How does YouTube Advertising work? What comes to mind when you hear the words “YouTube Ads”? YouTube Advertising can be an effective way to promote your brand and drive traffic to your audience. If you haven’t explored it yet, now is an excellent time to see how YouTube Ads work.

How does YouTube Advertising Work?

When a person watches YouTube videos, ads appear before or within YouTube videos. The ads shown are based on the person’s interests, viewing behaviour and type of videos they watch.

A few years ago, Google also rolled out some changes that now make YouTube Advertising a worthwhile investment. The most significant and beneficial is targeting based on users’ Google search history (especially on mobile, where 50% of YouTube views take place.) Google is the largest online search engine taking about 85% market share, so you could imagine how much data it can generate to be used for a highly targeted ad campaign.

What are the Different Types of YouTube Ads?

Compared to paid socials and Google Ads, YouTube Advertising has more specific creative requirements. Having a basic knowledge of technicalities within the platform is extremely useful when creating an ad campaign. Depending on your goal, knowing what type of ad to use will increase the success of your campaign.

Video Discovery Ads – Ads that are shown on the YouTube homepage and search results page. They show after performing a YouTube search.

Skippable Ads or TrueView In-Stream Ads – Standard YouTube video ads between 12 seconds and 6 minutes in length. Advertisers only pay YouTube when viewers watch the ad for at least 30 seconds or if they take action, such as clicking on the Call to Action (CTA) button. 

Non-Skippable In-Stream Ads – 15-20 second ads that can appear at any part of YouTube videos that are at least 10 minutes long. As its name suggests, you cannot skip the ad, so create it with a very clear and compelling CTA. We recommend using this type of ad when launching a new product or service. You may like to consider adding an attractive lead magnet for further optimisation.

Bumpers – These are short style video ads at only six seconds and work well in conjunction with longer video ads. Use the short time wisely by adding the components of your brand you want your audience to remember and associate you with.

Overlay Ads – Banner ads displayed at the bottom of the screen as the video plays. If you want to advertise in a less intrusive way, then overlay ads are a great option.

How does YouTube Advertising Work for Your Business?

YouTube advertising has become an effective advertising tool when used correctly. It’s a popular Social Media platform (even though they are owned by Google!) and a great way to reach your audience using video.

If you’re ready to discuss whether YouTube Advertising is right for your business, please book in a call with our experts.