The battles of YouTube Ads are not won today by men with the largest forces.
Sure they can spend a lot more than you, but that doesn’t mean they are going to win.
YouTube ads have changed and they can be tested in a couple of weeks. There is no long waiting—no serious uncertainty—no drawn-out period when expense overtops result.
One gets his answer immediately. The YouTube campaign is based on exact information that you can see right in your Analytics and Adwords accounts.
What you do in 1 state can be one is all 50, and the views and click will be in proportion to your test states. The law of average is sure. When you expand, you will be spending your money on absolute certainty.
Let’s do a quick recap before we check out whats new.
TrueView ads can be skipped after five seconds—so it’s important that your video is done correctly and will capture attention in the first 5 seconds. Unless you’re optimizing based on action or reach (more on that below), you only have to pay for these ads when the viewer watches 30 seconds or more, which makes them a pretty safe bet for advertising on a budget.
TrueView ads have two formats, In-Stream ads and Discovery ads. Here’s the differences:
It was in BETA but now my accounts have this new feature.
“Soon you’ll be able to reach people on YouTube who recently searched for your products or services on Google. For example, an airline could reach people on YouTube who recently searched Google.com for “flights to Hawaii.” We call this custom intent audiences. Custom intent audiences can be an effective way to move undecided customers to action using the persuasive power of video. To get started, all you have to do is create a keyword list for your video campaign in the new AdWords experience.”
Here’s a simple video tutorial where you can see how to set up a TrueView For Action video campaign.
TrueView For Reach
If you are looking to build brand awareness and increase market penetrations, you may want to look at TrueView for reach.
I would not recommend it because I think TrueView for Action Ads are better.
Actually…
I know they are better.
YouTube Video Ad Reach Planner Tool
One of the big problems with YouTube ads are the unknown. They lack transparency but they are changing. Google has launched the do Reach planner tool.
“Starting today, we’ve made it easier to answer questions like these by introducing Reach Planner, a new tool in AdWords. Now, for the first time, advertisers can forecast the reach and frequency achievable on YouTube and across Google’s video partners, in over 50 countries. This resource will simplify the planning process by providing unique reach across devices, for all core audiences and video formats.
Please for all things practical get on this and start running ads. If you need help, that is what we are here for. Contact us and we would be happy to create a killer YouTube Ad Campaign that will get you more sales, leads, and traffic.
Have you ever wondered how you ran run YouTube ads in front of your competitors videos. We have created a simple guide to show you exactly how to set up a campaign. This is a great ways to capture views, traffic, and sales from your competitors.
Whenever I give a presentation, I will usually show people how they can capture views, leads, and traffic from their competitors videos. The audience loves to learn this simple technique so I am going to teach you how to create a YouTube campaign targeting your competitor’s videos.
Let’s get started With Our YouTube Ad Campaign
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In order for you to set up a campaign you are going to need the following:
A video with a great headline, story and call to action.
Adwords account
YouTube channel
If you do not have the 3 things above, it’s going to be hard for you to run YouTube ads. If you need help or have questions on how to create the perfect video, Ydraw is the best solution.
We also have other tutorials where you can learn how to set up your YouTube channel. Just click here.
Campaign Settings
Setting up your Adwords campaign
Adwords is the platform we will be using to create your YouTube ads. You are going to want to create a new campaign.
Click on the Run Campaign button and scroll down to video. I like to name my new campaign “Competitors.” You can name it what you would like.
Leave the type to standard and change the video ad formats to “In-stream or video discovery” not bumper ads.
The average cost per view will be between 8 and 15 cents. Just depends on how aggressive you would like to be. We are going to set our budget to $10 per day. That will give us around 100 views.
The cool thing about YouTube video ads is they do not count a view until they have watched 30 seconds. If they skip the ad, you are not charged. Basically, you can get free branding if they skip the video.
Moving on…
Your Networks is going to be YouTube Videos. I do not like to use video partners. A good practice is to restrict Google as much as possible. They will blow your budget if you let them.
