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YouTube has over 2 billion users, and more than one billion hours of videos are watched every single day on the platform. That’s a lot of eyes on YouTube’s content, to say the least. In a survey conducted by Sprout Social, 78.8% of marketers named YouTube as the most effective platform for video advertising. The sheer number of people watching content, and the number of hours that they’re watching, make it a highly effective method of advertising with a worthwhile ROI. Each platform is unique in what will make an advertisement most appealing to users, and YouTube is no different. If you want to get the most clicks possible, follow these three tips for creating effective YouTube ads.
1. Include vital information in the first 5 seconds
After what amount of time the user can skip your advertisement depends on the type of ad you purchase, but the majority of YouTube video ads can be skipped after just five seconds of play. Therefore, it’s crucial that you include the ad’s most important information in those few precious seconds. A line or image that will hook the viewer and entice them to watch longer is effective, but if all else fails, make sure that your company’s name and logo are immediately presented. This logo will become familiar to people the more they encounter the ad, so even with just five seconds of exposure, you can leave an impression on viewers. Spreading brand awareness is one of the biggest things you can hope to achieve with a social advertisement, so even if they don’t click away to purchase, they’ll remember you next time they’re browsing.
2. Engage the viewer with interactive elements
There are five main ways to make your YouTube ads interactive: cards, end screens, call-to-action, TrueView for action, & shopping cards. These types of interactivity can allow you to link to other products, videos, and content both on and off the platform. Learning the differences between these elements and which is best for your business’s advertising goals will help you increase your chance of engagement exponentially. By incorporating the appropriate interactive element, you make it easy for your viewers to visit your website, purchase a product, or promote other content. Making interaction as easy as possible for the consumer will, in turn, make it more likely that they engage with your ad and explore more of what you have to offer.
3. Take advantage of targeting options
Just as you would customize your ad’s target demographic on Facebook or Instagram, make sure that you’re not wasting precious ad dollars advertising to someone who is unlikely to ever have interest in your product anyway. YouTube allows great flexibility and customization in ad targeting. You can not only customize demographics, but you can also add affinity audiences and in-market audiences based on their interest in a specific topic. Targeting your ads effectively will increase the ratio of views to clicks, which will make your dollar go further and make your YouTube ad campaign more successful.
Social advertising is a constantly-evolving landscape, and it’s crucial that you’re able to keep up with the latest information so that you can advertise as effectively (and cost-effectively) as possible. If you want the results of social ads without any of the hard work, call IDG Advertising. Our team of social media advertising experts can run highly effective ad campaigns across multiple platforms on any budget. To find out more about our services, give us a call today at (714) 221-4377 to get started.
