A Complete Guide on YouTube Video [Paid] Marketing

It is paradoxical to note that though an average American spend more time watching videos over Youtube than lounging on sofa and watching some popular TV soaps, advertisers are still shying away from this thriving platform which is brimming with opportunities. And the reasons are… well, there is no apparent reason. However, things are changing for sure, but the change is painstakingly slow and not in line with the immense popularity of this dynamic platform.

Though more and more companies are embracing this platform, it appears that not many are aware of its different options that can help increase their brand presence. Here in this article, we are going to take a look around the different YouTube marketing options available and how marketers can make the most of them –

YouTube TrueView Ad

The problem with YouTube ads or to be precise with any other video ads is that they are Annoying. Yeah, it is hard to digest but ask anyone but from online marketing industry and he/she will be happy to tell you how annoying and irrelevant video ads are making their lives miserable. Honestly, it does not make any sense to show your ads to people who are least interested in it, and on the top of that you are actually paying YouTube for annoying someone while trying to promote your brand.

This is really bad and there is nothing that you can do about it right? Well, wrong, thanks to the introduction of YouTube TrueView ad format, now you will be able to put an end to this saga. With this revolutionary ad format, you will only pay only when your targeted audiences choose to see your ad and not forced to. It will let people skip less interesting ads and choose to watch only those ads that they find interesting.

So, basically, it is a win-win situation for all. Audience are happy because they are given the option to continue watching an ad or choose which ads they want to watch and the marketers are happy because they would not have to spend a penny unless their ads get viewed by their targeted audience.

Now there are two variants of YouTube TrueView Video ad –

InStream TrueView Ads: In this format, the ad gets displayed against a long video content and it can be displayed either at the starting of the video or in the middle. Here the ad gets displayed uninterruptedly for 5 seconds and after that viewers get the choice to skip the ad or they can continue watching the ad if they choose so. The best part of this ad is that the marketers will only pay when the audience decides to watch to entire ads or at least 30 seconds of it.

InSlate TrueView Ads: In this ad format, viewers are given choice to watch one particular ad from three or more options or else, they may continue watching the longform video content with regular commercial breaks in between. Advertisers are charged only when the viewer decides to watch his ad or decide to watch the video with regular commercial breaks.

YouTube Promoted Video

Probably, you could be the next Taylor Swift or Spielberg or could it be that you are an entrepreneur trying to get your words out about your business, in that case YouTube Promoted video is the Holy Grail of Marketing that you need to embrace. It helps you reach out to people, make them aware of your existence and help you spread the message.

Launching a Promoted Video campaign is a piece of cake walk. All you have to do is to choose the keywords and your video will start appearing to searches which are somewhat related to your chosen keywords.

And what is most interesting about this Adformat is that you will only have to pay when visitors actually click on your video.

First Video YouTube Video Format

Being first has its own perks and for that reasons, it is always good to be the first video ad that your targeted audience will see on YouTube. This will give a huge boost to your brand presence because no matter who are they or from what sources they are coming to YouTube, your ad will be the first to be served to them.

First impression always counts and therefore, this feature gives advertisers an opportunity to draw maximum exposure to their product, service, cause or whatever it is.

First Video gives your brand presence a huge boost by delivering as many as 15 million page views in a single day.

YouTube Display Ad

In this YouTube ad format, your advertisement gets displayed alongside related YouTube videos and on sites that are under Google’s display network. You can either choose keywords that match with your ad copy or else you can choose YouTube from Google Display Network’s list of website.

It is that easy. You can either pay for the impression or for the clicks. Choose whatever suits your requirements.

YouTube Mobile Ad

Mobile advertising is not the next big thing because it has already become the Big thing with over 400 millions of videos are getting viewed by people every single day and the number is certainly on the rise.

By using YouTube Mobile Ad format, you will be able to reach out to people who are accessing YouTube from different devices. This is the best way to reach out people because when people are watching video in their tablets, smartphones or in iPad, chances are quite high that they are going to take actions.

Here are some ways you can promote your ad via this ad format:

In-Stream Ad: In this option your targeted audience will get to see your ad for 15 seconds and there are some cool features like – URL overlay, sending visitors to either to your YouTube Mobile Channel or to the mobile version of your website.

Roadblocks: This option will allow you to get your voice heard on m.youtube.com. This option is great if you are looking to make a strong impact.

So, keep exploring and jump on this YouTube bandwagon.

This article is contributed by Michael Evans who is managing all the online promotional activities of WDR.