Advertising on YouTube: Is it for You?

Written on 02 June, 2015 by Lazar Dusanovic
Categories PPC

When most of us think of YouTube, we don’t generally think of it as an effective and highly targeted advertising channel. Instead, most of us will probably picture ourselves bouncing from watching Arthur the weatherman giggling on TV, to somehow watching really awful but enthusiastic covers of our favourite songs. Part of what makes YouTube so great, is very similar to what makes its big brother search engine Google also so great – almost everything you can think of has been published in some way or form.

Aside from being one of the world’s greatest time wasters, YouTube actually holds some real merit in regards to delivering results for your next PPC campaign.

Some of the advantages of YouTube advertising are:

1. With video ads you pay only when someone chooses to watch your ad, so you don’t waste money advertising to people who aren’t interested in your business.

2. You have the ability to use Google’s enormous network of information regarding its customers, giving you the intel you need to reach your ideal audience. Target their geographic location, gender, age demographics and interests. (e.g. Australian men aged 18-30 who love to cook)

3. You also have access to appear across multiple devices, smartphones, mobiles or just desktops

4. Google even throws in a complimentary YouTube analytics tool – aren’t they great?

What type of ads can I display for across YouTube?

Skippable/trueview ads:

These appear before or during videos streamed on YouTube. These ads give the user the ability to watch the whole ad or just skip them after five seconds, taking them back to the desired content. Generally speaking, they are the friendlier approach.

Non skippable ads: These ads also appear before or during (also after) videos being streamed on YouTube, however like the name suggests, they can’t be skipped. Ads run for around 15 seconds or longer.

* For this type of advertising, a certain spend is required, whereby pricing is based on cost-per day or CPM.

Display ads:

These are the 300 x 250px ad banners that appear in the top right of your screen when you are watching a video on YouTube, and are relatively inoffensive to the viewing experience. They are, however, still very prominent, appearing throughout the duration of the video.

Overlay/in-video ads:

Otherwise known as the text ads that appear down the bottom of the video during the initial 15 seconds of the video being streamed, these can be closed at any time by the user and also fade out by themselves once the time period expires.

If any of this interests you in anyway, please give us a call on 1300 663 995 to discuss how YouTube may benefit you as an advertising platform.

Looking for some help with domains, hosting, web design or digital marketing?
 

Send me marketing tips, special offers and updates