YouTube Live Stream Update

Promoting merchandise during your live stream using YouTube's new merchandise features can boost both views and sales, especially for content creators seeking to engage with their audience in real time.

How to pin your merch during live streams:

1. In YouTube’s Live Control Room create a new live stream or navigate to one you have already created.
2. Click on the "Shopping" tab below the live-stream preview.
3. Select the merchandise item you would like to promote by searching through your list of items, and click it or drag it to the "Shopping" preview panel.
4. Click on “Pin merchandise” to pin the item on top of the chat and promote it to your viewers
5. To end the promotion, click on “Unpin merchandise”

Three ways to increase sales while streaming and pinning merch:

• Samples: Currently creators are using samples to increase sales by up to 50% and when combined with YouTube Live this can be an extremely effective promotional technique. Order samples of your merch ahead of time and wear them while streaming to get viewers excited about your products.
• Limited time promo codes: Another great way to drive sales and engagement while streaming is to offer promo codes that expire in a short amount of time (like after the stream ends). You can create promo codes instantly in your Spring account to share on stream.
• Limited edition merch: Announcing limited edition merch during live stream is also very effective. You can make the product available for a limited amount of time to create a sense of urgency and make the purchasing experience both special and memorable. If you’re planning a merch drop make sure to update the listing’s visibility setting to ‘public’ ahead of time so your products will be added to your Merch Shelf product catalog.

FAQ

For more information on YouTube Live merch, visit YouTube’s help center article.

Can you pin multiple products at the same time?

Users can pin one item at a time, this maximizes the effectiveness of the feature.

Can you pin multiple products throughout the course of a stream?

Yes, but you can only pin one item at a time, so you can unpin and pin any other item among those available in your YouTube Shopping tab. 

How long does a product say ‘pinned’?

The product stays pinned until the stream ends. Fans can also dismiss the card if they prefer not to see it.

Is there a way to tell the difference between live sales from video sales in the YouTube dashboard?

Not yet, all sales will be reflected in the "Shopping" section of your YouTube Studio.