Do you want to advertise on YouTube Ads? Google’s video platform is the second social network with the most active Internet users worldwide, surpassing the number of 2 billion unique users per month.
This is just one of the reasons why creating campaigns on YouTube Adsis one of the most powerful tactics in terms of reach, traffic acquisition, sales or engagement, whatever the business you have (eCommerce, Blog, corporate site, etc.)
All this, together with the illuminating fact that it is estimated that about 90,000 videos are viewed every second around the world on this platform, I think they are more than enough reasons so that, if you still do not know it, you will discover what exactly it is about this way of advertising online:
What is YouTube Ads and How to Create a Successful Video Ad?
Youtube Ads is the advertising and video marketing system that Google offers us to include advertisements before, during or after the video reproductions made by YouTube users.
This platform, in combination with other types of advertising campaigns and advertisements available in Google Ads, will allow you to carry out a more solid and global Digital advertising strategy.
To work on this platform, remember that there are also free products, such as those developed by Clever Ads, that can help you create your campaigns more quickly and that offer you a multitude of tools to save you time and facilitate this work.
But, if you want to know more in detail what advertising on YouTube Ads is for and how it works, continue reading this excellent guide that Laura Sánchez, who is part of the Clever Ads team, has prepared for us.
YouTube Ads: Everything you need to know to advertise successfully
Advertising on YouTube through this proprietary platform allows you to advertise your company, products or services before, during or after the videos available on it and in different formats.
This audiovisual social network, furthermore, as it belongs to the “Google ecosystem”, allows executing strategic actions, combining data and audiences from the two search engines to obtain the best results and maximize the reach to your users.
Some facts about YouTube:
- 81% of users are encouraged to purchase a product or service after watching a brand’s video. Additionally, 75% of advertisers say that advertising in this format helped them increase their sales.
- Every year, the number of advertisers in this “Ads” system increases by 40%.
- The average user watches more than an hour and a half of video content a day, and 15% do so for more than 3 hours.
- The 50% of users prefer to consume content in audiovisual format rather than in other formats.
- In Spain, YouTube is the second most visited page after Google.
- According to HubSpot, 82% of global internet traffic will be video by 2021.
Being more specific, and in view of these data …
Why advertise on YouTube Ads?
On this occasion, since we know what it is and some interesting data, let’s see the reasons for working with this platform:
It allows you to position yourself better in Google
Supporting your video content with it helps you generate traffic for them and, as a result, appear among the first Google results.
This in turn allows you to reach more people and have better CTR’s.
In order to position your clips on the first page, you will have to work on different aspects, in addition to attracting traffic, social networks or other media.
Some of them are:
- Embed them on pages with a good domain authority .
- Do link building, achieving quality links to our audiovisual tracks.
- Geolocate your videos to improve your positioning towards your specific target.
- Upload videos frequently : The more videos with more views you have, the easier they will be to position.
- Optimize the title and description for your main keywords.
- Publish it in hidden, and when it has a significant number of reproductions, make it public.
They have a lot of reach
As we saw reflected in the data, this is, after Google, the second most used search engine in the world.
That is why, in addition, being in the same business ecosystem and sharing information, YouTube advertising campaigns have an immense reach and superior to the rest .
You will reach your target audience wherever they are
It allows you to advertise your audiovisual content on any device, including smartphones, tablets, laptops, computers, and smart TVs, among others.
Video content has higher retention and engagement
In addition, they achieve greater stimulation in the user, and therefore a higher level of interaction and engagement.
In this way, ads of this type manage to retain the user for longer and connect with their emotions, leading to better results.
You only pay when the user sees the ad
YouTube Ads allows you to pay when someone views at least 30 seconds of your ad or clicks on it. In this way, you will only pay when the user has actually seen your ad.
You can reach more qualified target audiences
It allows you to segment your ad campaigns according to more than ten different targeting methods depending on your needs:
- Demographic groups such as age, gender, parental status, or income.
- Detailed demographics such as college education, homeowners, or new parents.
- Interests in specific topics.
- Remarketing on users who have interacted with your videos.
- Remarketing on users who have interacted with your website or app.
- Segmentation according to your own Online and Offline customer data.
- Lookalike audiences based on lists of your own data.
- Targeting ads to specific channels, applications or pages.
- Ad targeting to specific topics on YouTube and Google Display.
- Ads by keywords.
- Ad campaigns by device.
You can measure your results in real time
With YouTube Analytics you can see the impact that your ads in this format have on users and make decisions taking into account which campaigns work best .
This platform also offers you ad metrics with measurable data, such as:
- The users who visit your channel.
- Demographic information of those users.
- Level of participation of the same.
- Average display duration of your ads.
- Which videos generate the most response and interactions.
- How much money have you invested in a segmented way.
In addition, it gives you tips so you know how to make your video campaigns work even better and are always optimized.
Now that you are clear about the advantages of advertising with video ads through YouTube ads, we are going to compare the different types of existing YouTube ads so that you can determine which ones interest you.
It should be clear that although the content of the video ads must be hosted on YouTube itself, they can also be shown on Google’s audiovisual partners.
1) skippable in-stream ads
- These types of YouTube ads are shown before, during or after other YouTube videos .
- The user can skip them after 5 seconds .
- They are charged through CPV (cost per view), when the user has seen 30 seconds of your video (or the entire video if it has a shorter duration) or when they interact with it (click).
