PumpUp, the Youtube Ads agency you need

YouTube is the most popular video platform in the world. It has two billion monthly users and several billion views every day. With video being a popular format in today’s marketing, YouTube represents a significant opportunity to promote your business or products, and mastering this platform is a real advantage. YouTube is adapted for this purpose, with various tools allowing you to share and promote your content, but also to analyze its performance. YouTube videos, often proposed to users according to their profile, can be shared on your other communication platforms (website, social networks…). The YouTube ads tool allows you, in a paid way, to put your advertising content in front of the desired target. Finally, YouTube Analytics allows you to analyze the performance of your content. You will know which profiles of people have seen your videos or how they arrived to your content (link, search…)

There are many reasons to use YouTube Ads for your business. In the current context, video is the most watched communication format, reaching in 2020 more than 80% of web traffic. YouTube being the most important video platform gives us an idea of its potential in digital marketing. Indeed, in France, YouTube has many more visitors than its TV competitors. We don’t consider Netflix as a competitor because the platform doesn’t offer the possibility for companies to publish content or advertise on it. As you can see, YouTube reaches a huge and extremely diverse population. YouTube Ads allows you to filter this population thanks to segments (age, gender, location…), so that your ads only reach your potential targets. That’s why you’ll rarely see a YouTube ad that’s far from your interests.

YouTube is the world leader in video. The audience and content are extremely diverse and there is something for everyone. The performance of your videos and/or ads on YouTube will depend on several factors. For ads with YouTube Ads, the audience is very important: you have to determine who you want to target with your videos, what is the goal of your ad (to sell, to increase awareness…) but also the format adapted to this target and this goal. For example, “bumper ads”, a 6-second ad format at the beginning of a video, increase ad recall and, consequently, brand awareness. You can analyze your performance with the YouTube Analytics tool, which will give you valuable information such as the target reached, the number of views, whether your videos were watched until the end or how your audience arrived on your video (search, share, link…). From there, you can calculate your engagement rate, your traffic, and use these statistics to improve your strategy on the platform.

The creation of your company’s YouTube channel will generally be done in two steps.

Before the creation, there are already many factors concerning your positioning to define:

• The image you want to have on the network: it is important to remain consistent with your existing brand image
• The target you want to reach
• The objectives of your channel: to gain notoriety, to inform about your company or your products, to sell…
• Your content strategy: frequency of posts, length of your videos…

Once these factors are established, you will have a good approach regarding your strategy on the platform. To create your account you will first have to follow the classic steps. You can consult them on our tutorial provided for this purpose.

Your account is now created, it is important to feed it. Add an icon, a banner and a description. These elements will inform the public about the content they will find on your channel and will increase your visibility.

Google Ads is the Google platform from which advertisers can manage their ads. Once you have created your YouTube channel, you will need to link it to your Google Ads account. This step is mandatory because your ads on YouTube Ads will be managed from your Google Ads account. So go to your Google Ads account and click on the wrench icon to access the Tools page. Then go to the Configuration menu that opens on the right and click on Associated accounts. A window will open, select More info, then Add criteria. You will then be able to select your YouTube channel, or directly paste its URL. To create a video ad, you will first have to upload it to YouTube, then transform it into an ad on Google Ads.

There are many parameters that go into the configuration of your YouTube Ads campaign.

First, define the goal of your campaign: do you want to promote your brand (branding), encourage the user to perform an action (call to action) or make him download your application? Your campaign will depend on its goal.

Then, depending on your target, define your distribution network. Your ad will be found in YouTube searches, directly in YouTube videos, or on video partners (Display Network). The next step is to choose your ad format.

You will also need to segment, or target, to determine who will see your ad. Then comes the definition of the budget, which determines the number of people who will see your ad.

You can also integrate a “call to action” button into your ad, which can send the user to your website or YouTube channel with a simple click. Finally comes the writing of the ad, with three main elements that are the title, the description and the thumbnail.

