Numerous brands advertise on YouTube because they can target a lot of potential customers there. For a fact, this platform is the second largest and most popular search engine after its parent company Google. It also has more than two billion active monthly users, making it a perfect place for attracting customers.
So, if you have a brand to advertise but you are contemplating where you should, then YouTube is a place to consider. It has powerful targeting capabilities on top of its vast reach. So, there is no doubt that this video-sharing platform is a vital part of a customer’s journey.
But before you can utilize buying YouTube views as an advertising platform, you first have to understand the basics of this platform in terms of marketing.
Below are some of the important factors that marketers need to know before advertising on YouTube:
The Different Types of YouTube Ads
If you have been running a YouTube marketing strategy for some time now, then you probably know what the YouTube ads formats are. Still, for a more in-depth understanding, below is a walkthrough about its details:
1. Non-skippable in-stream video ads
According to a report, 76 percent of YouTube users automatically skip ads. For this reason, many advertisers prefer to run pre-roll or mid-roll advertisements that do not have any skip button.
Marketers must use a non-skippable ad type when they are aiming to lift their brand awareness widely. In addition, you have to be confident enough that you can keep the attention of your audience for straight 15 seconds or more.
Moreover, advertisers pay per impression at CPM if they want to run non-skippable ads. But there is a subspecies of the non-skippable ad– the bumper ads. It runs at six seconds long and similar to non-skippable in-stream ads, you have to pay per impression. Bumper ads usually show up as either pre-roll, mid-roll, or post-roll. Generally, this type of YouTube ad is best used if you want to widen the reach and lift your brand awareness.
2. Skippable in-stream video ads
Skippable ads appear before or during a video. As the name suggests, this type of ad allows viewers to skip them after the first five seconds.
Advertisers only pay for skippable ads when viewers will keep watching the ad after the first five seconds. Skippable ads must be a minimum of 12 seconds in length, although the recommended length is somewhere under three minutes.
You will pay for skippable ads when a viewer watches the first 30 seconds of your ads or if they interact with it by clicking.
3. Discovery Ads
In-stream ads work somehow like a traditional television commercial. On the other hand, discovery ads are more similar to the ones that you see on the search results page of Google.
This type of ad appears alongside the organic search results on YouTube. If your discovery ad is more relevant than the videos in the search results line up, then viewers can choose to watch it instead.
4. Non-video ads
Non-video ads are a good alternative for brands that do not have enough budget for video. This type of ad has to sub-categories– the display ads and the in-video ads.
Display ads are those that show up at the right-hand sidebar. This consists of an image, text, and a call to action with a link to your brand’s website. On the other hand, in-video overlay ads are those that show up on top of a monetized video.
How Brands Can Advertise on YouTube
Now that you already know the different types of YouTube ads, below are the steps that you need to follow for successful advertising on YouTube:
1. Create a campaign
When creating a campaign, you need to have your own Google Ads account. Navigate to New Campaign and then select your campaign goal based on the marketing objectives of your brand.
After setting a goal, choose your campaign type. Campaign ads include all types of ads like text, shopping, and search results. So, make sure that you select video or discovery for your ads to appear on YouTube.
Once you have selected the type of ads that you want to run, select a campaign subtype. Lastly, name your campaign in such a way that it will be easy for you to locate, manage, and optimize it.
2. Choose a target audience
One of the most important things to do in running an ad is to create the persona of your target audience. The more that you know who your audience is, the better you can target them.
First, create the demographics of your target audience. Do you want your ad to be shown to men or women? What age range do you think would take interest in your ad? These are some of the important factors that you need to set if you want your ad’s conversion rate to be successful.
In addition, use relevant topics and keywords in order to target your audience. By knowing the interests of your audience, YouTube will be able to help you find the right audience to show your ads to.
Moreover, it is also a good idea to target those audiences who already have interacted with your past videos or website. This is because they showed interest in your brand before, so they are likely to be converted into customers.
3. Define the parameters of your campaign
Choose your bid strategy and then set your budget per day. You can also set the total amount of budget that you are willing to spend on your campaign.
Once you have decided on your budget, choose where you want your ads to show up. It can either be on discovery only, all of YouTube, or YouTube display network. In addition, do not forget to select your target audience’s location and language. It is important to note that you have to think broadly when choosing the location of your target audience. For instance, only 15 percent of YouTube traffic comes from the US. For this reason, it is a good idea to find other locations where you can target your audience.