How to make a video campaign on YouTube

With more than 1 billion hours of video viewed per day, YouTube has become a captivating platform for advertisers. The possibilities of targeting are varied, and YouTube offer formats that generate higher engagement than a traditional display campaign does.

YouTube, as part of the Google network, centralises the management of video campaigns on the Google Ads platform itself. In this way, we control all the advertising activity we conduct on the Google network from one single place.

Investment required for a video campaign

As with the other Google networks, on YouTube we can bid or invest in several ways:

Per view: In this model, we are the ones who set a maximum cost that we are willing to pay per view or in the case that a user has interacted with any of the interactive elements of the ad such as call-to-action (CTA) overlays, cards, complementary banners and links to our website or mobile application. If our ad is not seen or people decide to skip it by clicking on the corresponding “skip” button after the first 5 seconds, we are not charged.

Per thousand impressions (the typical display CPM model), is a fixed cost per 1000 impressions served, regardless of whether or not the user views our ad or interacts with it.

The main advantage of these video ads compared to other Google formats, especially the search network, is that these ads are cheaper due to the huge amount of content and video minutes available on YouTube. Depending on the sector, for just 3 or 4 cents you can get user views of your ads!

But how does it work and what types of campaigns can we create?

Another advantage of advertising on YouTube is that there is a type of ad for almost every marketing objective imaginable: these vary from short video ads more focused on branding and visibility, which cannot be skipped, to longer ads focused on profit or conversion.

Let’s look at the main options available for YouTube campaigns we have and how they work with our marketing goals:

Skippable ads after five seconds:

TrueView for reach or coverage: This is an in-stream format that appears before, after or during the playback of other videos on YouTube. The model uses the aforementioned CPM and focuses on generating impressions. It aims to expand ad reach and brand awareness.

TrueView in-stream: This is an in-stream format in which the advertiser only pays when:
The user sees 30 seconds of the ad or, if the ad is less than 30 seconds, if the user watches the video ad.
The user performs an action on the video: i.e. He or she clicks on the website or downloads an app when prompted, etc.

The cost model is CPV (cost per view), and the primary objective of these ads is to make a connection with the target user, while fostering brand recall and to some extent, conversion.

TrueView for Action: This is the in-stream format that is most focused on conversion on the advertiser’s own website. These ads include a CTA (call to action) during playback, which is usually directs users to the advertiser’s website. To run TrueView for Action, you must have conversion tracking enabled in Google Ads. The cost model is CPV, and the main objective of these video ads are to generate sales or specific actions on our website.

TrueView for Shopping: We are including this format here, although technically, it is not a normal video format. What TrueView for Shopping does allow you to do is dynamically and interactively include the product feed from our Merchant Centre with purchase as the final objective. To run these ads, your Google Merchant Centre must be linked to your Google Ads account, which also allows you to filter the specific products that we want to show from our inventory.

TrueView Discovery: This format is displayed slightly differently from the rest of the pack, appearing as promoted videos in the Home and Activity feeds as well as in YouTube search results. The model is still CPV and contains a customisable thumbnail image that appears next to the text of your ad. This is an ideal format to grow your YouTube channel: users can easily navigate from the ad to our channel. TrueView Discovery ads offer the opportunity to appear at relevant times when the user is looking for or is in the midst of consuming specific content.

Non-skippable ads:

Non-skippable in-stream ads: This is an in-stream format aimed at boosting brand awareness. Non-skippable video ads are ideal when we want to show a complete message to the user and prevent them from skipping it. The cost model varies: we can set up a CPM or buy by booking with the Google team directly. One of the peculiarities of this format is that it only supports videos of 15 seconds maximum duration.

Bumper Ads: This in-stream format is based on impacts (impressions) and features videos of a maximum of 6 seconds. These video ads are focused on Brand Awareness and notoriety. Of all the formats we’re examining in this piece, Bumper Ads are the format with the greatest coverage and reach. Note: it is essential to have short and easy to remember messages in this format due to the briefness of the video length.

Out-stream video ads: This format is perhaps the most different of all the Youtube video ad types. Out-stream ads are ads designed for mobile and tablet use exclusively, and they are displayed on websites and partner applications outside of YouTube. They can be played in an application or within the content of a web page.

The cost model for Out-stream video ads is CPM (visible). Impressions are considered visible when 50% of the advertising space is shown on the screen for at least two seconds of continuous video playback.

Masthead: Masthead ads show your brand, product, or service in a native video format that appears in the YouTube homepage feed on all devices. The main objectives of this format are the generation of mass reach and brand awareness. This format can be contracted only through a representative of the YouTube Ads team and the payment model varies between CPD (cost per day) or CPM (only in the home feed).