Are you using video content to promote your brand? If not, you’re missing out on the opportunity to generate awareness of and interest in what you have to offer. According to Google, nearly half of internet users seek out videos related to a product or service before visiting a physical location. By providing what these users are looking for online, you gain a willing audience for your ads and an effective platform for showcasing the value you offer. Google reports that 53% of smartphone users feel more favorable toward companies that provide instructional video content, and 48% are more likely to buy from those companies.
Video is also a highly sharable format. By taking the time to create a video that your target audience will value, you can get added exposure from your followers sharing your informative, entertaining, or otherwise desirable content with their own social networks.
Cost
The TrueView ad platform lets you take advantage of the popularity of YouTube to deliver targeted video ads and measure the results of your efforts. YouTube advertising is relatively young and still inexpensive. By getting started on this platform now, you’ll have more freedom to experiment with different types of ads and see what performs best without having to make a large investment. One way cost is controlled is with cost-per-view (CPV) bidding: you decide how much you’re willing to pay each time someone views your ad, and you’re charged only for viewers who watch at least the first 30 seconds (or the entire ad, whichever is shorter) or interacts with the ad (by clicking a call to action or link to your company’s website, for example).
Ad Types
TrueView lets you run two different types of ads, called discovery ads and in-stream ads.
Discovery ads run across both the YouTube and Google Display networks. Your ads can appear on YouTube home, search, and watch pages as well as on Google Display Network websites. The ad itself consists of an image, headline, and brief 2-line description. When users click on it, they’re directed to the YouTube site for viewing.
In-stream ads appear before a selected YouTube video begins. Users can choose to skip these ads after the first five seconds, but with CPV bidding, you don’t pay anything when this happens. That doesn’t mean you don’t benefit from these brief views, however. According to Google, viewers who partially viewed an ad but then skipped it still had a 55% increase in ad recall, 46% brand awareness, and 181% ad recognition than those not exposed at all.
Targeting
Because you set up TrueView ads through GoogleAdWords, you can target your ads with keywords, demographics, and more. Targeting helps to get your ads in front of users who are likely to find them relevant. With discovery ads, only users who click on them see your video, which lets you avoid the risk of annoying your audience and actually creating a negative impression with your content. Even in-stream ads, which play automatically, can be skipped after just five minutes; however, you should take extra care in targeting these to increase the likelihood that users will keep watching, engage with the ad, or at least take notice of your brand before hitting the “skip” button.
Do you have ideas about how your business can connect with potential customers and demonstrate the value you provide through video? Blue Frog Marketing can help you bring them to life! Our account managers work with clients in a wide variety of industries nationwide to create comprehensive digital marketing plans to get their brands seen, engage potential customers, and grow their businesses. If you’re in the Des Moines area, we can also help produce your video content! Click below to schedule a free consultation and find out how we can help.
