What are YouTube Ads and How do they work?
YouTube’s growing popularity in popular culture has demonstrated that it can be used for much more than just sharing cute kitten videos – it has evolved into a highly effective venue for reaching out to large audiences via online advertising.
YouTube has evolved into the platform where aspiring musicians and performers get their first big break. Justin Bieber was discovered on YouTube, and Psy’s hit “Gangnam Style” has recently become the most viral video of all time. And that’s not an empty title – “Gangnam Style” has nearly 1 billion views, which can be translated into serious YouTube advertising revenue.
To put things in perspective, YouTube receives over 1 billion views per day, which means that if YouTube were a search engine, it would be the second-largest, nearly twice as large as Bing and Yahoo combined, and roughly one-third the size of Google.com!
Google is laughing all the way to the bank as a result of Psy’s massive YouTube success and the pervasive belief that the hottest headline sensations happen on YouTube. YouTube’s advertising potential is growing exponentially as it is increasingly viewed as the place where pop culture happens.
Psy was invited to meet with Google’s Eric Schmidt because YouTube’s advertising potential is as large as the record industry’s (and the resulting obligatory dance lesson). These viral videos aren’t just passing fads – they’re big money in advertising.
Marketers, by logic, should go where the people are – YouTube!
Do you want to be the next “Gangnam Style”? We all do, don’t we? A number of factors contribute to the success of a viral video, and more than a little of it is luck.
Making a viral video with the goal of dominating the social sphere is a lot of fun, but for advertisers who want to expand their reach into the massive (and still largely untapped) YouTube advertising realm, making a less globally ambitious yet more useful YouTube advertising video is likely the way to go.
YouTube Display and Video Ads: How to Advertise on YouTube
Google has gone to great lengths since acquiring YouTube to make advertising on YouTube as simple and customizable as creating ads in AdWords. The options are nearly as numerous, with display ads and video ads being the two main options.
YouTube Display Ads
YouTube Promotion Display Ads can be found throughout the Google Display Network. Display ads allow your advertisements to appear alongside relevant YouTube videos or as pop-ups within YouTube videos.
- Standard Banner Ad – These are similar to regular Google Display Ads in that they are available in both standard banner ads and rich media ads. You can direct where these banner ads appear by using topic categories and keywords. Bright, colorful images that catch the eye are ideal.
- In-Video Overlay Ads – These ads appear as pop-ups within existing contextually targeted videos that are targeted by specific queries. Destination URLs within in-video ads can lead to sites other than YouTube.
Pop-up ads are extremely annoying in my personal YouTube viewing experiences. But there’s no denying that they’re difficult to ignore, even if they’re X-ed out right away. Banner ads in the sidebar may be more easily missed.
Using Video Ads to Advertise on YouTube
Creating YouTube video ads is simple and completely free – you can shoot it yourself for a more homemade feel, or hire someone for a more polished, professional look.
YouTube advises wisely. “Don’t picture the Titanic. Don’t even consider a’sales pitch.’ Consider quick how-tos or positive customer feedback. Make it personal.” Nobody goes to YouTube to watch long daytime infomercials.
The latest video ads on YouTube advertising are classified as ‘True View’ video ads. While I can’t attest to any additional “truth” value, True View ads are a great deal in terms of budget because you only pay when viewers choose to watch your video.
True View video ads are available in a variety of formats, including:
In-Stream Video Ads: These are the advertisements that appear while you are watching your YouTube videos.
In-stream ads, probably the most popular YouTube video ad format, play your ad before or during another video from a YouTube partner.
Since you’ve taken the liberty of interrupting their YouTube video viewing adventure, a viewer’s immediate reaction is likely to be full of grimaces, groans, and complaints.
Viewers are required to watch the ad for 5 seconds before they can choose whether to continue watching or skip the rest of the video and go back to what they came to see in the first place.
Viewers may choose to continue watching your video ad if you’ve done some good targeting and have an interesting video ad, which can only mean you’re doing it right!
You don’t pay for in-stream video ads unless viewers watch your video for 30 seconds or until the end of the video. You will not be charged if they choose to skip. What’s great about this option is that you can create videos that are longer than 30 seconds long, allowing you to experiment with video ad lengths.
You can get more exposure for the same price because you pay the same whether the viewer watches 30 seconds or the entire extended video. In fact, some studies have found that longer videos (closer to 60 seconds) perform better than shorter ones. Longer videos, in my opinion, develop a richer story that keeps viewers engaged rather than throwing out a short “look at this, you should buy it” ad.
