Did you know that YouTube is one of the world’s largest marketing platforms, with over 2 billion users each month? With just a few easy steps, you can learn how to create a video ad that will reach numerous prospects daily. Before you begin, you need to establish a goal for your ad. Who are you trying to reach? Are you looking for increased sales, brand awareness, or brand loyalty? By determining this beforehand, you will save yourself hours of time and valuable money when you reach the correct audience.
Step 1: Link Your Google AdWords Account to Your YouTube Channel
Either login to your Google AdWords account (or see the link above to learn more and create one). Next, select the “tools” icon. Under the dropdown, select “SETUP” and “Linked Accounts”. Once you get to the page with Google products and services, scroll down until you see YouTube. Finally, click “Details” and then add your YouTube channel by typing in the name and selecting it. Make sure you click “I own this channel” during this step.
Step 2: Select a YouTube Advertising Campaign Objective
After creating and uploading your video, it is time to link it to the correct campaign objective. On your Google Ads dashboard, look to the right for a tab that says “Campaign.” Upon selecting that tab, you will be taken to a page that will allow you to create a YouTube ad campaign. Click on the blue circle with a “+”, and then click the option to create a new campaign. Remember that goal you created earlier? This is the time to use it to select the best platform for your campaign. Some options are “Leads and Website, Product and Brand Consideration, and Brand Awareness and Reach”. Click here for more information on each of those options. Next, select “video” as the campaign type and click continue.
Step 3: Choose Your YouTube Ad Campaign Format
Next, you will need to choose which format works best for your video. Available video ad formats include skippable in-stream ads, non-skippable in-stream ads, video discovery ads, outstream ads, and bumper ads.
Step 4: Set Your YouTube Ad Budget and Bid Strategy
In this step, you will name your campaign, set a budget, and choose your start and end date. This is completed with just a few selections of a button. The bidding strategy is a bit more involved. The higher your bid, the more likely your ad will be chosen by the Google team. It is a balancing act between bidding high enough and overbidding, which decreases your cash flow. A good rule of thumb is to choose Maximum CPV or Targeting CPV, which aren’t the cheapest option but will give you the most competitive bidding strategy.
Step 5: Customize Your YouTube Ad Campaign
Where and what type of content you place your YouTube ad on is important. This is where you will create just that. First, you will choose your Network, which will determine where your ad will play.
*YouTube Search Results: This option is only available if you are running discovery ads. Reminder to uncheck this option for all other types of ads.
*YouTube Videos: This option has the perfect price point and exposure and the best option most YouTubers choose.
*Video Partners on Display Network: If you select this option you’ll be able to run your ad on sites of partners outside of YouTube. The cost is typically less but keep in mind the exposure is typically less as well.
Next, you will choose the Inventory Type (content) you want your ad to run in. You can choose Expanded, Standard, or Limited. During this step, you can also choose to exclude any specific content (mature, sensitive) that you don’t want your business associated with.
Click “Additional Settings” you find “Frequency Capping” and add your impressions cap and frequency, so you can determine how many times a viewer is exposed to your add and how often it runs.
Step 6: Choose Your Target Audience For Your YouTube Campaign
You’ll have three options when it comes to grouping your targeting like: Demographics Targeting, Affinity and Custom Affinity Targeting and lastly Affinity and Custom Affinity Targeting. You are also able to add keywords and topics that are associated with your ad.
Go through each to see which targeting options will help you to reach your target audience. You don’t have to select all of them, again the more filters you have on your audience the higher the cost of your YouTube ad.
Step 7: Set a Bid Amount for Your Campaign
In order to determine the exact amount, you should choose for your bid, see the link above to learn more. Remember, competitive bids equal a higher likelihood of being played.
Step 8: Select the Video for Your YouTube Ad
Choose your video using the search box or by typing in the URL, then click continue and your ad will be up and running!
After you have created your initial campaign, the process is as simple as choosing that campaign and then selecting a new video when it is time to change it up. By following these nine steps, you may be on the road to more customer acquisition, increased brand loyalty, and growth in sales.