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YouTube offers creators many opportunities to grow their subscriber base organically. However, as competition for viewers’ attention on the platform continues to increase, paid promoting on YouTube is becoming a viable alternative to driving viewer growth. Choosing the most appropriate YouTube ad types and implementing best practices is crucial to maximizing subscriber acquisition through paid promoting campaigns.
Understanding YouTube Ads
Optimizing YouTube videos, embedding them on your brand’s website, and sharing them on social media are great tools to enable you to grow your audience. However, if your goal is to be certain that the right audience is now watching your content, adding YouTube ads to the mix will enable you to grow quickly and predictably.
Although Google owns YouTube, there are some differences between Google ads and YouTube ads, starting with the ad formats creators can select from.
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In-stream ads are skippable is probably the most well-known sort of video ad on YouTube. These ads normally play before the video chosen by the user. They could be skipped after five seconds. Advertisers only pay when a user continues watching for at least 30 seconds or interacts with the content – for example, clicking a call to motion.
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In-stream ads that can’t be skipped are similar to their skippable counterparts in terms of placement. However, YouTube users must wait for the ad to end before the chosen video starts.
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In-feed video ads appear at the top of video search pages, much like pay-per-click ads on Google itself. These ads use a cost-per-view pricing model, which suggests you simply pay when a viewer interacts with your video or watches it for longer than 30 seconds.
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Bumper video ads is a short version of unskippable YouTube ads. They can’t be longer than six seconds and play before the chosen video.
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Advertising overlays hover your cursor at the bottom of the currently playing video. They work great as advertisements that complement other types of in-stream promoting.
As with Google ads, advertisers can set bids and thus tightly control their budget, making YouTube promoting one of the most cost-effective ways to reach specific audiences.
Setting campaign goals
Before you begin an promoting campaign on YouTube, you wish to set campaign goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound. These are called SMART goals. For example, a smart goal can be to plan to increase your subscriber base in the 18-49 age group by 20% over the next six months.
The next step is to define key performance indicators (KPIs) that may help measure the success of your campaign. If the goal is to acquire subscribers, KPIs may include cost per subscriber, overall conversion rate, and return on ad spend (ROAS).
Targeting and segmentation of recipients
YouTube offers a wide selection of targeting options to help creators reach the right audience with their content.
Targeting starts by considering basic audience demographics similar to age, gender and household income. Just a few years ago, the options were limited to these decisions. However, YouTube now offers advertisers access to more detailed demographic data, including education, employment status and other criteria.
The platform also allows advertisers to determine the interests and habits of their target market, whether or not they are actively interested in purchasing certain products, and previous interactions with the brand. Segmenting your audience in this manner helps you spend your promoting budget on individuals who are almost certainly to make a purchase.
Advertising creations and messages
It almost goes without saying that your graphics and messaging need to be optimized to suit the right target market. If you are targeting several different audience segments, consider splitting your campaigns into ad groups that could be tailored to those segments.
Remember to have a clear call to motion. If your campaign goals to increase your subscriber count, tell your viewers that you just want them to subscribe to your channel. Highlight the advantages of becoming a subscriber and highlight the advantages of your channel in your graphics and messages.
Ad placement and optimization
Carefully select the ad type that most closely fits your goal of growing your subscriber base. For some brands, bumper ads could also be sufficient, while others perform higher with longer ads. In most cases, ad placement will probably be driven by the need to maximize visibility and engagement.
Optimize your campaign performance to get the absolute best return on your investment. The alternative between ad bidding strategies similar to cost per view or cost per click may impact your budget.
Scheduling your ads to appear at different times also increases your likelihood of reaching a wider audience. Over time, you will see which timings work best and then you definitely can further optimize your campaign.
Performance monitoring and evaluation
During the campaign, consistently monitor its effectiveness by measuring previously defined KPIs. YouTube’s ad analytics tools offer you access to this information in real time. Evaluate your ad impressions, impression rates, click-through rates and subscriber counts to see if you are on track to achieve your goals.
Iteration and continuous improvement
By monitoring the effectiveness of your promoting campaign, areas for improvement will develop into obvious. Brands recent to YouTube promoting may spend more time repeating creatives, adjusting targeting parameters, and fine-tuning their bidding strategies.
Even experienced YouTube advertisers usually test their approach, trying out recent ad hypotheses and variations to see if they’ll see even higher returns over time.
Paid promoting on YouTube gives creators and businesses powerful tools to reach their goal audiences and grow their subscriber base in a controlled and targeted way.
Taking a strategic, data-driven approach and leveraging YouTube promoting analytics allows advertisers to adapt their approach in real time, grow their subscriber base with highly engaged audiences, and effectively expand the reach of their channels.