YouTube advertising

What is a YouTube ad?

YouTube is the most popular online platform in the world allowing for publishing and playing video clips for free. Said website has over a billion users, which means that it reaches almost 1/3 of all individuals utilizing the Net.

Every single day, 85 thousand new videos are published there by private users (e.g. video blogs) and by companies or institutions (trailers, promotional clips, presentations). Thanks to such a wide reach, YouTube gradually becomes more and more popular as an advertising medium. It may be used to emit ad banners, but the most lucrative advantages are granted by AdWords ads for videos.

AdWords for videos is a system allowing to display promotional clips on YouTube next to non-commercial content. The most popular ad format on YouTube is called In-Stream and is settled in the CPV (Cost Per View) model. After clicking an ad, a user may proceed to advertiser’s website or YouTube channel. Video ads may be also displayed within websites or applications being part of the Google Display Network.

TrueView ads

YouTube ads in the form of promotional clips typically have the form of:

TrueView In-Stream, that is – ads displayed before the target video material (with the option of skipping the ad after the initial 5 seconds),
TrueView Discovery – ads displayed next to YouTube clips in search results or on websites of film providers within the scope of the Google advertising network. In this case, for the ad to be displayed, a user has to click its thumbnail.

Advantages of YouTube ads

YouTube ads are a great way of reaching a vast group of recipients, building brand awareness, shaping its image, and informing about a new product on the market. Currently, YouTube promotion can easily compete with TV campaigns and grant the advertiser an edge thanks to advanced possibilities of ad targeting and ensured higher outcome measurability. Main benefits of video ads are as follows:

Reach –20 out of 28 million (that is 73%) of Polish Internet users take advantage of YouTube. Said video platform owned by Google is the second most popular browser in the world and the third most popular website in Poland. Thanks to that, ads can reach a remarkable group of prospective clients.

Precise targeting – YouTube ad campaigns can be targeted to very precise groups on the basis of demographics, fields of interest, target destinations (individual video clips or channels), topics, or keywords. They may also be used for remarketing and displayed to people, who have recently visited the website or channel of the advertiser.

Sensible pricing – cost of preparing and displaying YouTube ads is much lower than in the case of their TV counterparts. Typically, the cost of viewing such an ad by a user is equal to several groshes. Skipped ads are not included in the calculated costs, which is yet another key benefit for advertisers.

Measurability – one of key advantages of YouTube ads is the possibility of meticulously measuring the effects of a given ad campaign. When it comes to traditional ad channels, it is almost impossible to specify if the advertiser truly reached his or her target audience. Thanks to Google AdWords, such advertiser is granted a toll-free access to analytical reports. They cover the number of people who have watched the prepared video clip and the amount of new clients who have learned about a given company thanks to the promotional material in question.

Sharing option – ads, similarly to all other video clips available on YouTube, can be shared on other websites and in social media. If the recipient considers a particular promotional material to be intriguing or funny, he or she can show it to others and therefore remarkably increase the reach of the campaign without any additional costs on advertiser’s part.

Artefakt’s experience

Since 2009, we have been Google Partner (prior known as a Google Adwords Certified Partner, Google Adwords Qualified Company). In June 2016 , we were granted an even more prestigious status of Premier Google Partner. We have realized YT campaigns for many popular brands, such as: TVN, 4funTV, Archicom, NeoNet, R-Gol, Fale Loki Koki, as well as for some smaller companies.

Thanks to our experience, we are capable of recommending the advertiser an optimal budget, as well as to choose most efficient targeting methods for the created video campaigns. Thanks to our support, clients can save time on managing the campaign, as well as resources that could otherwise be spent in a less effective manner to exercise supervision over the promotion-oriented project.

YouTube ads cost

YouTube ads are typically settled in the CPV (Cost Per View) model. The amount to be paid depends on one hand on the competitiveness of the selected methods of campaign directing and the quality of the promotional material and on the other hand – on the maximum CPV rate that the advertiser is capable of paying and that is specified on the AdWords platform. In Poland, CPV frequently oscillates around several groshes.

Total budget that the advertiser can spend on the YouTube AdWords campaign is almost unlimited – it can be set and afterwards modified by means of the AdWords panel. The higher the amount spent on video promotion, the greater the number of users that will see the ad. By starting cooperation with an agency it is required to add configuration and management fees to the total budget. At Artefakt, we typically charge a specific percentage of the sum spent on ads. Detailed information on fees for promotional campaigns can be found in our price list.

