Youtube has often been overlooked by businesses when it comes to choosing paid media platforms to advertise on. 

Whilst we do not want to underestimate the power of Facebook Ads and Google Adwords, we also want to emphasise that you could be missing out on interacting with an engaged audience who are interested in similar products and services. 

Before we get into how you can create a successful Youtube Advertising strategy, let’s look at the numbers and common misconceptions of implementing a Youtube Advertising strategy...

10 years ago this platform was predominantly used to either look at funny cat videos or listen to leaked music but it has come a long way since then. It has become an unlikely career path for a lot of people who are now considered as celebrities and public figures. 

Why does this matter? Because these Youtubers are creating quality content…

There are 2 billion logged-in monthly users which spend an average of 11 minutes and 24 seconds per day consuming content.

So what does this tell us?

It tells us that our appetite for consuming video content is only getting bigger and due to this volume, video should be a crucial and focused element of your marketing strategy if you want your business to grow.

Now, we know that there are plenty of business owners that don’t see Youtube as a suitable channel to advertise on because their audience is older than 16-25 and therefore stick to Google Search and Facebook ads.

This is a common misconception!

If we look at the US alone, 73% of adults use Youtube in comparison to the 69% of American adults which use Facebook on a regular basis.

If you’re targeting an older demographic, Youtube is not the platform you want to ignore. Instagram on the other hand is predominantly used by a much younger audience with only 37% of American adults using this social media channel. 

The truth is, people all over the world rely on Youtube to provide them with valuable, entertaining and informative content.

From gaming channels to beard grooming and cooking channels, there is something for everyone so it should come as no surprise that people of all types and ages are interacting on this platform.

With the increased demand for quality content comes increased competition. Youtube used to be a place for just content creators and everyday people sharing their interests but it has since become more business orientated with news channels and professional production teams getting involved.

This increasing amount of varied content is great for the consumer but it makes it more difficult for businesses to stand out from the competition, earn quality views and grow their channel at a rapid rate which is one of the main reasons to spend budget on Youtube advertising.

Often it’s the only way to quickly and efficiently gain visibility from your target audience who have been actively looking at your products/services or products/services similar to yours.

With this knowledge you may be wondering...

How do I create a strategy which not only increases brand awareness but enhances the profitability of my paid media campaigns?

We have compiled a list of helpful tips which will help you put your money into the most suitable campaigns so you can turn engaged viewers and potential customers into returning customers. 

1. CREATE COMPELLING AD CONTENT

Without a doubt, the most important and glaringly obvious tip you’ll read today but so many people and businesses get it wrong. 

What you have to remember is, buying decisions are controlled by emotion. People do not buy products or enroll in services for the product or service. They purchase or opt in so they can feel good about themselves, so they can stop feeling anxious, so they can enrich their knowledge and feel more confident. 

Nobody wants to be sold to, nobody opened Youtube to have products and services thrown in their face. People want to hear about other’s experiences, they want to be entertained and informed so it’s crucial to follow suit and have this in mind when creating ad content on Youtube.

Put yourself in the position of the consumer. Say for example you couldn’t make it to the gym, so you type “Home Workouts” into the Youtube search bar and you click on the first video you see. Before the video starts, an advert for a protein shake begins to play but the first 2 seconds are taken up by a logo transition before a voiceover emerges on top of a protein shake animation…

BORING. *Presses “SKIP” button after 5 seconds*. 

With the ability to skip or press the “X” button on the majority of Youtube ads, it’s essential to grab attention, create intrigue and have an interesting story line to follow if you are to engage any viewers and convince them to take action right away or at a later stage.

2. KNOW WHICH AD FORMATS ARE SUITABLE FOR YOUR CAMPAIGN 

There are a total of three main ad formats on Youtube which are Trueview In-Stream, Trueview Discovery, Bumper ads. Confusion between them all is often why so many people find this platform overwhelming and tend to steer clear of it. To ensure you don’t do the same we are going to break it down for you. 

TRUEVIEW IN-STREAM ADS:

• Play before, during or after other videos on Youtube or Google Display Network.
• The viewer/target audience can skip the video after 5 seconds 
• You only pay for the view if the viewer watches 30 seconds (or the entirety of the video) or interacts with the ad by clicking.

Trueview In-Stream ads are predominantly used for lead generated and reach. They can be tailored for sales, leads, website traffic, brand consideration or brand awareness and reach. Depending on what goal you choose, you will be able to select between Trueview for Action and Trueview for Reach.

What’s the difference?

Trueview for Action is focused on website conversions and uses automated bidding such as Target CPA or maximise conversion and instead of paying after 30 seconds, you’ll pay after 10 seconds as the engagement period is shorter.  

Trueview for Reach however is for when you want to focus on a wider audience with brand or product awareness. Rather than using the bidding strategy CPV, you will be able to use CPM (cost per 1000 impressions) but your ad must be between 6-30 seconds.

TRUEVIEW DISCOVERY ADS

• Ad appears next to related Youtube video, on a homepage, in a search result or on a video partner site 
• You only pay when the viewer clicks on the ad to watch it

Trueview Discovery ads are the ads which are sometimes disguised as recommended videos. You have a character limitation of 25 in the headline and the body of the copy can contain two lines, each with a 35 word maximum.

Whereas the In-Stream ads are designed to generate clicks and divert traffic to your website, Discovery ads are predominantly used to increase brand/product consideration as they encourage people to watch longer form content so they can learn more about your product and brand.

In addition to this, when someone clicks to watch your video, they’ll be taken to your channel page where they can be recommended more videos and engage with more of your content organically. 

BUMPER ADS

• Ads are 6 seconds or shorter
• Play before during or after another video
• Viewers can’t skip the ad
• You pay based on the cost per 1000 impressions (CPM)

Bumpers are the shortest type of Youtube video ad at just six seconds. To make the most of these six seconds, you need to grab the viewer’s attention and convey your brand effectively in a very short amount of time.

Due to the time constraint, bumper ads are commonly used to hype up a product launch or promotion, or to reinforce a message from a longer trueview ad. You can also string multiple bumper ads together using ad sequencing to tell a longer story.

3. KNOW WHO YOU ARE TARGETING

You could have the best advert in the world and the most engaging content in the industry but if you’re targeting the wrong audiences, you’re never going to reap the rewards. You must decide what type of audience you want to target with the option of affinity audiences, custom affinity audiences and in-market audiences.

• Affinity Audiences - Use specific topics to target people with particular interests
• Custom Affinity Audiences - Add custom keywords to tailor your audience further
• In Market Audiences - Choose from topics and interests to reach an audience who have been recently researching products in the selected category.

4.TAKE ADVANTAGE OF RE-MARKETING

Re-marketing on Youtube can be an extremely effective way of re-engaging your audience and keeping your business front of mind. We would advise testing Youtube ads with a re-marketing audience before trying out affinity, custom, affinity and in-market cold audiences.

With the ability to target people who have visited your website or people who have viewed your Youtube videos, you can not only encourage people to view more content but you can build a strong rapport with your audience and have a multi-platform presence which will help gain trust and authority assisting application to sale in the process.

You can re-market to anyone who:

• Viewed any of your videos
• Visited your channel page
• Viewed any video as an ad from your channel
• Liked or commented on any video from your channel
• Subscribed to your channel
• Visited your website

In summary, to be successful with Youtube Advertising, we advise you;

• Create Compelling Content
• Know Which Ad Formats Are Most Suitable For Your Campaign
• Have A Clear Idea Of Who You Are Targeting
• Take Advantage Of Re-marketing