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YouTube ranks first in the most visited sites globally, with more than 1 billion hours of videos watched daily. Now, that is something that marketers simply can’t ignore. No matter how exceptional your website is or how invested you are in SEO and PPC advertising, you simply can’t afford to miss out on the benefits of YouTube video advertising.
YouTube ads offer so many doors of opportunities to help different types and sizes of businesses to boost traffic, increase revenue, improve brand awareness, and skyrocket conversions in a cost-efficient manner. Let us discuss the benefits in detail and then we will have a look at the different types of ad formats available on YouTube.
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Advantages of Advertising on YouTube
Strategizing for your YouTube advertising ventures is one of the best things you can do as a marketer. Here are some of the advantages when you put your business on YouTube ads.
#1 Highly-targeted Advertising
While advertising, targeting is one of the most crucial aspects and YouTube allows you to be extremely detailed while choosing your target audiences. This granular targeting includes filtering your audience by:
- Demographics: Targeting based on age, location, gender, household income, parental status, and more.
- Placements: Targeting viewers on specific videos, channels, apps, and websites where ads are displayed.
- Keywords/Topics: Targeting based on viewers’ topics of interest or phrases they are searching for.
- In-Market/Intent/Affinity Audiences: Targeting users with specific intent, interests, and behaviors.
- Video Remarketing: Targeting users who have watched or interacted with your videos or ads in the past.
Apart from these, there are some other targeting options as well. You can use these settings to create both general and precise groups of users for different YouTube ads.
#2 Huge Audience Reach
With over 1.7 billion unique monthly visitors, YouTube offers a great platform for businesses to reach a huge audience. These numbers are always increasing as people are rapidly shifting from traditional TV channels to online videos and streaming platforms.
This is a really great opportunity for small and medium businesses to reach out to users in different categories. As the video ads will be appearing on apps and websites partnered with the Google video network, this further increases your reach and provides you with a new dimension to reach your target audiences.
#3 Cost-Effective Advertising
Just like PPC advertising, YouTube advertising is also cost-effective and follows the PPC model to charge businesses. The most expensive advertising option is for the homepage. Apart from those, most of the ad types are affordable based on cost per click or cost per view. Plus, you will be paying only when the viewer is watching your video without clicking the “Skip Ad” button.
Moreover, you get to decide how much you want to pay for video ads and actions. Also, you get free advertising for your brand/products/services as viewers will watch something before skipping, making it extremely cost-efficient.
#4 Easy to Measure Ad Metrics
Analyzing the video ads regularly and tracking the performance of ad campaigns is crucial for measuring success and making improvements. On YouTube, you won’t have to spend a lot of time learning about the performance as it is super easy.
Once you head on to the Analytics tab in your account, you will find all the relevant information about the viewers and how your videos are performing. To learn about the views, costs, budget, and more, you can find that in your Google Ads account.
#5 More Engaging
Video content in general is more impactful and engaging than the standard image/text ads. Why so? Because you can narrate a story using the right visuals and audio elements to create an emotional connection with the viewers.
You can be creative with your video ad copy and as you have enough space on the screen in the form of videos, you can convey more benefits/messages about your brand.
Now that we know the major advantages of advertising on YouTube, here is another important one – you get a wide range of ad formats on YouTube. Let us learn about these in detail.
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What Are the Formats of YouTube Ads?
#1 Overlay Ads
Overlay ads are the banners that you find at the bottom of YouTube videos. They contain a static image or a minimal animation along with some basic text. The ad just covers the bottom 20% of the video content, making them a good choice for businesses looking to display non-intrusive ads.
You will be paying on a per-click basis, so it’s important to use these ads for delivering a clear CTA to your target audience. Also, it is crucial to use a crystal clear copy along with visually appealing images to attract more viewers.
#2 Skippable In-Stream Ads
One of the most popular ad formats, skippable in-stream ads are found before, during, or after a video. As the name suggests, viewers have the option to skip the ad after five seconds by clicking the Skip Ad button from the bottom corner.
Generally, these video ads should be at least 12 seconds long and it is recommended to keep the ads under three minutes. The best part about these ads is that you will have to pay only for the viewers who watch for a minimum of 30 seconds or the entire ad (for ads under 30 seconds) or if they click on the ad.
#3 Non-Skippable In-Stream Ads
The non-skippable ads can be placed right before or during a video and as the name tells, there won’t be an option to skip these ads. If you want the viewers to watch your content, then this ad format is perfect to boost brand awareness.
The recommended length for these ads is 15 seconds and can last up to 30 seconds maximum. These ads are charged on the basis of impression. That means, you will have to pay per 1000 views. So, it is important to choose your target audience accurately for a better ROI.
#4 Display Ads
Display ads appear right above the video suggestions on the top right with ad text, image, and call to action. You can either use a static image or a GIF animation with a maximum run time of 30 seconds. These ads generally contain a compelling CTA to engage viewers so that they click on the ad.
As you don’t have enough space, you will have to be specific and crystal clear with your ad copy to grab viewers’ attention. So, keep in mind to create ad content that aligns well with what your target audience is looking for.
#5 Bumper Ads
Bumper ads are a shorter version of non-skippable ads that play before, during, or after another video. The length of these ads is six seconds maximum and that is why they are great to deliver a short and memorable message to your target audience.
Businesses often use these to boost brand awareness, announce a new product/service, promote an upcoming sale, and so on. You pay for these ads based on impressions.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you choose your target audience in YouTube Ads?
1. Demographics
2. Placements
3. Keywords
4. In Market Audiences
5. Video Remarketing
How to engage more audience through advertising?
1. Right Video content with impactful audio and video elements.
2. You can be creative with video ad copy and convy more benefits or messages about your brand.
What is Bumper Ads?
Bumper Ads are a shorter version of non skippable that contains of maximum time limit of six seconds.
Wrapping Up
So, there you have it. All the reasons compiled for you to get started with your first YouTube advertising campaign right away. YouTube ads can seriously prove to be a game-changer for your business and you should definitely give them a try.
Also, once you get started, don’t forget to experiment with new ad formats to improve your reach and conversions. Happy advertising!
