You’re watching a video on YouTube. An ad pops up, and you’re annoyed that it has interrupted your video. You skip as soon as you can, or you irritatingly suffer through the entire thing. “This is why YouTube ads don’t work,” you think. “No one watches them unless they’re forced to, and if they are forced to, they’re just angry about it.”
Because of this thought process, YouTube ads are some of the most underutilized digital marketing methods. They can be difficult to tackle, yes, but when done properly, they can be a huge advantage for your business.
YouTube Ads are quite budget-friendly.
There are five types of YouTube ads that can be used for different purposes.
- Skippable In-Stream Ads: These are the ads that you can skip after five seconds of playtime. The actual length of the ad is anywhere from twelve seconds to six minutes. If a viewer chooses to skip your ad, you will not be charged for a view. However, if they play the ad for thirty seconds or more, you will be. This is why you would want to start the ad with something compelling – something that will grab the attention of the viewer and make them want to keep watching.
- Discovery Ads: These ads appear as normal YouTube videos at the top of a user’s search results and are labeled “ad.” Unless a user interacts with them, you do not pay. Whether they watch the video or not, this is still a win for your business, because even if they don’t hit “play”, they still see your brand name and develop a little bit more trust with your company.
- Non-Skippable In-stream Ads: These ads are limited to fifteen seconds, and you pay for every one thousand views. It is best to use these ads when targeting a very specific demographic to maximize reach. Otherwise, you may be wasting money by attempting to sell to the wrong audiences.
- Bumper Ads: These ads are six seconds or less. YouTube uses these ads to respect the time of the viewer, who does not want to constantly watch longer ads that they cannot skip. Bumper ads work best when they are memorable and include only enough information to pique the interest of the viewer.
- Masthead Ads – These ads should only be used by businesses with large advertising budgets as they are expensive (averaging two million dollars per day). They have great reach and traffic, but they are likely not the best option for a budget-friendly business.
If you are interested in creating compelling and effective YouTube Ads, let the team at Raborn Media help you!
