What Is YouTube Advertising?
YouTube advertising refers to creating ads on YouTube and promoting your content through videos. Businesses can select from varying video ad formats and display them in their campaigns.
Data reveals that 500 hours of video content is uploaded on the platform every minute globally. Further, users worldwide spend roughly 29 minutes and 37 seconds on YouTube.
Generally speaking, this amount of time is enough to target your ideal audience through an effective marketing strategy.
Perhaps this explains why more brands see the platform as an opportunity to grow their business. Companies can build brand awareness, boost sales, promote events, and share valuable brand-related content.
Pros of Advertising on YouTube
Speaking of YouTube advertising benefits, you can also take advantage of the platform to scale your business and gain a competitive edge in the growing ecommerce world.
Here’s how YouTube Advertising can serve the purpose.
- Boost visibility. Being the second-largest search engine globally, YouTube can help you increase your online visibility. So, the target audience that may not have come across your Facebook posts might find you via YouTube.
- Build credibility. The more active you are online, the higher you have the chance to build credibility, and there are no two ways about it. The rapidly growing and swiftly evolving digital world demands your presence on almost all online platforms, including YouTube. Besides, people worldwide also see you as an authentic brand with more online channels.
- Grow organically. You can grow your business organically by uploading quality video content. Make sure your content offers value to your target audience by tapping their interest.
Types of YouTube Advertisements
It’s time to fine-tune your marketing strategy with YouTube advertisement. But you must choose from varying ad formats. This would require you to set a business goal and approach an ad type accordingly.
Display Ads
Display ads offer a simple way to advertise on YouTube. These ads typically appear on the right side above the recommended videos. You can display them in different graphics and sizes depending on your preferences.
Users will be directed to the desired page as soon as they click on the display ad.
Non-Skippable Instream Ads
As the name implies, non-skippable instream ads are the ads that viewers cannot skip at their convenience. Because viewers find these ad types annoying, YouTube altered its strategy regarding these ads.
For instance, it killed off the 30-second unskippable ads and encouraged YouTubers to stick to 15-20 seconds.
Note that these ads aren’t just shown before the videos. Instead, you’ll find non-skippable ads throughout video content. Typically, videos 10 minutes or longer can include non-skippable ad formats.
Besides, you must pay for these ads on a cost-per-mile basis (CPM). Simply put, you have to pay charges for every thousand views on the ad.
Therefore, it is best to polish your targeting to set the right budget. Otherwise, you’ll waste time and money paying for low-quality prospects. Lastly, CPM ads are a better fit for brands designing campaigns for significant exposure.
TrueView Ads
TrueView ads display in YouTube search results and above the suggested video list - on the right-hand side.
Typically, this ad entails an image and text of up to 3 lines. Overall, these ads offer an excellent and low-risk way to reach your target audience. Wondering how?
Unlike non-skippable ads, TrueView ads only charge you when a viewer watches the entire ad, views it for around 30 seconds or interacts with it.
Although data shows that 76% of consumers skip these ads, you’re on the safe side because your money won’t go down the drain.
Besides, you can experiment with varying ad formats, from testimonials to product videos. Lastly, Google states that brands using TrueViews experience up to a 500% increase in their content views.
Sponsored Card Ads
The Sponsored card ads appear in videos as CTA popups. Although Sponsored ads aren’t noticeable like other ad formats, they are pretty effective.
They typically appear in the form of the “i” symbol in the upper right corner of a video. As soon as a user clicks it, the card expands. You can include other YouTube videos or promote your products through sponsored card ads.
Overlay Ads
Overlay ads are suitable for two reasons. First, they quickly catch the user's attention. Second, they bring the least inconvenience to the viewers, unlike unskippable ads - though a few users may still want to close them for a better view.
Overlay ads appear in the form of a banner at the bottom of the video. What you choose to display within these ads depends entirely on your preferences. However, we suggest showing discount offers and exciting deals to pique the viewer's interest and encourage them to click.
Bumper Instream Ads
Bumper videos are a type of non-skippable ads that display before a user chooses a video and are typically less than 6 seconds.
These ads also require you to pay on a CPM basis. A 6-second video isn’t an ideal ad format to display brand stories or product demos, but you can add your creativity to introduce something new and striking to your audience.
Check out how Mercedes strategically uses the bumper ads to entice the viewers here.
How to Complement YouTube Advertising Efforts?
Choosing the right strategy that fits your budget and works for your business goals is an uphill battle. You can have a challenging time picking from numerous ad types. Besides, determining a suitable ad format for your business can get frustrating.
On top of that, if you have a minimal budget, you cannot experiment with various ad formats, squandering your money. At this point, only a YouTube marketing agency can help you out.
