In a complex landscape, with new platforms emerging and continuous changes in algorithms, Ads on YouTube represent a consolidated strategy in the digital marketing landscape.
Some figures provide a realistic view of the potential of advertising on that platform: YouTube is the second most visited website globally, with 106 billion annual visits and second only to Google, according to figures from the company Semrush. In addition, it is estimated that the number of views on YouTube is 57% higher than on other platforms, according to Ipsos data.
With this information in mind, in this article we explain in detail what YouTube Ads consist of, what their benefits are, and what steps you have to take to create a campaign and reach your audience effectively.
What is YouTube Ads?
YouTube Ads or Ads YouTube, as they are also known, are advertising ads that are displayed within the YouTube platform.
As part of advertising campaigns designed specifically for this network, Ads on YouTube comprise a series of ad formats that can be displayed before, during, or after the videos that users are watching, as well as in other places within YouTube, such as the home page or search results.
What are the Benefits of Using YouTube Ads?
YouTube Ads stand out as one of the most impactful strategies within digital marketing. Thus, the key advantages of YouTube Ads include:
- Massive reach: As we mentioned earlier, YouTube is the most visited video platform in the world and one of the favorite internet sites of Internet users, with billions of monthly active users. Therefore, the reach it offers to advertisers is massive, being able to reach a diverse audience around the world.
- Precise segmentation: YouTube Ads allows advertisers to segment their audience extremely precisely. Criteria such as demographics, interests, browsing behaviors, geographic location… ensure effective campaigns thanks to the fact that the ads are shown to the right people at the right time.
- Highly visual and engaging format: The use of the video format allows advertisers to tell stories visually and creatively beyond static images, facilitating an emotional connection with the audience.
- Metrics anddetailed analysis: Another advantage of YouTube Ads is that it provides advanced analysis tools, so that advertisers can measure the performance of their ads in real time and apply adjustments.
Main YouTube Ads Formats
The variety of YouTube Ads formats is another of the strengths of launching advertising campaigns on this platform.
The options have evolved over time, enhancing the most successful formats and eliminating those that have become obsolete as the consumption of digital media has also evolved. In this sense, these are the main YouTube Ads formats that the platform offers:
Skippable Video Ads
They are shown in the player itself before, during, or after the video that users want to see. Its main characteristic is that they allow Internet users to “skip them” after the first 5 seconds of the ad. In addition, advertisers pay according to the objective of the campaign: per impressions or when the ad is seen in its entirety or the user interacts with it.
Non-skippable Video Ads
In this case, they are also shown in the player, but must be viewed in their entirety before the user can access the video they wanted to see. The duration can vary between 15, 20 or 30 seconds (the latter figure only on televisions).
Bumper Ads
These are ads of a maximum of 6 seconds in duration, which appear in the video player and that the user cannot skip.
Ads on YouTube Shorts
They are oriented to the specific function within the platform called YouTube Shorts, which only shows vertical videos and short formats. The ads are seen between one video and another.
Ads outside the Player
YouTube offers a space for advertising outside the video player that is only visible when YouTube is accessed from a computer. Thus, this type of ad appears on the feed of recommended videos, located to the right of the player.
Consecutive Ads
These video ads appear sequentially when the user activates advertising in long videos with at least 5 minutes in duration. They are created to reduce the interruptions that occur in longer videos and thus improve the user experience.
Steps to Create an Ads Campaign on YouTube
Creating a successful campaign in Ads YouTube involves a complex process that must activate all the creativity of a company, in addition to specific knowledge of digital marketing on this platform. Some of the basic steps that should underpin any campaign on YouTube Ads include the following:
Create an Account in Google Ads
YouTube was acquired by Google in 2006, so any advertising campaign on this platform must necessarily go through the use of Google Ads. If you do not have an account, go to the website of Google Ads and click on “Start” to configure your account.
Determine the Objectives
Any successful campaign on YouTube Ads must clearly define the objectives before starting any other process. Some of them may be to increase brand recognition, gain customers, or promote a product or service, among others.
In this sense, our advice is that you use SMART objectives. That is, that they are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely, so that later they help you determine if a campaign has been successful and make the necessary adjustments.
Take Advantage of the Potential of Audience Segmentation
The first step involves identifying the target audience of a campaign based on their demographic characteristics, interests, and behaviors in the digital sphere. This allows you to take advantage of the full potential of Google Ads segmentation tools, and even create different ad groups depending on the specialized segments you have identified.
The objective is to create campaigns with almost personalized messages and offers, so that they attract the attention of users who, in principle, have come to the platform to watch video content.
Create Ads on YouTube Ads
The time has come to create the video that is going to be advertised. In advertising on this platform, creativity and originality are valued, making use of all the opportunities offered by the video and the various formats designed by YouTube Ads. Therefore, it is advisable to go to experts in the creation of multimedia content. The platform itself offers the YouTube Studio tool for creating videos, or the option to upload the advertising video directly to Google Ads.
Make Optimizations Periodically
As in other digital advertising platforms, it is useful to adopt an iterative approach that is based on performance monitoring to evaluate the success of the campaign and make adjustments. Here key metrics appear such as impressions, views, click-through rate, and conversion rate, among others, which allow you to gain visibility on the performance of the campaign in order to optimize it.
How to Start an Ads Strategy on YouTube?
As we mentioned above, the strategy in YouTube Ads is a strategy of great impact for a large number of companies. While we have discussed the basic principles that should guide any YouTube Ads campaign on this platform, the reality is that it is a complex process.
Thus, not only must a creative and attractive content in video format that attracts the attention of the audience above the “noise” be generated, but it is also essential to master all the variables offered by the Google Ads platform to design a campaign that adapts to the needs of each company.
In this sense, it is of great value to have the support of a professional marketing agency. Their experience and knowledge in YouTube, as well as their professional support in the planning, execution, and optimization of campaigns, make the difference and help maximize the return on investment to achieve the objectives of each company.
At 2btube we are experts in organic and paid strategies on YouTube, adapting to the needs of each brand. In addition, we combine our services with the creation and management of channels on the platform. This includes the protection of digital rights, the creation of audits, optimizations, production and publication of content, as well as the creation of influencer marketing strategies.
On the other hand, we are official YouTube partners and we have our CMS on the platform to boost the performance of content on YouTube. We also have our own “Google Ad Manager”, being able to serve premium advertising in our inventory, even in YouTube Kids.
Want to know more? Get in touch with us and talk to our team about how we can help you boost your strategy on YouTube.