Digital Marketing - Study Notes:
Google Ads
Google Ads is the native advertising service by Google for businesses who want to display ads on Google products and its advertising network.
Growing a social following
Growing a social following on YouTube can be extremely valuable. It can:
- Increase your site and search traffic.
- Help with lead generation.
- Help you create content based on the feedback you receive from your following.
- Help with brand engagement.
- Provide customer insights.
- Help with future marketing strategies and with ad targeting.
How advertising and monetization works
The YouTube advertising ecosystem is comprised of four players:
- Viewers. YouTube wants to deliver the most relevant content to keep viewers watching.
- Creators. YouTube wants to be the optimal platform for creators to produce content and make sustainable revenue from it.
- Advertisers. YouTube wants a safe environment where brands can reach their targeted audiences with measurable precision.
- YouTube. YouTube tries to satisfy the needs of the viewers, the creators, and the advertisers.
Ad formats
YouTube monetizes its platform with six different types of ad formats that appear on different platforms:
- Display ads appear on desktops. These are traditional display banners that appear alongside videos.
- Overlay ads also appear on desktops. They appear at the bottom of your videos and are semi-transparent.
- Skippable video ads appear on all platforms. These can be skipped by the user after five seconds if they choose.
- Non-skippable video ads must be watched before the viewer has access to the content.
- Bumper ads are non-skippable, six-second, short pre-rolls that run before the content.
- Sponsored cards display content that may be relevant to your video.
Self-serve ad tool
YouTube has a self-serve ad tool to help you promote your videos using Google Ads. You can access this by clicking on the drop-down menu next to your videos in the Channel videos section. Next steps are to set a budget and choose the desired audience for the video that you’d like to promote. Next, you will see the approximate amount of views that your video will get from the campaign, relative to your budget. After that, you will be instructed to design your ad, and write a title and description. Once completed, you are guided to Google Ads to review the ad, budget, and targeting before launching the campaign.
Example: The BBQ Guys
BBQguys.com is a great example of how to use YouTube for content delivery, with creative content that entertains as well as educates its intended customers. The BBQ Guys also made sure to drive views with ads targeted at a highly-valuable audience that had shown interest in the product – in this case, grilling.
Video ads manager
Managing video ads in Google Ads gives you more ways to view campaign performance; deeper tools for optimizing campaigns; different types of ad formats; and more ad targeting options and conversion tracking tools.
Back to TopCarlos Pacheco
Carlos Pacheco is the Vice President of Audience Development at Boat Rocker Media. Managing a team dedicated to online audience growth, Carlos has grown YouTube channels to have millions of subscribers and billions of views. Follow Carlos on Twitter on @carlospache_co for great social media tips.
