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On July 12, 2017 Google hosted an insightful Partners Connect session on Video Advertising. The focus of the discussion was on how YouTube advertising has grown, and how video marketing can benefit your business. This month’s presentation had two speakers: Tabitha Salomon, Google Product Marketing Manager, and Bettina Hahn, Senior Incubation Strategist at Google. Tabitha provided a quick overview of how YouTube has grown and evolved to create a larger reach and better targeting for your customers. Bettina Hahn discussed 6 ways to grow your business with YouTube.
YouTube as a Marketing Platform:
We now live in a world where reaching your audience is easy, but capturing their attention is challenging. Here are some reasons why YouTube is a great marketing platform for your business:
- Big reach – YouTube is really big; 1.5 Billion people visit YouTube every month! There is lots of opportunity for you to target the right customers for your business or service
- Viewer attention – YouTube has an engaged viewer base. With YouTube you can tap into the attention of people who want to watch your ads
- Precise ad targeting – Target people that matter to your business and services; show your advertisements on relevant videos & alongside related content.
YouTube is where people are watching:
YouTube is the second most-used search engine in the world behind Google. It has grown 10x in terms of its viewership since 2012.
Youtube just doesn’t offer reach, it offers attentive reach. YouTube reports a 93% Ad Viewbility rate and 95% of Ad Audibility rate. YouTube beats the industry average of 66%.
Did you know?
People who see and hear an ad are twice as likely to remember your brand, and 3x times as likely to remember your ad, then if they only saw the ad. Make sure you are using an ad platform where people can both see and hear your message.
YouTube offers a variety of ad formats
Skippable Pre-roll
Only pay when a viewer watches 30 seconds or more of your ad
Pre-roll “Bumper Ads”
A 6 second ad that plays before the video begins or during the video. These ads cannot be skipped. 9 out of 10 people can recall an ad after viewing it for just 6 seconds!
Companion banner
Offered when you run a skippable ad, the banner appears next to your InStream ad to help drive clicks
Call-to-action-overlay
Add an overlay to your video or ad that allows customers to visit your website, sign up for newsletter, buy products etc. in real time.
YouTube provides detailed targeting:
Since YouTube is part of the Google ecosystem, it can use that wealth of user data to target audiences based on interests, passion, life stages, and viewing patterns to best attract the right customer for your business or service. (Note that some of these targeting options may not be available in Canada.)
6 Ways to Use YouTube Video Marketing to Grow Your Business
Since YouTube has such a large audience and a variety of targeting options, it is important to make sure that you are using the correct ads, and follow YouTube best practices to get the best results. Here are 6 ways Google recommends you can grow your business with YouTube:
1. Understand the role of video as a marketing tool
When creating a YouTube ad, make sure you understand what you are trying to achieve. What is the goal of the video? Are you trying to drive awareness of your business? Highlighting a product or service? Or driving traffic to your website? All of these goals are typically seen as top of funnel solutions for your business, that can ultimately lead to a conversion or sale. Consider this example of a typical YouTube Customer Journey for a car dealership:
2. Find your ideal target audience on YouTube
With YouTube advertising, it is fairly easy to get a large reach and thousands of views of your ads. But if you do not understand the audience you are targeting, it is just going to lead to wasted money, with no return on investment. Be strategic with who you are targeting, and learn to understand your customer.
3. Develop great creative using YouTube Director tools
YouTube has heard the cry of many businesses who don’t know where to start with video. In response to this, YouTube is introducing two new tools: YouTube Director, and YouTube Director onsite. Below is a quick comparison:
 |  |
| iOS App (Android to be released soon) Video creation app that lets you create high-quality video for your business Provides ready-to-go templates It’s easy – no video creation experience required It’s free! | Only located in 7 US cities (to expand nationwide by December 2017) $150 Low-cost onsite videographer |
At Ontario SEO, we also offer Video Services for small business. Contact us to learn more on how to get started creating video for YouTube or Facebook Marketing.
4. Understand YouTube’s impact
Since YouTube is usually a “top of funnel” or branding channel, it can sometimes be difficult to determine campaign success by traditional digital measurement metrics. Video Analytics are available to look at performance data of your advertisements (within the AdWords Platform), but here are some other ways you can evaluate the success of your video marketing:
- use “Google Brand Lift” surveys to discover impact of your videos
- Measure direct visits from YouTube with Google Analytics
- Analyze changes in search queries (using Google Search Console)
- Look at changes in sales with Geographic A/B testing
5. Optimize your channel & videos for organic engagement
Treat your YouTube channel as digital storefront of your business.
- Continually update your channel trailers
- Showcase seasonal promotions or new products to provide more brand exposure
- Organize your videos and create sub folders to easier navigation
- Add custom thumbnails to your videos
- 90% of YouTube’s best preforming videos have them!
- Use end screens and call to actions to drive the customers to your website
- Provide clear, concise, and keyword rich metadata in your video titles and descriptions
6. Work with a Partner to make the most of YouTube Ads
Many of these features can be time consuming to set up on your own. When you reach your technical or time limitations, call us at Ontario SEO and let us perform a free audit of your YouTube channel and Website. We are a badged Google Partner Agency that specializes in Digital Video Advertising and Paid Search Marketing.
Watch the Full Presentation:
