YouTube Advertising

Targeted, engaging and optimized videos are powerful vehicles

for spreading your marketing message and reaching a new

audience. And the reality is, most people would rather watch an

engaging video than read a lengthy article or blog post.

In fact, the YouTube platform has over 2 billion users—who,

combined, consume over 1-billion hours of video every single day!

That’s more than Netflix and Facebook videos combined.

But of course, YouTube isn’t the only video platform available,
though it currently is the largest.

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 As of 2021, YouTube reaches
more 18 to 49-year-olds than any American cable network.
There’s no question, it’s a powerful tool for branding and
marketing, and since your audience is likely already on video
platforms, it’s an easy way to maximize conversion rates, or
simply reach an entirely new following
YouTube has also become a frequently used search engine for
many people, even those who generally say they’re not
comfortable with modern tech.
In this special report, we’ll take a close look at how you can create
high converting video ads on the YouTube platform so that you
can maximize exposure quickly and easily.

Intro to YouTube Ads

In 2017, YouTube revamped its AdWords, allowing advertisers to
reach more viewers on YouTube, especially on mobile devices,
where almost 50% of all YouTube views occur.
YouTube also announced the ability for advertisers to target
viewers based on their Google search history—in addition to the
viewing behaviors it was already targeting.
This means that you can now target viewers who recently
searched for a specific product or service, and you can then create
different ads for different types of viewers.
If a viewer sees a video-based ad that’s closely related to
something they were just searching for, they’re more likely to
watch the entire clip, or even click through to your website for
more information.
Targeted ads allow you to maximize your marketing dollars and
reach deep into your niche, connecting with your audience in a
matter of minutes.
YouTube ads are a little different from other types of ads (like
Facebook or Google) though. With some of the other platforms,
you’re required to pay upfront for your ads.
With YouTube, however, you only pay for a view if the user
watches more than 30 seconds of your ad, or takes an action
(such as clicking through to your website).
With Google or Facebook ads, you’d pay no matter how much of
your ad was seen. With YouTube, you pay only when your ad has
triggered a positive response!

Types of YouTube Ads

Before you begin advertising on the YouTube platform, it’s
important that you understand the different options available.
Currently, there are seven different types of YouTube ads:
TrueView Instream Ads: These are the most common of all
YouTube ads, the main advertising format.
8 out of 10 viewers prefer this sort of ad over the other types. This
is mostly because this format gives you the most control over
which advertisements they see.
You may see this as a negative, as viewers can choose to skip your
ads, but think of it this way: you’re paying only for those viewers
who are interested in what you’re offering them.
These ads can be as short as 12 seconds and as long as 6 minutes.
A six-minute ad is a fairly long one, so you should probably aim for
somewhere in the middle.
There are two basic types of TrueView Ads: skippable and non-
skippable.
Let’s look at those in more detail.
Non-skippable Instream Ads: These are a type of TrueView ad
that do exactly what the title says. The viewer cannot skip over
these ads, but must watch all the way through to get to the
content they’re searching for.
Non-skippable ads can play at the beginning or end of the chosen
video, or can be placed somewhere in the middle. Ads that pop up
in the middle of a video can be annoying, but you’re more likely to
keep the viewer’s attention because they’re waiting for the rest of
the chosen content to display.

The important thing to remember is that the ad must be watched
all the way through, which means you pay every time the ad
plays. This would be a good choice for a business with a large
marketing budget because you’re not going to be targeting your
viewers quite as narrowly as you would with a skippable ad. With
a non-skippable ad, you’ll pay every time it pops up.
Note: YouTube recently announced that they had to be under 20
seconds long (rather than the 30 seconds they previously
allowed).
There’s also a special subset of Non-skippable Ad: the Bumper Ad.
This is a Non-skippable ad that plays at the beginning of a video
and must be under 6 seconds long. You are charged for these in
the same way you are charged for other Non-skippable ads.
Skippable Instream Ads: Again, this is just what it sounds like.
After viewing five seconds of your TrueView ad, the user can opt
to skip it and get straight back to their chosen content.
You aren’t charged unless they watch at least 30 seconds of your
ad (or if they take action such as clicking on a link in your ad).
Skippable ads can be played at the beginning of a video, during
the video, or afterwards. We recommend placing your ads at the
beginning or middle of the video because it’s way too easy to just
skip an ad at the end by clicking on the next video in the series.
Sponsored Card Ads: These ads display content relevant to the
YouTube video being watched, such as products used in the video
itself. Viewers will see a teaser for the card for a few seconds, or
they can click an icon at the top right corner of their screen to
browse through the cards associated with their video.