There are four different formats for your ads on YouTube :

• In-stream: In-stream ads are those that launch before the video plays on YouTube. Their cost per view is between 5 and 10 cents which will be charged to you only after 30 seconds of viewing. The Instream format also exists in a non-passable version. The advertisement must last between 15 and 20 seconds that the Internet user will have to watch before switching to his video.
• Discovery: Discovery ads are displayed on YouTube at the top of search results or at the top of video recommendations (you choose this setting). They can be targeted by topic, keyword or interest, and their cost per view is slightly higher than instream: 6 to 12 cents, charged after the first second of viewing.
• Bumper: This ad format is similar to the instream, it can be played before or during the video playback. However, the ad must not exceed 6 seconds, and the user cannot skip it.
• Outstream: Finally, the Outstream format is exclusive to mobile and tablet devices. The ads are not broadcast on YouTube, but on applications or partner sites, allowing to reach a wider audience.

It is very important to make the right choice of video format for your ad. This will depend on many factors: the message you want to get across, the objective of your ad, your communication strategy and your budget.

An Instream video will give you time to develop an idea or a product, to attract people to watch it in its entirety or even lead to an action.

A Bumper Ad, which lasts 6 seconds, should have a very quick impact in order to generate traffic to your site by piquing people’s curiosity.

The Discovery format, more targeted, can be useful to target a smaller audience, which can allow the use of a more technical vocabulary.

On the other hand, the Outstream format will allow you to reach a more varied audience outside the YouTube platform, which is a considerable advantage if your target is large.

YouTube is an extremely powerful platform, it is the second largest search engine behind Google and everyone uses it. So the possibilities to reach your goals are endless. However, it takes more than a snap of the fingers to make your YouTube ads work. A rigorous preparation is necessary: strategy, budget, formats, frequency, target, objective, analysis are all parameters that must be considered in order to reach your objectives on the platform. There must be a lot of groundwork, and it’s this work that will help you generate engagement, awareness, sales according to what you are looking for.

YouTube Ads, as a modern platform, allows thanks to two tools to publish ads in augmented reality (AR Beauty Try-On) and in 3D (Swirl).

Augmented reality ads allow to realize campaigns featuring products. For example, on the AR Beauty Try-On platform, users can try on make-up products directly on the image of their face. This allows Internet users to be actors of the advertising. They can compare products and find what they like the most. The experience is therefore more engaging than a simple video.

The 3D ads go through the SWIRL feature. It allows for three-dimensional content, which multiplies the possibilities, on a mobile format. No more accumulating photos to show a single shoe from all angles. Here, the user can directly rotate the object, zoom in and out at will.

In addition to offering enriched advertising content, these two new ad formats attract the curiosity of users. They are therefore, if they are adapted to what the advertiser is looking for, an option not to be neglected.

Targeting on YouTube Ads is not necessarily different from the definition of targeting in marketing, also known as segmentation. Targeting allows you to define who will see your ad. So first you need to establish the segment of the population you are targeting. Is it a large segment or a niche? Then come the demographic data: age, gender, location, socio-professional class, job, income… Segmentation also includes personal characteristics, such as passions or interests. In addition, YouTube Ads allows to integrate remarketing. This means taking into account the user’s past interactions with your brand.

Targeting is an essential aspect of your digital marketing campaign on YouTube Ads. Trying to sell a car to a young teenager doesn’t make sense, yet it’s a cost to your business. Targeting helps you avoid this unnecessary expense and get your message to the people you want.

Writing a YouTube Ads is a very important phase and includes three main elements: the title, the description and the thumbnail.

The role of the title is to highlight your ad as much as possible. It must attract attention and hook the user. However, be careful not to overdo it.

The description is used to get your message across. If your ad is about a promotion, indicate the discount, the products on which it is applied, the deadline to take advantage of it, etc.

The thumbnail is the first visual element of your ad. It must catch the eye of the Internet user by standing out. A good choice of color, with thoughtful contrasts, will make it stand out. Also, as with your marketing campaigns, be consistent in your thumbnails. Keeping a similar layout and color code will help users remember your brand because it will have an identity. The thumbnail should convey the subject and content of your videos. So don’t hesitate to add images or text, making sure that it will remain readable even on mobile. Here again, be careful not to overload your thumbnail because the user will get lost and will not pay attention to it.