They offer support in creating customer personas and help target your ideal audience to track video metrics. So, getting in touch with experts can be your best bet if you’re willing to level up your YouTube marketing game.
Here’s how a skilled YouTube marketing company can complement your advertising efforts.
Platform Expertise
YouTube has one of the most complicated algorithms in the content world. The platform constantly evolves its algorithms to ensure it delivers the best to its audience.
So, you may be familiar with popular ad formats, but optimizing content per the latest rules can get tricky.
An experienced agency can optimize your videos strategically and help you rank.
Guidance
Because companies have years of experience helping businesses outshine on YouTube, they can provide the guidance you need to stand out. A skilled team of knowledgeable professionals will give helpful suggestions about the content. For instance, they can guide you about the content you should invest in and what you should post to gain a competitive edge.
Support
Everybody can make YouTube videos, but creating content that converts takes the right skill. In other words, you need to think outside the box to make intriguing video content offering value.
You might put effort into creating videos, but if you’re doing it wrong, it won’t work by the end of the day. At this point, you’ll need a marketing agency to provide support and help you nail your first online impression.
A few companies even help you shoot, edit, and improve your videos for a positive outcome.
Special Skills
Nothing can surpass the skills of an experience YouTube advertisement company. They know their job and the right approach to make things work. Professionals within a company have the necessary video creation and editing skills to create attention-grabbing ads.
They also have access to quality software to optimize and improve your ads before displaying them on YouTube.
Things to Consider When Choosing a YouTube Advertisement Firm
Now that you know how a YouTube marketing company can help you create effective ads, it’s time to learn what to consider before choosing an agency.
Because digital marketing is evolving by leaps and bounds, companies have taken a chance to offer related services and boost revenue. Therefore, unsurprisingly, you’ll find numerous YouTube marketing agencies online.
However, the key is to find a reliable company that offers quality without burning a hole in your pocket. Here’s what you need to consider before selecting an agency for a YouTube advertisement.
Experience
Any marketing company can make fancy claims about its services. Therefore, you must rely on the experience by the end of the day. Make sure you check how many customers a company has served in the past.
You can always visit an agency's website to check customer feedback and testimonials.
Positive reviews indicate satisfactory services. However, relying on a website alone isn’t wise. Consider searching their social media or asking around from the people who’ve utilized its services.
Customer Support
How well a company guides you through the marketing process counts. So, while experience is a plus, a company must offer excellent customer support to satisfy its clients. You might find yourself at sea without appropriate support.
Know that a credible company has a reputation for good customer support. Of course, an inauthentic company making false claims would never actively guide its customers.
Rates
We do not recommend choosing a company that charges more because high rates do not always indicate quality. Make sure you choose the top 3-4 companies and compare their rates. As a rule of thumb, go for an affordable company.
Because you have to pay for YouTube advertisements as well, choosing a costly company may create budget issues in the long run.
Always question the company’s rates - even if you read them online previously.
Previous Work
It won’t hurt to see the previous work of a company. You can always ask a marketing agency to show you their past work. This will give you an insight into what to expect as a business owner.
Seeing previous work will help you set realistic expectations with the agency, and you won’t feel disappointed after paying them.
Mistakes to Avoid
If you want to ensure you’re paying the right firm for your business, you must avoid a few commonly committed mistakes.
Not Communicating Your Business Goals
Every business has goals to achieve. Even if you aren’t familiar with YouTube advertisement and its unique processes, you know your business objectives. Make sure you share your goals and what you desire to achieve within months or a year.
This will help companies draft an ideal plan that works within your provided time frame.
Choosing an Unresponsive Firm
Picking an unresponsive marketing agency is one of your biggest mistakes. A company may respond to you initially, but if it fails to communicate the campaign results and share the metrics during the ad campaign, things won’t go in your favor.
A reliable agency will keep you updated regarding the ad campaign and performance. It’ll also share its approach and strategies to create a winning campaign.
Not Prioritizing a Bespoke Company
YouTube advertising is not a one-size-fits-all job. Every company has a unique voice, goals, and target audience; yours is no exception. Therefore, a skilled marketing agency should learn about your company and build a solution that aligns with your business goals.
Hire the Best YouTube Advertisement Companies With Xpeer
Because the efficacy of YouTube advertisement continues to grow, brands turn to authentic service providers to make the most out of the opportunity. Picking from a host of companies is not a walk in the park because choosing wrong can cost your business an arm and a leg.
Xpeer helps you make the right choice by connecting you to experienced YouTube marketing agencies with a history of success stories.
These companies have unique skills, great attention to detail, and offer customer-centric services.