Every marketer should understand the importance of using social media to build brand recognition and improve sales. Unfortunately, some marketing professionals seem to forget that YouTube counts as one of the world’s most popular social media sites.
As a video platform, YouTube ads work a little differently from social media engagement. Learning how to harness the power of YouTube, however, gives you more opportunities to interact with target audiences that want to learn more about products and services that solve problems in their lives.
The Three Types of Video Ads for YouTube Marketing
YouTube uses three major types of video ads.
- TrueView ads
- Non-skippable ads
- Bumper ads
You have other advertising options, but they use static images instead of video. Today, let’s focus on the YouTube video ads for marketing.
TrueView Ads
TrueView ads have the most flexibility of all YouTube video advertisements. Marketers often prefer TrueView ads because:
- Audiences can skip them when they feel annoyed by advertisements.
- You only pay for the view when someone clicks the ad or watches it for at least 30 seconds.
- They help you focus on your target audience instead of spending money on views from uninterested consumers.
Since 2018, when Google introduced TrueView for Reach, you can break TrueView ads into three sub-categories:
- TrueView In-Stream ads
- TrueView for Reach
- TrueView Discover ads
TrueView In-Stream Ads
TrueView In-Stream ads usually appear at the beginning of videos. You get up to 3 minutes of advertising time, but most marketers prefer to make their ads about 30 seconds long. Anything over 30 seconds can create viewer fatigue.
While your ad plays, a display ad appears in the screen’s top right corner. When people click the display ad, YouTube takes them to your website.
TrueView for Reach
TrueView for Reach gives you a payment option based on how many thousands of views your ad gets. If fewer than 1,000 people see your ad, then you don’t pay.
You must keep TrueView for Reach ads between 6 and 30 seconds long. The short time means that a lot of people can see your ad before they even think about skipping it. In return, YouTube could end up charging you a lot of money for your views.
Keep a close eye on your budget when you try TrueView for Reach.
TrueView Discovery Ads
TrueView Discovery ads appear on YouTube’s front page, search results, and Recommended Videos page.
Unlike other YouTube videos, TrueView Discovery ads get marked with an “ad” symbol. Users clicking on the video know that YouTube will show them an advertisement.
Since the audience expects an ad, you can make your TrueView Discovery advertisements longer than other TrueView options. You must keep your audience engaged, though. The most successful marketers use stories that keep viewers interested while they learn how a product or service solves their problem.
Non-Skippable YouTube Ads
Non-skippable YouTube ads can appear at any point during a video, including the beginning and end. As the name suggests, viewers cannot skip this type of ad.
YouTube uses its analytics to determine when non-skippable ads appear in videos, so you don’t have a lot of control over ad placement.
Take back as much control as possible by creating short, compelling ads that won’t bore viewers.
Bumper Ads
Bumper ads appear at the end of videos, and they don’t allow skipping. Unlike non-skippable YouTube ads, though, bumper ads only last 6 seconds.
You pay for bumper ads on a per-view basis. They don’t work well at targeting specific audiences, but they also don’t create viewer fatigue. These qualities make bumper ads a good way to improve brand awareness without spending too much money on longer formats.
How to Create Your Advertising Campaign for YouTube
Now that you know your YouTube advertisement options, you can focus on creating high-quality videos that will convert viewers into clients.
Once you’ve made your ads, though, you need to learn how to create a campaign on YouTube. Luckily, the platform makes it pretty simple.
Assuming that you have already uploaded your ad footage, you can take the following steps to set up your campaign.
- Sign in to your Google Ads account.
- On the main toolbar, click Campaigns.
- Click +Campaign.
- Click New campaign.
- Set Video for your type of campaign.
- Set your campaign goal in Google Ads.
- Set a sub-type for your campaign.
- Give your campaign a name.
- Tell YouTube your advertising budget for the campaign.
- Give YouTube information about geographic locations where you do and don’t want your ads to appear.
- Set your target audience’s language.
- Set a maximum bid for your ad views.
- Tell YouTube about your target audience.
If any of this sounds complicated, don’t worry. It will become very easy when you see your campaign options on YouTube.
After you set your target demographic, you will launch your campaign by:
- Choosing the video you want to use in your marketing campaign.
- Choosing the ad format you prefer.
- Click Save and Continue.
Targeting Your Demographic
You should know your target demographic long before you produce any YouTube ads. Now, you have to tell YouTube how to target your intended audience.
YouTube gives you several ways to set demographics. You can choose options like:
- Demographic groups that filter by age, income, gender identity, etc.
- Detailed demographics that filter by attributes like education, marital status, and homeownership.
- Keyword targeting that shows ads based on a viewer’s search history.
- Topics that display ads to people who have shown interest in related subjects.
- Placement targeting that places ads on specific YouTube videos, channels, etc.
You can also filter your audience by interest. You have a few options, so let’s consider them separately from the other demographic filters.
- Life events that show your ad based on the viewer’s recent life events, such as a buying or viewing history related to getting married, buying a house, or having children.
- Affinity audiences that target people with interests in content related to your ad.
- Custom affinity audiences that let you focus on more specific interests.
- Custom intent audiences that choose viewers based on recent search terms.
- In-market audiences that target people searching for products similar to the one you’re advertising.
Best Practices to Optimize Your YouTube Ads
If you’re going to dedicate your time and money to making video ads, then you need to follow a few best practices that will help your marketing campaign reach its goals.
If you can check everything on the following list, then your ad should do well on YouTube.
- Include a call-to-action in your ad.
- Add clickable links to your videos.
- Take time to narrow your target demographic.
- Monitor your viewership, website visits, and conversions so you can adjust your campaign for better results.
- Link your YouTube account to AdWords.
- Make a custom logo for your channel.
- Delete low-performing ads so you can devote more money to high-performing ads.
The Future of Video Marketing
Online video has played an increasingly important role in content marketing for years. The trend probably won’t end any time soon.
Learn how to make the most of your video marketing campaigns today. If you learn how to use YouTube marketing well today, you will know how to evolve with the platform as it changes.