Sequenced advertising consists of making an ad in several video sequences. These videos can have a different format from each other, for example an In-stream video and then a Bumper Ad. The most effective format of sequenced advertising is done in three steps: the teaser, with a short format, which will serve to attract the curiosity of the Internet user. The amplification, a longer sequence, will allow you to detail your offer in order to increase engagement. A user who has already seen your teaser will be more likely to watch a long ad sequence. Finally, the echo will allow you to recall your offer with, once again, a short format.

Of course, a user will not be able to see one of your sequences without having seen the previous one. In addition, YouTube has a tool, the bumper machine, that allows you to create 6-second sequences from your longer videos to facilitate the creation of sequenced ads.

Given the potential of YouTube, the ways to boost the performance of your video campaigns are endless. Here, we’ll focus on four tips that can be an important performance lever for your ads.

First, it’s important that your ads are mobile-friendly. More and more YouTube users are consuming the platform’s content on their phones. This means avoiding too small text or elements and having a faster pace in the video, among other things.

Also, establish a storytelling scheme adapted to the format and to your offer. The classic scheme is to introduce with a problem, then present the solution (your offer) and conclude. The emergent storyline is more compelling and presents your proposal in the first few seconds.

It is also important to never lose sight of your objectives. Whether you want to draw the viewer to your YouTube channel or website, introduce them to your brand or encourage them to perform a particular action, you need to draw them to an action button, on the video or on a banner, in order to “convert” the efforts made during your teaser.

Finally, it is necessary to have previously defined your audience during the targeting phase. In concrete terms, you need to reach the target with the strongest intention. That is to say, the segment of the population that is most likely to be interested in your offer and to initiate an action based on your ad.

It can happen that your YouTube Ads campaign does not work. If this happens to you, don’t panic, there are many solutions to remedy this.

The problem of a campaign not launching can be due to different elements. Firstly, check that there is not an error in the date of your campaign. Also, make sure your account is active and not suspended. Finally, campaigns must be approved before they are broadcast. So this is also a parameter to check.

Another problem may be that your YouTube Ads campaign is not spending your daily budget, and therefore not reaching as many people as you would like. Again, this can be due to several parameters that need to be checked. Your cost per view may be too low, your audience too small, your capping too strict. Also, beware of your budget, which may simply be too high for the period. Finally, many companies use YouTube Ads, and in some periods, a strong competition can lead to a decrease in views.

The performance of your campaigns can be measured and analyzed both during and after they have run.

When your campaign is running, you can get an overview of your performance in the Audience Insights part of Google Ads, and on Google Analytics. This will allow you to build a profile of people interacting with your campaign (site visit, product purchase, video viewing support, etc).

Creating ads on YouTube Ads requires a lot of work, both for the preparation (targeting, format definition, etc.), but also for the skills to optimize the video itself (content, editing) as well as all the marketing aspect around it, from preparation to performance analysis. In short, creating ads on YouTube Ads is a job that may not be available in your company. That’s why hiring a specialized web agency is often the best thing to do to develop your presence on the platform. This not only gives the assurance of a quality work done by professionals in the field, but also the possibility to have reduced deadlines. Indeed, specialists whose job is to create YouTube Ads campaigns will do a more efficient, qualitative and quicker job than someone with less or no experience. In conclusion, using a web agency will increase the quality of your campaign and reduce the time needed.

Some YouTube Ads agencies will be better able to meet the needs of your business than others. First, it is important to learn about the different possibilities. Agencies have different conditions (commissions, minimum investment, follow-up…). Ideally, choose an agency that has already worked on campaigns for clients in your industry. This can allow the agency to have an idea of the targeting to be done. In any case, being able to rely on past experience is always an advantage. Another aspect not to be neglected is your budget. Prices for the same campaign can vary from one agency to another. It is a question of finding the right balance between a reasonable budget and a quality corresponding to your expectations. So don’t hesitate to ask for several quotes before you start. Finally, the human aspect remains very important. During your meetings, you will be able to judge the sensitivity and the interest of the web agencies towards your project. It is always more pleasant and productive to work with a provider who listens so that both companies move in the same direction for the good realization of the project.