Pick your locations and language.
When you get to the Devices section you will want to decrease the spend on Mobile. You will see a blue link for “Advanced mobile and table options.” Click on it and decrease the mobile bid.
Why do you want to do this?
I have found that results are exponentially higher when you decrease the mobile bid. If you have a large budget or you are not hitting your daily spend, feel free to change it around.
Leave the rest of the settings and click save and continue.
Ad Group Settings
Setting up you Ad groups
Ad group name and format
Next we are going to set up your Ad Group. Give it a name and then pick the video you would like to use. This is why you need a YouTube channel with a nice video.
You can jump over to your YouTube channel and grab the URL of the video you would like to place in front of your competitors.
In-stream
We will be running In-stream ads so select in-stream and put in your Display URL and your Final URL. Leave the Companion Banner as is.
Bidding
I am going to leave the bidding up to you. For now I just put $0.06, but sometimes I will bid extremely high to make sure I show up.
Targeting
With targeting, you have 6 different options and combinations. Since we’re going to be running our ads in front of our competitors videos, we’re going to want to choose the “Placements.”
I personally like to adjust the demographics to match my target audience. You can exclude certain demographics or exclude certain demographics.
Targeting (Placements)
This is the part you have been waiting for. Click on placements and then click on the “Search for placements.” I used to add everything manually, but YouTube has become better at giving us all the placements.
A lot of the placements do not allow ads on their videos. You can tell by clicking on the video and see if a 30 second ad pops up or look for the little yellow line on the bar. Here’s a simple screen shot.
So just because you see them pop up when you are searching for placements, does not mean you are going to be able to run ad in front of their videos. This is where manually searching comes into place.
The key is to find your competitors videos that are allowing ads. If you just want to search manually, you can.
This is not a 2 minute task. You will want to take some time and find as many videos as possible.
When you are done, click save ad group.
Conclusion
You’re ready to roll
I hope this simple guide helped. It’s important that you keep an eye on your campaign for a couple of days. Once you start seeing results you can tweak the account accordingly.
If you are like us, you should get some extremely cheap leads, customers, and sales from running your YouTube videos in front of you competitors.
At Yinc we still have a hard time convincing people run YouTube ads. They always want to know if YouTube advertising really works and will add to the bottom line.
Since YouTube started back in 2005 it has grown to be the number one place for people to share videos. It is also considered to be the second biggest search engine. Now here is a scary number…
According to Youtube, product review videos are up 40 percent last year alone. I met a guy last week who creates product review videos for a living. When something new comes out, he does a simple review and ranks his video. YouTube pays him a nice check ever month. It is a nice little revenue stream.
Viewers, come to YouTube to be entertained, learn, and join an interactive community. They also provide the eyeballs required to help creators, advertisers, and YouTube make money.
Creators, come to YouTube to express themselves, share their creativity, and potentially make some money from it -if they can. As a creator, you can keep making great videos so viewers come back for more and make visiting your channel a habit.
Advertisers, look at YouTube as way to reach and target audiences. If your audience is really engaged, and if they’re a demographic that brands really want to reach, advertisers may be willing to pay to run ads on channels creators make.
Lets go over the 6 different Ads you are able to run with YouTube.
Topping the list are simple Display Ads (I don’t like these)
Where they appear: Display ads appear to the right of the featured video and above the video suggestion list. For larger video players, this ad may also show up below the player. Display ads (or sometimes refered to as banners) may run across all areas of YouTube, except on the homepage.
How They Generate Revenue: If a view is interested in your product or service and they see your Display, you should get a click. I personally do not use these types of ads. I have not found them to be that effective. Just be careful when you run any type of display ads. Google has no mercy when it comes to taking your money.
This brings me to our second style of display ads.
Second On Our List Are Overlay Ads (I don’t like these)
Location: Because Overlay ads are a transparent advertisement that appears on the lower 20% portion of your video, retailers should avoid having key information in the lower portion of their video where the overlap (indicated by the red box above) could occur.
