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Audience attention, engagement, broad coverage, and brand visibility: what better way than a YouTube video campaign to capture attention and make your brand known to new potential customers?
With over 2 billion active users, YouTube has established itself as the world’s most popular video platform, offering businesses an unbeatable opportunity to reach a large audience and increase their brand awareness.
This is confirmed by data from a Think with Google study, in which 90% of respondents stated that they discovered new brands and products through YouTube.
Are you ready to start promoting your business on this platform? Let’s see how advertising works on YouTube and what the main video ad formats are.
Advertising on YouTube: How It Works
If you’re interested in launching an advertising campaign on YouTube, you’ll need to create and configure it using Google Ads, Google’s online advertising platform. You’ll also need to have a YouTube channel and upload your video ad there.
YouTube video campaigns offer precise targeting, making it easier for you to reach potential customers instead of displaying your ads to a generic audience.
For instance, you can show your ads to groups of people with specific interests and characteristics, or in association with videos on certain topics. You can also re-engage people who have previously visited your website through Remarketing.
Based on the chosen format and settings, you’ll pay based on views or interactions with your video, or when your ad reaches a thousand impressions, while always maintaining control over the campaign budget.
YouTube Video Ad Formats
Skippable In-stream Ads
The ad is played before, during, or after other videos. After 5 seconds, viewers have the option to skip the ad.
Non-Skippable In-stream Ads
The ad has a duration of 15 seconds or less and is played before, during, or after another video. Viewers can’t skip it.
Bumper Ads
The ad has a duration of 6 seconds or less and is played before, during, or after another video. Viewers can’t skip it.
Bumper ads allow for maximum coverage and increased brand impact, conveying the entire message within a few seconds.
Video Discovery or In-feed Ads
The ad consists of a thumbnail image of the video with text and is displayed among related YouTube videos, in YouTube search results, or on the YouTube homepage. Users must click on the thumbnail to start playback.
This type of ad helps you reach users actively seeking new content and directs them to your brand’s channel to view more videos.
YouTube Masthead Ads
Masthead ads are placed at the top of the YouTube homepage feed and allow you to reach a massive number of users quickly. They are typically chosen for a tent-pole event or product launch because, thanks to the “cost per day” (CPD) bidding option, they ensure extensive coverage for a specific day.
Masthead ads are available by reservation only, through contact with a Google sales representative.
Marketing Objectives: Choose the Right Video Format
Awareness
If you want to introduce yourself to a very broad audience and increase brand awareness, choose the following formats:
- Bumper ads
- Non-Skippable In-stream ads
- Masthead ads
Consideration
If your goal is not only to increase brand awareness but also to generate curiosity and interest in what you offer, the most suitable formats are:
- Skippable In-stream ads
- In-feed ads
Action
If you want to encourage users to take a specific action, you can use the following types of video ads:
- Skippable In-stream ads (possibly included in a TrueView for Action campaign)
- In-feed ads
However, if your main goal is to drive traffic to your website or generate immediate leads or purchases, we recommend complementing your strategy with other types of Google Ads campaigns.
Are you ready to promote your brand on YouTube?
Contact our Google Ads specialists to define your strategy, launch your YouTube advertising campaign, and optimize it based on results.
Also, learn how to make your channel known through YouTube SEO.
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