A Beginner’s Guide to YouTube Ads for Marketers

In the world of digital marketing, it’s often assumed that businesses and marketers have a base level of understanding when it comes to advertising on social media. However, this isn’t always the case. What if you’re a new company with no experience advertising on YouTube? If this is the case, we want you to stop panicking. In this guide, you’ll find everything you need to know. This includes:

• Introducing YouTube
• The Types of YouTube Ads
• How to Build Your Own YouTube Ads
• Best Practices for Advertising on YouTube

Introducing YouTube

You’ve probably heard of YouTube — it might even be a platform that you use daily. Yet, there’s a difference between watching funny cat videos and using the platform to generate exposure or leads as a business. With around two billion visitors each month, YouTube is second only to Google in terms of website size on the internet. With this, it’s not surprising that companies are clamoring to get their ads on the platform.

Years ago, businesses would spend hours creating a TV ad and attempt to get this onto cable networks. Since then, the world has changed dramatically, and more people between the ages of 18 to 49 years access YouTube than cable networks. As long as your market is present on YouTube, it’s a great way to grab an engaged audience and propel your business forward.

The Types of YouTube Ads

As a user of YouTube, you probably know about the different ad formats that exist. But for those who don’t or might need a refresher,, we’re going to explain the different ad types. and how it all works.

1. Display Ads

This is the ad that appears on the right-hand side of the main video, and it sits just above the suggested videos for users. While a square is a traditional shape for an ad of this type, you can also create a banner shape as a display ad.

2. Sponsored Card Ads

During a video, you might see cards pop up in the top right-hand corner of the video. They appear from a small white ‘i’ symbol, and those who want to learn more can hover over the symbol and click. Depending on your goals, these cards can show a YouTube video or a particular product through Google Shopping.

3. Bumper Ads

Next up, we have a type of video ad that specifically needs to be shorter than six seconds. As a non-skippable ad, the idea is to quickly get a message across before the user’s chosen video starts. As an advertiser, you’ll pay based on CPM, and the user cannot skip through due to the length of the video. Naturally, these ad formats are designed for quick messages as opposed to testimonials, customer stories, brand stories, and product demonstrations.

4. TrueView Ads

Across the platform, TrueView ads are currently seen as the most popular formats, and the ones you’re likely to use. The benefit for the user is that they have control over the ads they see, but they’re also great for businesses. According to Google, TrueView ads are the preferred format for eight out of ten users. Therefore, it’s one of the best ads for all parties.

If you’ve ever used YouTube, you will have seen a TrueView ad because they’re the in-stream ads that appear before a video. There’s a common misconception that businesses pay for every appearance, but this isn’t true. Instead, YouTube only charges in the following circumstances:

• If the viewer watches the full video
• If the viewer watches 30 seconds or more
• If the viewer clicks on a CTA or interacts in any other way

Users are in control of the ads they see which is positive for businesses because it should mean you’re always reaching an interested audience. If a viewer skips your ad and doesn’t reach 30 seconds, you won’t pay anything.

In addition to in-stream ads, the platform also offers TrueView discovery ads. If you choose this route, it means your ad will appear above suggested videos or at the top of YouTube search results. The basic format of such an ad includes three lines of text and a thumbnail. The difference between display ads and TrueView ads is that the latter involves video. If you have an image to share, display ads are the best option. If you’ve made a video, choose TrueView ads.

5. Non-Skippable In-Stream Ads

In the previous section, we mentioned in-stream ads and users had the option to skip them. You’ve probably guessed from the name, but these ads are different because they’re non-skippable. The reason these don’t fall under the TrueView umbrella is that they offer less control to users. Unfortunately, these are less popular for users because they have to sit through them before getting to the video they actually want to watch.

Last year, YouTube made some changes to this ad format. Rather than 30 seconds, most non-skippable in-stream ads are now around 15/20 seconds.

6. Overlay Ads

Finally, we’ve saved the simplest for last with overlay ads. Sometimes, when watching a video on YouTube, you’ll notice that a small advertising banner appears at the bottom of the video, and this is an overlay ad. It appears in the middle of the video, but it isn’t too intrusive because the user simply clicks on the ’x’ to minimize it again. Alternatively, the ad may pique their attention, and you get exposure (and maybe even a lead!).

How to Build Your Own YouTube Ads

Now you know about all the ad formats, but how do you create a campaign? Follow the steps below!

Step 1 — Create a New Campaign

When in your Google Ads account, choose to create a New Campaign; here you’ll need to pick between various marketing objectives. While some choose website traffic, others want sales or leads. Next, select Video when asked about your desired campaign type; this will open a new page with all the ad subtypes we discussed in the previous section of this guide. For example, you’ll see bumper ads, skippable in-stream ads, and non-skippable in-stream ads.

Step 2 — Set Campaign Parameters

In this stage, you’ll need to do several tasks including choosing a bid strategy, entering a budget, choosing where you want ads to show, the location and language of your audience, and the sensitivity of the ad itself. This last setting is important because it determines where your ad will appear. If you want to avoid all profanity and sexually suggestive content, make sure you adjust this setting to ensure that your ads don’t appear near such content.

Step 3 — Choose Your Audience

As a business, you know that advertising is all about finding the right people (it’s no good sending your amazing ad off to consumers with no interest in the product or brand!). With your buyer persona at hand, head into the targeting options and select specific interests and demographics. If you want to target people who have already interacted with your app, videos, or website, YouTube is an effective platform for remarketing campaigns.

Step 4 — Hit the Magic Button

We know that it’s nerve-racking publishing an ad; some have compared it to standing over the edge of a deep ravine before bungee jumping. As long as you’ve double-checked everything, hit the magic button. The ad will go live for the audience you chose while creating it.

Best Practices for Advertising on YouTube

To finish, here are some of the best tips for advertising on this particular platform.

• Don’t just aimlessly create ad campaigns. Instead, set goals and think about what you want to achieve. Remember, YouTube ads cost money, so failing to think about your goals will only reduce your ROI. You might aim for website views, sales, subscribers, signups, or leads. The key is to have a clear objective.
• When creating a video, hook people in the first five seconds (especially with skippable ads). Ultimately, your goal is to make the first five seconds so good that they want to watch your entire video rather than the one after the ad.
• Though YouTube ads are slightly different from Facebook and Instagram ads, the aim is still the same — you want to encourage people to take specific actions. Therefore, don’t forget your CTA and other interactive aspects.
• As a business, you know that people have clicked onto your website only to then click away again. With this in mind, take advantage of the remarketing campaigns and reach out to those who have already interacted with the brand to a degree.

Quick-Fire Tips

• Tailor the message to the audience
• Use frequency capping to ensure that the same people don’t keep seeing your ad
• Tell a story and evoke an emotion
• Push people through the funnel (even if this means over-explaining!)