Methods of YouTube ads marketing

Methods of YouTube ads marketing are similar to means of targeting available for campaigns in the Google advertising network. They utilize the same data on users that are collected by Google for the purpose of its advertising campaigns. Nevertheless, in the case of video campaigns, such data can be taken advantage of in a more precise manner by opting for additional targeting methods.

FIELDS OF INTEREST
Basing on user behavior, Google specifies the fields they are interested in. Advertisers can target their video ads for specific fields of interest regardless of what type of videos users watch. Fields of interest can be divided into two types: more general (affinity audiences ) and more specific ones, focusing on users showing a willingness to make a purchase (in-market audiences ).

TOPICS
Ads can be displayed on YouTube channels of websites belonging to the advertising network that have been classified as the representatives of a specific topic c category. In said case, the topic of the promotional video is in line with the content of the clip shown afterwards.

KEYWORDS
Advertiser can select keywords that will be adjusted by the system to clips and channels on YouTube. Said targeting type is similar to the one oriented towards individual topics.

PLACEMENTS
It is based on targeting ads to specific YouTube channels and clips, as well as to applications and websites belonging to the advertising network and selected by the advertiser. The discussed option grants the most comprehensive control of the content for which promotional materials will be presented.

VIDEO REMARKETING
It allows to reach users who have recently interacted with YouTube clips or channel of the advertiser. Thanks to that, it is possible to remind internet users about a given brand or provide them with some news.

DEMOGRAPHICS
Targeting ads to users characterized by specific demographic data or utilizing above-mentioned methods of targeting for selected demographic audiences . It is possible to select sex, age, marital status, as well as the income of the household the recipients belong to.

YouTube ad formats

Thanks to YouTube website, advertisers can reach users by taking advantage of various forms of promotion that are not limited to promotional videos. It is worth familiarizing oneself with all the possible options to choose the one that will be the most suitable for the purposes of a particular advertising campaign.

DISPLAY ADS
Those are standard advertising banners that can be seen on many websites belonging to the Google advertising network. While published on YouTube, they are displayed on the right side of a clip or directly below it. The user sees the ad for quite some time, which increases the likelihood that he or she will click it.

IN-VIDEO OVERLAY ADS
Ads are displayed on the video clip watched. They may have a graphic or text form and be displayed on a semi-transparent background. They take up 20 % of the lower area of the clip window. The viewer can close such an ad at any time.

SKIPPABLE VIDEO ADS (TRUEVIEW IN-STREAM)
It is one of the most attractive and popular video formats in marketing. The recipient can skip such an ad after 5 seconds. Most frequently, such ads are displayed before the video proper (however, sometimes they can be seen during and after the clip).

NON-SKIPPABLE VIDEO ADS
Such promotional materials are displayed before the clip proper. They last over 15 seconds and there is no possibility of skipping them, which may be considered by users to be troublesome.

ADS DURING A CLIP
This format can be used for clips lasting longer than 15 minutes. Depending on the selected settlement method, ads can be skippable or unskippable.

BUMPER ADS
Max. 6-second unskippable ads available on mobile devices only. They are a perfect addition to campaigns basing on longer promotional clips – they help win users’ attention and are not as irritating as longer unskippable ads.

SPONSORED CARDS
Within the scope of sponsored tabs, products from Google Shopping that may be connected with the clip proper are typically displayed. Viewers see the trailer of a card for several seconds and can expand it.

How to make a good promotional clip?

YouTube video campaign cannot be launched without a decent promotional material. It should win viewer’s attention, provide all the key information, encourage to further interact with the brand, and do not create negative connotations due to its low quality. If an ad does not include all the said features, it may turn out that regardless of the budget spent, it may not yield expected outcomes or even damage the image of the company.

If the advertiser plans on opting for skippable ads, he or she has to remember to convey a concise message to interest the viewer within the initial 5 seconds. Obviously, the entire clip should not be excessively long, for the patience of the users is limited, even if they are initially interested with the clip. On average, video materials not exceeding 30 seconds should be taken advantage of.

While creating an advertising video, one should also not forget about indicating the advertised brand, informing about the offer, as well as utilizing a proper call to action for the viewer to know what to expect after clicking an ad.

If you are interested in an effective YouTube campaign, do not hesitate to contact our experts.