Video advertising has been and remains an effective way to attract the attention of potential customers to a brand.
At the same time, it is not necessary to get on TV and fight for peak time, because there is TrueView advertising. Let’s figure out how it works.
1. Introduction: What is TrueView advertising
YouTube’s audience is almost a third of Internet users. Almost half of US residents watch videos on this site at least once a month to make a purchase decision. TrueView advertising gives you the opportunity to tell interested viewers about your products and services.
There are two types of TrueView advertising. Which one is more suitable for you depends on your goals.
TrueView In-Stream Format
- Videos in this format can be placed at the beginning, middle, or end of videos on YouTube, as well as on sites and apps in the Google Display Network;
- This type of advertising brings more views than TrueView Discovery advertising;
- The video can be skipped after five seconds;
- The goal of this advertising is to give the viewer an impulse to make a purchase; short videos bring the best effect.
TrueView Discovery Format
- Advertisements in this format can be placed in search results on YouTube, as well as on watch pages and partner sites;
- Advertisements contain a link to the channel or video page;
- The goal of the advertising is to encourage the viewer to make a conversion; Long videos have the best effect;
- Successful ads are those that contain bright icons and headlines.
2. How to create an effective commercial: three main rules
1. The first five seconds are the most important.
Then viewers will have the opportunity to skip the ad.
Here’s how to get their attention:
- Think about the visuals. For example, show the product close-up against an interesting background or involve someone famous in the filming.
- Make the ad informative. Show how to use the product and provide reviews from those who have already purchased it.
- Show the brand logo. It is better if it is visible directly on the product, and not just in the frame.
- Choose the right emotional background. Consider whether to make the ad funny or whether it would be better suited to an exciting or disturbing mood.
- Link the video to an important event. For example, make it a Valentine’s Day theme.
- Be specific. If you want viewers to say app, say so.
- Take care of the quality. Shoot in horizontal mode and in HD format.
2. The number of clicks depends, among other things, on metadata.
Viewers decide whether to watch the video or not based on the title and description.
So think them through carefully. Remember that the title should be no longer than 45 characters. And also make sure that your advertising video is publicly available.
- If you are creating a TrueView Discovery ad, choose an attractive icon for it and add shortened URLs in the description instead of full URLs.
- You can add companion banners with a link to your website to TrueView In-Stream ads.
3. Calls to action and tooltips increase traffic to your website
They can tell viewers what you expect from them. An example is an overlay with a call to buy a product. According to statistics, tooltips with links to the site help to increase sales revenue threefold.
3. How to reach your target audience: useful tools
First of all, we recommend setting up ad targeting: by demographic groups, interests, and other parameters.
Then you can move on to other actions:
- Use YouTube remarketing lists on Display Network sites. Link your YouTube and AdWords accounts, then create remarketing lists. These allow you to show ads to people who have watched your videos on YouTube, making it easier for you to reach people who have already shown interest in your brand.
Note:
The process also works in reverse: you can use AdWords remarketing lists on YouTube.
- Segment your audience with email lists. Take advantage of email lists. Divide your existing customers into groups and reach out to each one based on their unique characteristics.
- Make the most of your existing customer data.
- Expand your remarketing lists with in-market audiences. Increase the quality of your traffic by reaching people who are researching similar products and services or are in the process of making a purchase. This will help you expand your ad reach and add more users to your remarketing lists.
4. How to measure success: evaluate results and optimize campaigns
How do you know if your ads are effective?
Once you have defined your goals
your TrueView campaigns, you need to decide what metrics you want to use to measure the value of your ads. We recommend using non-standard attribution models. For example, you can pay attention to the number of search queries with the brand name and what user actions most often led to conversions.
Here are other ways to check if your ads are effective:
- run A/B tests;
- track the number and share of view-through conversions.
If you want to learn about other evaluation methods, contact a Google Certified Professional.
How to monitor and improve the performance of your ads?
Have you created a great commercial and set up targeting correctly? Don’t stop there – continue testing and optimizing your ads.
For more fine-tuning of ads and audience segmentation, use the following tools:
- Audience Retention Graphs
- Audience Acquisition Reports
- Placement Performance Report
Enable automatic ad rotation optimization. The system will automatically check your ads and show the most effective ads more often.
Testing can also be done manually. In this case, for each test, you need to formulate a hypothesis, a description of the experiment, success criteria, a time interval, and a list of necessary materials.
Do not test too many changes at the same time, otherwise it will be difficult to determine which of them brought a positiveresult.
