In a 2014 Huffington Post article, writer Scott MacFarland quoted, ‘While a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth a million’. That is the power of video streaming platforms these days, and we are going to speak about the second largest search engine in the world, only next to Google- YouTube. While we already have an introductory blog for YouTube beginners, in this article we will be extensively speaking about types of YouTube Ads and how to create a YouTube Marketing campaign.
What makes YouTube the perfect place to display ads?
I was intrigued by the same question and ended up agreeing to the fact that YouTube is indeed the best platform for your video ads. The reason being:
- Viewers say that they’re 2x more likely to buy something that they saw on YouTube.
- Over 70% of viewers say that YouTube makes them more aware of new brands.
- Viewers are 4x more likely to use YouTube versus other platforms to find information about a brand, product, or service.
And where did I get these numbers from?- directly from YouTube’s official website.
Types of YouTube Ads in 2024
Before planning your YouTube ads marketing campaign, you must first be aware of the types of ads you can run on YouTube. To create effective YouTube video ads, using a YouTube video maker is essential.
1. Video Discovery Ads
The YouTube discovery ads are visible on the primary pages of the platform that includes:
- Home page
- Search query results page
- YouTube watch pages as related videos
These types of ads help a person/brand gain more visibility/engagement/traction as they are visible on the prominent pages of the video platform. An example of a YouTube discovery ad showing up in the search results page after we type a search query is:
Discovery ads visible on Home Page
2. TrueView In-stream Skippable Ads
These are some of the most common types of ads you will see on YouTube. Advertisers will have to pay for TrueView ads when
- Users watch the ad for at least 30 seconds or watch it until the ad is completely played.
- The viewer clicks on the CTA from the ad that redirects to the brand’s page
That sounds like a good ROI, am I right? And as per YouTube, the TrueView In-stream Skippable Ads must be between 12 seconds to 360 seconds in length.
These ads are played before the video when someone clicks on the video related to the search term the ads are being run for. As the name suggests, the viewers have the leverage to skip these ads, and you would only have to pay if the above two bulleted points conditions are met. Check out the google search campaign course.
An example of skippable in-stream ads is given below:
In the above image, the skippable video ad is 3 mins in length, and the CTA is Learn to Coach- Book Slot, which redirects to the advertiser’s page.
Quick Tip: Since these ads are skippable, you must give the audience a reason to stay and watch the full ad.
How TrueView Ads benefit the advertiser
By utilizing the TrueView in-stream skippable ads, advertisers can gain tons of insight related to the performance of their ads that can assist in testing and optimization purposes.
And when you are running ads through your Google Ads account, you will have access to data related to:
- The audience who have completely/ partially viewed your ad
- Number of people who have clicked the CTA
- Channel subscriptions due to the ad
These listed parameters help the advertiser decide where to spend and allocate the ads budget to increase the Return on Investment (ROI).
3. Non-Skippable In-Stream Ads
These types of ads can be played anywhere during the video. As the name suggests, the viewer will be unable to skip the ad when it plays. The duration of these ads ranges between 15 and 20 seconds.
As you can see in the image, you are not provided an option to skip it.
Also, these kinds of ads will be displayed for videos that are a minimum of 10 minutes in length. And before the non-skippable in-stream ads are played, viewers will be given a 5-second countdown notification.
These ads are charged on a pay-per-click (PPC) basis.
4. Bumper Ads
As the name suggests, these ads just bump into the video of the viewer and last for a maximum of six seconds per ad. The Bumper ads are non-skippable and are the shortest type of YouTube ad available.
Although bumper ads are short in duration, they can be used effectively to promote a brand/service/product.
5. Overlay Ads
If you want to advertise on YouTube in a non-intrusive fashion, Overlay Ads are the ones to go for. They just hover in the bottom part of the video and act just like an in-stream video ad.
Above is an example of the overlay ads, where the ad is being displayed towards the bottom end part of the video without disturbing the flow of the video content.
How to launch a YouTube Ads Marketing campaign?
Now that you are aware of the types of ads on YouTube, it is time to head to the section where we discuss launching a YouTube Marketing campaign.
Over the years, YouTube has simplified the ad campaign launch process that now it will barely take 10 minutes for someone who has very little experience to launch such marketing campaigns.
Step 1: You must have a Google Ads account. In case you don’t have one, you can head to the official Google Ads site and create a new account.
Step 2: In the next screen, choose the 4th option to run your campaign on YouTube.
Step 3: Insert the video link on the next screen.
If you already have a video on YouTube, you can use that.
Else, you can upload a video and unlist it on YouTube, and then use it.
Step 4: Once you use the video link and select how you want your ad to be shown on YouTube, you will get more options, as shown below.
Here, you can provide the link you want to redirect your audience to when they click the ad link. Also, you get an option to choose if you want the ad visible only on YouTube or other partner sites and apps as well.
Step 5: In the next step, you will be given two options
- To select the location, you want to target the ads
- Targeting the customers based on the language
And once you choose your options, towards the right side of the screen, you will be able to view the impressions, views, and average cost-per-view (CPV) details of the campaign.
Step 6: Now that you have selected your target locations and audience, you have to set a budget for the ads to run.
Enter the budget that you had been allocated, and check the option which suits you the best. If you have a vast budget, you can select the ‘Run Continuously’ option. But if you forget to stop the campaign, it will exhaust your ad budget and can put you at a loss.
So, to remain on the safer side, it is best to select the End Date option.
Step 7: Once all the details are filled in, the next step is where you can have the final preview of the entire ad.
And once all the details are verified, click on the Next option.
Step 8: This is the final step where the payment details are entered and the campaign is then set to run.
Step 9:
Once all these steps are done, next is where your ad will be reviewed by the YouTube team before it is made live.
You have to ensure that all the details are correct, in the absence of which there are high chances of your campaign being rejected by the YouTube review team.
Concluding thoughts
I hope these pointers help you run your YouTube ads marketing campaign successfully. If you have any queries, feel free to type them out in the comments section, and our experts will get back to solve your queries.
Also, if you have a keen interest in digital marketing and would like to pursue a career in this domain, you must check out the PG Program in Strategic Digital Marketing. With around 36 digital marketing tools covered and 8 weeks of intensive training on performance marketing, this program is made for future digital marketing professionals.