This ad type only appears on desktop and laptop computers. Viewers can also exit the ad at any time.
How They generate revenue: I highly recommend that you do not run these ads. They get so many false clicks and I believe they are the most annoying. When I watch my kids on YouTube, they seem to accidently click on these ads all the time. They operate the same as the Display ads above. Further down I will explain the key to getting leads on YouTube. I just wanted to cover your different options first.
So you know, they operate the same as the Display ads above. Further down I will explain the key to getting leads on YouTube.
Your YouTube Midroll Ads (I don’t run these)
Location: Midroll ads are currently available for videos over 15 minutes. These ads are spaced within the video – similar to the way TV commercials roll out during a program. Viewers must watch the ads before they can continue to view the rest of the YouTube video. Advertisers can insert ad breaks at natural pauses throughout the YouTube video for the better, more streamlined viewing experience. These ads only appear on desktop, laptops and mobile devices.
YouTube Sponsored Cards (I like these)
Location: Introduced in 2015, Sponsored Cards display content that is relevant to the YouTube video, such as products featured in the video. Viewers see a teaser for the card for a few seconds, then they can also click the icon in the top right corner of the video to browse the cards. This is available on desktop and mobile devices.
Non-skippable Video Ads & Long Non-Skippable Video Ads (kind of like these)
Location: Non-skippable video ads must be watched before a YouTube video can be viewed. Long non-skippable video ads may be up to 30 seconds. These types of ads can appear before, during, or after the main video.
How We Generate Revenue: Advertisers are able to run on certain videos. When a viewer watches the ad the advertisers have to pay and the creator gets paid. If your landing page is set up correctly and your videos are engaging, you will be able to capture leads.
But…
Every time your ad pops up, you are going to have to pay. It doesn’t matter who is watching. Companies with outrageous marketing budgets (geico, state farm etc) like to run these ads. They have money to blow.
YouTube TrueView Instream Skippable Video Ads (I Love These)
Location: TrueView skippable video ads allow viewers to skip ads after 5 seconds if they choose. The ads can be inserted before, during, or after the main video.
How We Generate Revenue: Instream ads are what I love running. They give the viewer the option to watch your ad or skip it. We do not want to pay for people who are not interested in our product or service. Once the viewer watches 30 seconds of your video, the creator is paid and the advertisers are charged.
I will explain more about Instream Skippable Video ads below. But for now, know these are the best type of ads. They seem to generate the most leads.
If you are a Video creator looking to generate revenue from your videos. Here is a screen shot of your different options. This looks a little different for advertisers.
Now for the Fun Part of YouTube Advertising
YouTube TrueView Ad Tutorial
I began running YouTube video ads a couple of years ago. We have spent thousands of dollars on generating leads from YouTube. It works and I get some of my cheapest conversion from their platform.
The only bad thing is YouTube is not that scalable. You’re limited to the number of views a certain video gets. But that doesn’t mean you should not be using it.
With TrueView ads you are able to:
Target your audience by demographic, interest, topic, etc
Retarget those who have seen your other videos
Pick the exact video you want your ads to run on
Play your video in front of your competitors.
Track conversion
Get cheap views
Here is a simple screen-shot of a current campaign we are running.
This will give you an idea of what they look like. The company above has
506,751 impressions
29,231 Views
5.77% view rate
$0.06 a view
Your TrueView ads have two types of formats
In-stream video ads
In-display video ads
In-Stream Video Ads
In-stream ads play before or during the YouTube video. We like to make these skippable. We also recommend that you be extremely selective on the video you choose to run in front of. If you are not careful your budget will be wasted on “Wheels On The Bus Kid Videos.”
Viewers see five seconds of the advertisement and then have the choice to keep watching or skip it. If you can get them to click to your website before the 30 second that is considered to be FREE Traffic. This is one of the reasons you really want a compelling video. The quicker you can grab the viewers attention, qualify them, and get them to take action, the more FREE traffic you will get.
TrueView in-stream ads can run on videos served on YouTube or on a collection of sites and apps in the Google Display Network (GDN). We recommend sticking with YouTube and staying away from the GDN network.
