YouTube is the second most visited website on the internet after Google. Considering just that single fact, you can’t afford to exclude it from your marketing strategy.
Every month, more than 2 million unique users get introduced to YouTube, which is a 5% increase from 2018. YouTube is also the second most preferred platform for watching videos among users between the age of 18 to 34. This makes it the best platform for reaching the audience.
YouTube has also attained global reach since users can access the platform in 80 different languages and is launched in more than 100 countries. All of these numbers should convince you to start considering YouTube marketing.
Types of YouTube Ads
Before you start advertising, you need to understand the difference between other video hosting platforms. YouTube ads aren’t similar to creating ads for other social media platforms at all. Though it might get a little daunting at first, once you get a hang of it, promoting your business can be a breeze.
Though there are different options available like display ads and sponsored card ads, let’s briefly look at the multiple ads types that you get to use.
Bumper Ads
Ever opened a YouTube video and saw an ad that had no option to skip? Yup, these ads are called Bumper ads. These ads cannot be skipped by the user, and they appear right before a video chosen by a user. The run time for bumper ads are a mere 6 seconds, which makes them the shortest among the different types of ads you can find. These ads allow you to reach more users and basically used for spreading awareness about your brand. Use campaign on google to create bumper ads with ‘video campaigns’ type.
In-stream Ads
Instream ads are non-skippable ads that have a runtime of 15 to 20 seconds. These ads have three different positions, they can play right before the video chosen by the user, or in between the video, or right after the video. Since the user doesn’t have the option to skip these, it makes them the perfect option for getting your message across. Though most users might find them irritating since they can’t be skipped.
TrueView Ads
TrueView ads are one of the most popular ad-type that you can use and see everywhere on YouTube. These types of ads allow advertisers to only pay for ads when the user engages with the ad, i.e. when the user chooses to view or click the ad.
Withing TrueView, there are two types of ads available: instream TrueView and TrueView Discovery ads. The instream ad gives users an option to either skip or watch the ad after playing for five seconds. The advertiser only has to pay for the ad if the user watches at least 30 seconds of the ad. For TrueView Discovery ads, they appear alongside other videos that the user is watching. For example, if a user searches for yoga, the ad will appear on the search result and the sidebar as a suggestion/related videos. These ads can also appear on the homepage of a user.
What are the Benefits of YouTube Advertising?
But why spend money on YouTube ads when you have other advertisement options to use? Here are some of the best benefits you get if you use a YouTube advertisement.
Better Reach
With YouTube pulling more than 2 billion users every month now, this might be one of the best platforms for your business. It allows you to expand your reach to a massive audience. There’s a high chance that a good chunk of people among these billions of users will show interest in your ads.
Advanced Targeting
With YouTube advertising, you can create ad campaigns based on specific keywords, topics, and categories. This allows you to improve your chances of reaching people with similar interests within your industry. No need to just rely on demographics targeting.
Cost-Effective ads
Since you only have to pay for the ads when the user watches them, you can save a lot of money on campaigns. Unlike other platforms where you have to pay for ads just for displaying them on a platform, there are ad types which offer you to pay only when users engage with your ad. Such an example is using TrueView ads where the advertiser only pays if the user is engaging with the video.
Visually Engaging
Among the different types of visual content such as presentations and infographics, videos are the top perform content out there. Video ads offer a better chance to increase engagement.
Analytics
Unlike other platforms, YouTube offers advanced analytics so advertisers can get a detailed understanding of how their ads are performing. You will be able to get details such as the duration of videos ads watched, disengage time, which format performed the best for your business, and much more.
YouTube isn’t just another platform to watch entertaining videos. If you know the right technique, you can turn it into the best tool you have in your marketing arsenal.
