You Tube Advertising Options and When to Use Them

No matter the audience for your client’s products or services, YouTube is engaging them.

• People watch more than a billion hours of video on YouTube every day.
• 70% of people who are on YouTube say they have bought from a brand as a result of seeing a YouTube video.
• Over 90% of people surveyed globally say they discover new brands or products on YouTube.

So, how do you make the most out of marketing on YouTube?

Beyond hosting videos, YouTube offers advertising options to help your digital marketing agency grow your clients’ reach and bottom line. This article will share some of the different options YouTube offers, how they work and the benefits of each one.

Businesses and agencies tend to focus their paid advertising efforts on Google and Facebook, sometimes overlooking YouTube ads. This is typically because video marketing is not part of their marketing strategy. While a successful Google ad requires compelling text, YouTube ads require engaging, high-quality video content.

If video marketing is already a part of your client’s digital marketing strategy (or will be in 2022), here are some advertising options that can help you reach more users and grow your client’s businesses.

Discovery Ads

Video discovery ads (also known as “TrueView discovery ads”) place your client’s brand, products or services alongside YouTube content that is likely to be viewed by their target audience. Discovery ads can appear in YouTube search results, YouTube “watch next” suggestions and the YouTube app home feed.

A discovery ad includes a thumbnail and up to two lines of text. It is shown to users based on the video content they are watching. For example, consider a florist watching videos about floral arrangement tips. They are a perfect candidate to be shown a video ad focusing on how to create the perfect floral arrangement.

When Should I Use Discovery Ads?

Discovery ads can deliver your client a stronger ROI than some others, since your clients need only pay when someone clicks on their ad. This video ad format is a great tool to promote your client’s YouTube channel, boost channel subscriptions, attract website click-throughs and increase overall brand awareness.

Non-Skippable In-Stream Video Ads

According to Google, paid YouTube mobile advertising is 84% more likely to receive viewers’ attention than TV advertising. But the rate at which users skip YouTube ads is increasing.  76% of consumers say they skip ads because it is an ingrained habit. Fortunately, YouTube offers non-skippable in-stream video ads. Non-skippable ads are short video ads that play before (pre-roll), during (mid-roll) or after (post-roll) a YouTube video.

These ads can be six to 15 seconds long, and because the viewer cannot skip over watching them, your digital marketing agency can reach viewers with an entire video message.

When Should I Use Non-Skippable Ads?

Non-skippable ads are perfect for any business that wants to advertise on YouTube. Because views cannot skip over these ads, non-skippable ads are great for demanding the viewer’s attention to increase brand awareness and exposure.

Unlike pay-per-click video ads, the cost of non-skippable ads is based on a target CPM (cost-per-thousand impressions). Target CPM is when an advertiser sets how much they are willing to pay for every thousand times the ad is shown (this amount is the target CPM). For example, if the target CPM is $2 and a video gains 10,000 impressions, the ad cost will be $20. Keep in mind, ad prices on YouTube can depend on bidding price, type of ad and consistency.

Bumper Ads

Another non-skippable video ad option is bumper ads, six-second ads that play before a YouTube video. While short in length, one bumper campaign study by Google found that 70% of those campaigns drove a significant lift in brand awareness.

Google describes them as “bursts of creativity, designed to deliver a short, succinct message. When you only have six seconds, the only thing that matters is making an impact.”

When Should I Use Bumper Ads?

Due to their short length, bumper ads are best for creating brand awareness and reach. Like non-skippable ads, bumper ads operate on cost-per-thousand impressions (CPM) pricing.

Bumper ads can run as standalone ad campaigns, but Google recommends running them in combination with discovery ads to increase their effectiveness. For example, showing a discovery ad to first-time viewers, then continuing to show those same viewers bumper ads to increase brand retention.

Skippable In-Stream Video Ads

YouTube also offers skippable in-stream video ads that play before or during a video. For this ad type, viewers have the option to skip them after the first five seconds. The other significant difference between skippable and non-skippable ads is the length. Skippable ads can be a minimum of 12 seconds long to a maximum of six minutes in length.

When Should I Use Skippable Ads?

Google recommends using this skippable ad format “when you have video content you’d like to promote before, during or after other videos on YouTube and across websites and apps running on Google video partners.” For example, storytelling or brand videos that introduce viewers to your client’s values, mission and offerings are good content for skippable ads since they can be longer in length.

Like discovery ads, advertisers only pay when a viewer interacts with a video ad or watches 30 seconds of the video ad (or the full video if it’s shorter than 30 seconds), whichever comes first.

Let Us Help Grow Your Clients’ Reach

If your marketing agency is looking for help and expertise to take advantage of YouTube advertising for your clients, Umbrella can help. Set up a free consultation with Umbrella to find out how we can help you take your client’s video marketing efforts to the next level.