I put together a simple YouTube video that will explain how you will go about finding the right YouTube videos to play your ads in front of.
The second video advertising option for TrueView advertisers is in-display ads.
According to Google, TrueView in-display ads can run across YouTube and Google Display Network. On YouTube they can run on the search and watch pages for both desktop and m.youtube.com, as well as the home pages for desktop and YouTube mobile apps.
As seen in the example above, the ad consists of an image thumbnail and up to three lines of text but retailers should note, this is only one of the 6 options retailers can choose from for their in-display format.
When a viewer clicks on the ad they are brought to the YouTube watch or channel page (rather than being able to watch the video within the ad itself).
In-display ads can also appear alongside other YouTube videos, in YouTube search pages, or on websites on the Google Display Network that match your target audience. Advertisers only pay only when a viewer chooses to watch your video by clicking on the ad. YouTube search results:
TrueView in-display ads appear on YouTube search results in the related video section. The ad contains a thumbnail, headline, channel name and video view count. The top-ranked ad may also be repeated below the organic search results.
In-display Ads watch page and the home page:
A good way to use In-display ads on the watch page are Retargeting campaigns.
There are a few other options, but I am not going to go into them here.
If you are really interested in running YouTube ads I suggest you check out all of our Tutorial Videos below. We have seen great results from YouTube ads and highly suggest you try them. To wrap things up I want to give you a couple of YouTube Marketing tips.
Stay away from advertising on kid videos and music videos they will kill your budget. In adwords you will find a place where you can exclude your a certain video/audience.
Start small and scale up.
Put brackets and parenthesis around you keywords words when setting up your in-display ads.
Create an amazing and entertaining video. (this is 50% of your success)
Monitor your results often
Have an objective and a conversion goal set up
Be happy and keep trying until you get it. Don’t give up too soon
Thanks for reading: Is YouTube Advertising Really That Good? A YouTube Guide
Transcript Slides
1. 5 reasons you should be running videos ads yinc marketing
2. 1. YouTube is the second biggest Search Engine your target audience is watching videos
3. 2. Your competition is not running video ads…yet! also run your video ads in front of you competitors Videos
4. 3. Pick keywords you want to show up for The trick is to make sure you use phrase match
5. 4. It’s quick and doesn’t cost a fortune to get great results. We often times will get leads for 23 cents
6. 5. Give you customers what they want. We love watching videos. People will watch a 90 second video all day long. Make sure it is educational and entertaining
7. yinc marketing can help! We are a video marketing agency that runs Video ads www.marketinghy.com
Are you running youtube ads? Have you failed at running youtube ads? Either way, you should be running videos ads.
I wish I could say that is will cost you a couple hundred dollars to test the market, but that would be a flawed philosophy.
Why do I say this?
Because this last week I spoke at the Affiliate Summit Conference in New York. Everyone seemed to try YouTube ads, but they could not get them to work.
The Problem…
They were not spending enough and most of them did not follow the rules of YouTube Ads. So I am going to give you 5 simple steps to running YouTube ads.
I do not have a lot of time to write this so it is going to be short and sweet. 🙂
1. The Video
Make sure your video is created for the YouTube in-stream platform. First entertain, then educate. A simple formula that will keep your audience engaged.
2. Associate your website with your YouTube channel
Treat your YouTube page as an extension of you website or brand. Make sure you have linked your channel, use annotations, and YouTube cards. I have created tutorial videos on how to do this. You can find them by clicking on the link below.
3. Setup your adwords account and create a video campaign
This is pretty self explanatory. Head on over to adwords and open up an account.
4. YouTube placement target audience (start with two targeting methods. This is one of them)
Search your keywords on YouTube and find videos that allow ads on them. You will know they have ads if they have a yellow bar on the play line or an Ad starts to play at the beginning.
5. Keyword targeting (this is the second target method)
Here is the secret to Keyword placement. “”
Make sure you put your keywords in quotes. This is known as phrase match.
