Casey Gollan Gives Businesses A Guide to YouTube Advertising
(PRWEB) July 16, 2013 -- There are just two basic steps involved in YouTube advertising: creating a video, and then promoting it via AdWords, says Gollan in A Guide to YouTube Advertising: How to Start Your First Ad.
"As with any online marketing strategy, your success with YouTube advertising will vary depending on your budget, industry, and level of technical ability," he cautions.
“For small to medium-sized businesses who are hoping to increase reach and sales, using YouTube can be a powerful means of achieving that. Provided you constantly test different types of ads, check on daily budgets, and target options wisely YouTube should give you the biggest bang for your buck.”
One of the impressive points of using YouTube’s advertising model TrueView, is that a company only pays for advertising on the channel when their video is watched.
Business coach Gollan goes on to describe the three different forms of company advertising offered by YouTube. These include:
• In-Search
When a YouTube user performs a search within YouTube, an ad will be displayed above the organic search results, much like with Google PPC. When creating an in-search ad, companies are offered a choice of four thumbnails and the possibility of inserting visual calls to action.
Viewers access the company’s YouTube video by clicking on the thumbnail. These in-search ads are limited to 25 characters for headlines and 35 for a description line.
• In-Display
In-display ads may appear to the right of video (above the organic listings), or as a pop-up within the company video itself at the bottom of the screen. Similarly with in-search ads, there is a character limit of 25 for headlines, and the choice of four thumbnail images. There is also the possibility to insert calls to action. Unlike in-search though, there is no description under the headline.
• In-Stream
In-stream ads appear before videos which are longer than 10 minutes in duration. Viewers have the option to dismiss the ad after five seconds. Companies don’t pay unless the advert has been viewed for at least 30 seconds. Viewers who click on an in-stream ad are taken directly to the company website - unlike with in-search and in-display ads.
• In-Slate
In-slate ads gave viewers the option of choosing one of three ads. They are no longer available but worth mentioning in order to clear up any confusion. These appeared at the beginning of videos longer than 10 minutes in length. In certain countries (like the US), viewers would receive three ads to choose from, or they could skip the ad. If they decided to skip the ad they would see commercials at set intervals throughout the video.
Gollan then goes on to talk about the actual process of setting up a YouTube ad. First a company must, of course, record a video and upload it to their YouTube account. From there it’s a case of linking the YouTube and Adwords accounts together. This involves clicking on ‘+ new campaign’ in AdWords, then ‘online video’ (from the dropdown menu) and a suggestion to link to the YouTube account.
A company must then set its daily budget and choose a delivery method for their video, says Australian coach Gollan. In terms of the latter ‘standard’ ensures the ad is shown evenly throughout the course of the day, while ‘accelerated’ shows it as quickly as possible (ie the first half of the day). It’s then just a case of ‘selecting’ the video to show.
When filling out their ad copy companies should use the same formula as they would with Google or Facebook PPC ads. That means writing a unique, eye-catching headline and strong call to action within the description.
When setting up ‘targeting’ a company can choose from various options to match its ‘ideal consumer,’ says Gollan. He goes on to list these as: gender, age, language, interests, topics and keywords. Re-targeting at a later stage is also an option.
The cost per view (CPV) is the amount a company spends each time the video ad is looked at. It’s often advisable to start at $1 to $10. A company can always monitor costs by keeping an eye on its AdWords account.
Kicking off the campaign simply involves clicking the ‘Save and enable targeting.’
Find out more details on how to start a YouTube campaign or any other aspect of social media marketing, along with invaluable business coaching tips in general, at Gollan’s website.
Casey Gollan, Casey G Pty LTD, 1 800 680 993, [email protected]
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