With YouTube advertising you can effectively reach a large and relevant target group, increase visibility, build brand awareness, generate leads and create sales both B2B and B2C via engaging and targeted ads
Google owns YouTube, and therefore, it is through Google Ads you have the opportunity to advertise on the online video platform. YouTube as an advertising platform is thus heavily integrated with both Google Ads and Google Analytics, making it easier to manage and optimize various video ads.
And especially video advertising is gradually becoming more important.
Video is an ideal channel for marketers. With video companies can convey a large amount of information in a visually appealing way. Videos also have a high degree of engagement, are easier to remember and relate to than, for example, text, and they can convey a message through storytelling. Additionally, videos are easy to share across social media and other digital platforms, which can mean increased exposure and reach without more work.
Today, YouTube is an important channel for online marketing
YouTube is today one of the world's largest and most popular video sharing platforms. It allows users to upload, watch, and share videos across a wide range of different topics and interests. Whether you're looking for entertaining cat videos or more professional guides, YouTube is thus the preferred medium for many. Users can search for videos, subscribe to channels, interact with other users via comments and likes, as well as create their own content.
And even though many believe that YouTube is being surpassed by some of the newer media such as TikTok and Instagram, the platform is still among the most used medias. YouTube was founded in 2005, and since then, the platform has grown explosively. Today, YouTube has over 2 billion active users worldwide each month.
The platform has been associated with online entertainment and learning for years, but it has also evolved into an important discipline within online marketing for B2B and B2C companies and brands. Companies have the opportunity to create channels and upload videos to the platform, target paid ads to specific audiences, and thereby increase both reach and exposure.
Effective advertising that captures your target audience
With that many active users, businesses have the opportunity to reach potential customers through a platform where their target audiences already spend a significant amount of their time.
And it's all about hitting and capturing your target audience where they are, to ensure you get the most out of the budget you've allocated to advertising and marketing in general.
One of the biggest advantages of using YouTube for your marketing is, therefore, the reach. You can quickly reach people and markets whose attention may be harder, more expensive, and more time-consuming to capture on other online platforms.
And with YouTube's targeting capabilities, you'll experience how you more effectively can target specific audiences based on factors that are beneficial to the product or service you offer. This can be data segments such as age, gender, geographic location, and interests.
Targeting also helps both B2B and B2C companies maximize advertising spending by avoiding showing ads to people who are not relevant to their business.
YouTube is an expert in visual and interactive communication. And it is videos, images, and animations that can make it easier to explain and demonstrate products and services in a way that is easier to understand and remember. This can increase your customers' interest in your products and services and create heightened engagement among your target audience around your brand.
And let's not forget that YouTube offers a flexible and scalable solution for your marketing strategy. You can choose from different ad formats on the platform, so you can set up what suits your needs, your budget, and the way your target audience behaves on YouTube.
How the different ad formats work on YouTube
YouTube offers various ad formats that allow you to reach your audience in the way that makes the most sense for your marketing strategy and budget.
Each ad format has different characteristics and purposes. Some can be placed in the middle of a video, some can be skipped, and others must be viewed by the user:
Instream-annoncer
Instream ads appear before, during, or after a video on YouTube. These ads are usually unavoidable, but they can be skipped after 5 seconds.
Instream ads are extremely effective. You have a 5-second opening that the user has to go through, and therefore instream ads can help increase conversions while reaching a large number of users regardless of the device they are on.
With instream ads, you can bid on what matters to you. That means, depending on your campaign goal, you can pay based on the total number of impressions or when your entire ad has been viewed.
InFeed-videoannoncer
These are the ads that used to be called "Discovery ads."
Infeed video ads allows you to place your brand, product, or service alongside the YouTube content that may be relevant and viewed by your target audience. The ads are shown in the home feed, watch feed, and search feed.
That means you can get exposure through sponsored content that looks like the organic content your users are already watching right next to related videos.
Bumperannoncer
Bumper ads are short video ads that can last up to 6 seconds. They are shown before a YouTube video and are unavoidable. That means they cannot be skipped, so the user has to watch them before a new video can be played.
Again, it gives you a unique opportunity to ‘force’ your target audience to watch the content you think is relevant to them.
Displayannoncer
Display ads appear next to or above video content and can consist of images, GIFs, or text ads. The ads can be targeted based on factors such as geographic location, interests, and demographics, and you can edit the placements to ensure that your ads appear on specific YouTube videos or channels.
That means you can also exclude your ads from being shown alongside certain video content that may be irrelevant or even misleading to your message.
Achieve greater reach and increased sales with YouTube advertising
YouTube advertising can be a valuable addition to the marketing strategy for most B2C businesses, but actually also for B2B companies. Even though many associate YouTube with consumer products, there are also many opportunities to reach a B2B audience through the platform.
YouTube has a huge audience, and there is room for both B2B and B2C. Regardless, all businesses have a unique opportunity to reach potential customers with a broad demographic and geographic reach.
Especially B2B companies may have products and services of a more specialized nature. And therefore, the video format can be a great advantage. With YouTube, it is possible to demonstrate what is offered in a more engaging and inclusive way. And visual elements such as videos, images, and animations can make it easier to explain complex concepts and products. In this way, B2B companies can create more engagement around their brand and increase the chances that customers will remember their message.
For those of you who deal with B2C, it can be just as interesting, as with the visual and interactive platform, you can create more creative and exciting marketing campaigns that will you stand out in an often competitive market.
With the many different ad formats, YouTube also offers a flexible solution for online and paid advertising. Regardless of your service, product, or target audience, you can choose the ad format(s) that will give you the biggest win. This means that you should seek the formats that can give you the biggest return on investment or the highest conversion rate in the shortest amount of time.
For a B2B company, it is especially relevant to use Infeed ads. Content typically that takes longer to produce but does also has a significantly longer lifespan.
In contrast, instream ads must capture the user's attention in just 5 seconds. This is a golden opportunity, especially for B2C companies that want to experiment with different content of shorter duration.
What does the future look like for YouTube advertising?
Maybe you don't believe it when you see the increasing popularity of medias such as TikTok and Instagram, but nonetheless, YouTube still has a bright future ahead.
The number of users continues to grow and user engagement remains high. YouTube has cemented its position as one of the largest and most popular online media, and it doesn't seem to be fading anytime soon - especially not outside Denmark's borders, where YouTube is a preferred channel for entertainment and knowledge.
YouTube is also constantly evolving, for example, when it comes to new and more effective and automated ad formats and tools that can help you reach your target audience.
For instance, YouTube has launched their Bumper Machine, which uses AI to shorten longer videos into videos that can be used in bumper ads. That is, videos with a maximum duration of 6 seconds.