- Keep in mind that with target CPM and CPA bidding strategies, or maximize conversions, you will pay per impression and not per view.
- 8/10 viewers prefer this type of ad as they have more control over it. Plus 76% of them reflexively skip them, so you make sure the viewers who stay to see it (and those you pay for) are genuinely interested in what you offer.
2) Non-skippable in-stream ads
- This type of YouTube ads also appear before, during or after other videos on YouTube, but they cannot be skipped under any circumstances. This way you make sure that the user sees it in full.
- They have a maximum duration of 15 seconds .
- You pay for impressions , using the target CPM bid strategy.
- This type of strategy is more suitable for brand awareness campaigns that want to achieve massive exposure.
- In these types of ads, it is very important to define your audience targeting well so that you do not spoil your budget.
3) Discovery Ads or video discovery ads
- They are shown in search results on YouTube, along with other related videos, and on the platform’s home page on mobile devices.
- Users must click to view the video, so you will be charged per click (PPC).
- The size of this ad will vary depending on where it appears.
4) bumper ads
- They can appear before, during or after other videos and have a maximum length of 6 seconds .
- They cannot be skipped.
- Charged per impressions (CPM).
- It allows you to reach wide audiences with short messages, therefore they are more effective in achieving brand awareness objectives .
- They are usually used in a complementary way to other types of YouTube ads.
5) Masthead ads
- They play automatically without sound for up to 30 seconds , until you click to unmute.
- They are reproduced both on computer and on mobile phones and TV.
- They are available under reservation, so they are charged per day (CPD) or per thousand impressions (CPM)
- They are used to reach a large volume of users in a short period of time , which is why it is commonly used to increase the notoriety of new products or services.
6) Out-stream ads
- They also start playing with the sound off , so users voluntarily activate the sound by clicking.
- They are only for mobile and Google video partners, so it is a video ad that does not show on YouTube .
- They are charged per thousand impressions (vCPM), when your video plays for two seconds or more.
- They are mostly used to expand the coverage of your ads specifically on mobile devices.
How much does it cost to advertise through YouTube Ads? It is expensive?
Surely right now you are asking yourself this question, if you have never tried it …
You have already seen that what you pay will depend on your strategy: the type or types of ads you choose, how you segment, the locations, the existing bids at that time, among other factors.
In short, the cost of campaigns is not stable.
However, if you plan your ad configuration well, it can be quite economical.
8 keys to get the most out of your YouTube Ads
Given that the answer to the previous question is, like many concepts in Marketing: “it depends”, now I will give you some useful tips:
1) Clearly define your goals
The first and most important thing that you have to define are the campaign objectives and what you need to achieve to make it profitable.
You can define objectives for visits to your website, sales, subscriptions, lead capture, calls …
And you will have to calculate how many objectives you need to meet to make the investment you will make profitable.
Planning will be key to the success of your strategy.
2) Experiment with different types of YouTube Ads
The choice of ad formats according to your objectives and the characteristics of the same described above will also be essential .
Yes, for example, what you want is to reach many people with your brand to create brand awareness, you could opt for an in-stream video ad or discovery Ads.
The best thing to do is experiment with various YouTube ad formats and compare their results.
So you can finally invest the advertising budget that is most profitable for you.
3) Use keywords or search keywords
The use of keywords is essential in any online advertising campaign, and YouTube Ads campaigns are no exception.
In addition, in this video ad format it is not worth using them in the ad texts, but it will be very positive to use them in the audio of your videos.
The algorithms of this social network are capable of analyzing the dialogues of the videos.
To find the most interesting keywords for your campaigns, you can help yourself with a free keyword planner.
4) Includes call to actions and interactive elements
The social network allows you to add interactive elements in the ads, such as call to actions, or interaction cards in which you can, for example, show your products.
These types of actionable interactive elements allow you to tell the user what you want them to do next and take them to your website or to a specific landing page.
You can also encourage other actions and encourage ” Register “, ” Call now ” or ” Subscribe “.
5) Correctly segment your YouTube Ads
As we mentioned at the beginning of the article, it allows you to segment your campaigns according to different targeting options.
This allows you to show your video ads to audiences closer to the time of purchase and achieve a greater number of conversions at a lower cost , since you will appear before highly qualified audiences.
6) use remarketing for video
Showing your ads to people who already know you and have previously visited your website is usually much more profitable.
Upon meeting you, there is already a bond of trust that you continue to nurture through advertising.
In addition to giving much better results, these types of ads are usually more profitable .
Furthermore, these types of campaigns are very easy to set up and implement, and require little follow-up.
7) Create personalized and eye-catching YouTube Ads
Ads give you a few unique seconds to grab your audience’s attention and convince them to take the action you want. In some cases you have as little as 5 seconds!
That is why your “Ads” must be clear and concise, but also striking, attractive and convincing.
8) Set a reasonable frequency cap
If you show the same ads over and over to the same audience, they will start to ignore your ads and even get annoyed with them, and may develop negative feelings towards your brand.
Setting a frequency cap will help you narrow down the number of times users will see it and how often they will.
Conclusion
If you are not yet exploiting the most popular video platform in the world and the second platform with the most users worldwide … Your time has come!
As you have seen, YouTube Ads presents you with a unique opportunity to meet your advertising goals.
Whether it’s attracting traffic, boosting your reach, increasing your sales, positioning your brand or creating engagement, this can be the definitive tool to achieve it.