3 Low-Cost YouTube Ad Strategies That Convert
It's pretty safe to say that most brands (large or small) desiring to get their message, their products and/or services in front of targeted audiences have included Google AdWords campaigns in their overall marketing budget. Google has long been the #1 search engine - the first place consumers go to find what they are looking for - making perfect sense that brands allocate a portion of their marketing budget to ensure that they are front and center when consumers do their research. And for a long time the costs associated with AdWords were pretty reasonable. But over time Google AdWords has become much more competitive, with more and more brands competing for the same keywords driving up the CPC (cost per click). Brands looking for other ways to connect with target audiences, drive inbound traffic and secure more leads that don't drain the bank, have moved to other paid platforms including YouTube.
Yes, YouTube is part of the Google network, but the costs to play within this seach platform are much more reasonable than on Google itself. YouTube gets more than 4 billion visits per day (recent YouTube stats) and with video becoming the more desired content form, YouTube has become the 2nd most used search platform after Google.
So, if Google AdWords is not generating the same results as it once did and/or if the costs associated with Google AdWords has made you cringe a little, these YouTube advertising options may be worth testing.
3 Paid YouTube Ad Strategies To Consider
- Hot Search Really similar to Google AdWords PPC campaigns, this ad format serves up your video ad when people search in the top YouTube homepage search bar. The costs per lead for these ads are incredibly lower than what you would pay in Google AdWords.
- Hijacking Target high-watched videos relevant to your audience that are already on YouTube and getting a ton of exposure and run your video next to the video (in-display) or run your video in-stream. When a viewer clicks on an in-display video ad, the user is taken to that video.
- Behavior Marketing Basically this is retargeting. You can target your video ads to those who visited your website serving as a reminder to prospects who did show an interest in your product/service. You use Google Analytics to set this up and you want to make sure to rotate your ads and implement frequency capping so you aren't wasting money and/or annoying potential customers.
Resources:
Targus Product Videos (Created By Rhythm)
Intro to Video Ads
5 Tips For Making An Effective YouTube Video