YouTube is the world’s second largest search engine even though many people do not think of it like that. More than 120 million people stop by to watch entertaining or educational videos every day, and most of them see multiple ads for companies like yours who want to build brand awareness and increase conversions. Video marketing is highly effective but pay-per-click (PPC) ads on other people’s videos also offer a potentially impressive boost to your success strategy.
Google owns YouTube, so your company or Google Ads agency will manage these campaigns through that platform. This goes far beyond ordinary PPC bidding. There are new things to understand when you want to make video work for your company.
Google Ads Formats for Video PPC Advertising
Six different formats for YouTube Ads exist:
Skippable In-Stream Ads – These play at set points in videos and viewers can skip them after five seconds by clicking a button in the video window.
Non-skippable In-Stream Ads – These work the same as above, but viewers cannot skip them at all.
In-feed Video Ads – These display in the search results when people are looking for new videos to watch and on the app home screen.
Bumper Ads – These are a type of non-skippable ad that lasts only six seconds.
Outstream Ads – This mobile-only ad format does not include audio unless the viewer turns it on.
Masthead Ads – These large ads take up a lot of space at the top of the landing page whenever someone comes to YouTube. They are automatically muted and play for up to 30 seconds.
Which will work best for you, and what format suits your advertising budget? These are questions your Google Ads service provider can help you answer.
Understand Your Target Audience for YouTube Ads
Just like with all PPC campaigns, audience targeting tops the list of important tasks to make your YouTube advertisements as effective as possible. If your goal is to increase brand awareness, it makes sense to target your video ads to people who watch similar content. Choose unique demographics, interests, life stages, and other information to narrow down your options on each campaign screen.
While it may seem easy to decide that your brand will get attention from middle aged men or recent graduates or new mothers, creating the most effective ads depends on more than targeting. YouTube ads are videos, so you need a team on your side who can create professional and highly engaging displays that are optimized to their interests and pain points.
How To Convert YouTube Viewers into Customers
Grabbing attention is one thing. Converting ad viewers to customers or clients is something else. A lot of this comes down to the quality of your videos. Optimize titles, descriptions, on-screen text, or voiceovers. Use eye-catching, branded imagery, and always focus on finishing with a powerful call to action.
In the entire realm of Google Ads service and PPC in general, YouTube offers a unique and powerful option to get the word out about your brand. There is no doubt this video platform is hugely popular and that more people look for content there than ever before. Take advantage of these things to build awareness and drive conversions with the help of skilled advertising experts.