Contextual targeting, interest targeting, and demographic targeting are all possible with in-stream ads. The more targeted your campaign, the more effective it will be. Go to this post to learn more about network targeting.
In-Slate Video Ads: YouTube advertisements that play before your video begins.
In-Slate video ads on YouTube appear before YouTube partner videos that are 10 minutes or longer. Viewers can choose between watching one of three advertisements or seeing regular commercial breaks during their videos.
Video Ads in Search Results
In-search video advertisements appear above or to the right of standard YouTube search results.
In-Search video ads function in the same way that text ads do in Google search, with advertisers bidding on keyword terms. While the same ad text strategies used to create AdWords text ads apply to these in-search video ads, the YouTube advertising market is much less saturated, allowing advertisers who would otherwise be unable to compete for popular keyword terms on Google search to gain traction on YouTube.
Video Ads on Display
In-display video advertisements appear alongside other YouTube videos or on other Google Display Network sites that match your targeting preferences. It falls into the category of “well, if you liked that video, you’ll absolutely love….”
Tools and Features for YouTube Video Advertising
YouTube has a slew of tools, extensions, and targeting options that go unnoticed but are well worth investigating. YouTube advertising offers:
- YouTube Analytics Data – YouTube offers a wealth of analytic data to advertisers, allowing them to collect information on metrics such as the number of views a video receives, user engagement, and the points at which viewers stop watching the video.
- Remarketing – You can use YouTube advertising to remarket to users who have previously watched your videos on YouTube or the Google Display Network.
- YouTube Channels – Channels are free to create and serve as your company’s own radio station, similar to a Facebook page. You can personalize your channel to express the personality of your company and make it simple for viewers to subscribe to future videos.
- Advanced Targeting Options – YouTube advertising includes some excellent demographic targeting options, such as niche interest targeting and age targeting. Single, male, small dog owners under the age of 35, beware!
- Mobile Ads – Once you’ve mastered YouTube advertising videos, you can broaden your reach to include smartphones and tablets.
- The YouTube for the mobile app allows users to watch YouTube videos on the go – as well as your mobile YouTube ads!
- Homepage Ads – Advertisers can buy prime ad space on YouTube’s homepage, ensuring a high volume of eyeballs and attention.
Advertisers can also choose to implement a “Homepage Roadblock.” Yes, it is as intense as it sounds.
YouTube’s Homepage Roadblock (also known as a YouTube Masthead – the terms appear to be used interchangeably) allows you to be the only advertiser on the YouTube homepage for 24 hours. That equates to approximately 23 million viewers with complete attention and no competition. This massive ad takeover isn’t cheap – a single day will set you back around $300,000, so this is primarily for those with deep pockets. Rich Uncle Pennybags’ pockets, for example.
The main purpose of being on the homepage is branding, so if you do have the cash to invest, make sure you’re making good use of the prime real-estate by incorporating dynamic ads and engaging clickable features.
Methods for Using YouTube Advertising Ads
- Brand Awareness: YouTube videos allow you to create one-of-a-kind brand experiences and express the personality of your company. Consider creating an entertaining explainer video for your product or service. Creating videos is a fun and practical way to develop the identity of your brand. It’s time to get groovy!
- Product Launch: Videos are an excellent way to introduce a new product or generate interest in an upcoming release.
- Engagement of Audience: YouTube can be a great place to connect and interact with customers. Old Spice’s video response campaign, in which they had Isaiah Mustafa, aka “the man your man could smell like,” release a number of videos on YouTube answering questions and comments from fans on Twitter and Facebook, is a great example. The campaign was a huge success, with Old Spice’s Twitter following increasing by 2700%.
- Customer Service: YouTube is an excellent platform for providing how-to video solutions to common customer problems. Your videos can be used to create a more engaging FAQ or to assist customers in gaining a more advanced understanding of the features your product provides. To increase customer conversion, try hosting Q&A sessions or town hall meetings.
YouTube Advertising: Untapped Potential
YouTube advertising is a playground for marketers looking to experiment with ad formats and gain exposure in a largely untapped market, with so many different ad formats to choose from. Where else can you place advertisements on popular YouTube videos created by others?
Have you experimented with YouTube ads for marketing? How did you find your YouTube Advertising experience? Choose Viva Digital now, we make sure you’re memorable!
