YouTube Ads for Toy Stores: Building Demand Before Christmas

YouTube ads work for toy stores that sell their own brand, and they need to start in late October. Their job is to build future demand and more searches for your brand before Christmas. In the toy accounts I run, YouTube doesn’t show any lift for the first few weeks, so starting in December is too late.

This is based on five toy store accounts I’ve run over the last three years, and it’s part of the complete guide to Google Ads for toy stores.

Should every toy store run YouTube ads?

No. YouTube is worth it only if you sell your own brand. In that case, about 10% of the Google Ads budget goes to YouTube in the accounts I run.

The reason is what YouTube does: it makes people remember a name they’ll search for later. If that name is yours, you collect those searches. If you resell well-known brands, the toy manufacturer already does this work, and someone who remembers the brand from a video might buy it anywhere. For resellers, that 10% does more in Search and Shopping or Performance Max.

Who can toy stores target on YouTube: kids or parents?

Parents and other adults who buy toys. Google turns off ads personalisation for users under 18, on YouTube and across Google’s display ads (Google Ads policy).

On YouTube content set as “made for kids”, the rules go further (Google Ads policy):

• No personalised ads and no third-party trackers.
• Ads must not incite children to buy a product.
• No misleading claims, and claims must be backed up in the video itself.
• No suggestion that the toy will make a child more popular.
• Ads in the YouTube Kids app must be approved by YouTube before they show.

The practical answer is to aim at adults: target parents, gift buyers and people who already know your store, and write the ad for them.

When should a toy store start YouTube ads?

Late October. In the toy accounts I run, YouTube takes a few weeks before it shows any lift. Starting in late October means the lift arrives in November and December, when about 30% of yearly sales happen.

There’s a cost argument too. In November and December, CPCs in toy accounts jump around 70%. Building demand before that, when attention is cheaper, means more people already know your brand when the expensive weeks begin.

What should a toy store’s YouTube ad show?

Show the toy being played with, and speak to the adult who pays:

• The toy in use, in real hands, at real size. Parents want to see what they’re buying.
• The age range and what the child gets out of it: building, creativity, outdoor play.
• Why buy from you: delivery before Christmas, gift wrapping, easy returns.
• No pressure on children. No “ask your parents” lines and no claims that it will make a child popular. Both are against Google’s rules for kids’ content.

Parents often watch together with their children. In research commissioned by Precise TV, 60% of parents said they’re more inclined to buy a product they saw advertised while watching with their child (NetInfluencer). That’s another reason to make the ad work for the adult in the room.

How do you measure YouTube ads for a toy store?

Measure the searches for your brand. YouTube’s job is to build future demand, so the result shows up somewhere else:

• More searches for your brand in your Search campaigns and in Google Search Console, from a few weeks after launch.
• More sales from those brand searches in November and December.
• Better results in Shopping and Performance Max for your own-brand products.

Judged only on last-click sales, YouTube will almost always look like a loss. Compare brand search volume before and after the campaign instead, and against the same weeks last year.

How does YouTube fit with other toy store campaigns?

YouTube comes first in the season, then Gmail and Discover remind people before Black Friday, and Search and Shopping collect the demand. In my Demand Gen accounts generally, YouTube converts a bit better than Gmail, though each channel has a different role. For the full plan, see the complete guide to Google Ads for toy stores.