 years. After seeing various issues with the limited amount of precision-manufactured dominoes on the market, I decided to make my own product, H5 Domino Creations! My goal was to create the world's highest quality dominoes, designed specifically for toppling. The final product had to be something I was truly proud of, that I'd naturally want to use myself. Now, in turn, everyone can enjoy building with the same dominoes I work with as a professional.
One of the best ways I've found to get people interested in dominoes is by creating art inspired by trending topics that my community and I care about. I love making domino projects in celebration of events, movies, popular characters, holidays, and other moments I'm looking forward to. It's a fun way to connect with my community and get people excited about the creative possibilities using my line of dominoes.
Tech with Brett made it easy to shop big ticket items without the stress.
I used to work in sales at a tech company, and every day I met people who needed help with the products and didn’t know where to go or how to find the information they needed. So I set out to create YouTube tutorials that taught people everything you could do on your phone. As time went on, I’ve been able to expand on the tech I talk about and review, and was able to become a full-time creator!
If I don’t believe in the product, I won’t recommend it. And this is especially important when it comes to some of the bigger purchases people are looking for recommendations on, from smartphones to TVs to refrigerators. I know that if I have a question about a product, many, many others are going to have the same one. And if I’m able to answer that question on my channel, outline everything you need to know about it, and make it directly shoppabled from my YouTube video, I’ll know that I’ve helped make a purchasing decision a little bit easier.
Seth Fowler earned credibility with affiliate marketing to pave the way for his own brand.
I’ve always loved sneakers ever since I started playing basketball. When I started posting sneaker reviews on my YouTube channel, it really took off – I think people appreciated my unique perspective as someone with a background in industrial design. I share my favorite sneakers with my audience and cover the most hyped upcoming sneaker drops.
I started making my videos shoppable so they could be even more helpful to people – and I’ve been able to see what resonates most with my audience, which really gave me the confidence to launch my own brand, APTHCRY.
We hope hearing from these creators inspires you to see how YouTube Shopping can help you grow and get excited for what’s to come next year!