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How to create an advertising campaign on YouTube Ads

YouTube has become the most popular video platform. That no one can deny.

You find the content of all kinds on this platform and it is the second most used search engine, behind Google.

With 2 billion users worldwide, it is also the second most used social network and the one used by most teenagers and millennials. 

If we talk about YouTube in business, this platform offers many advantages to position yourself as a channel to communicate with your customers and attract potential customers. What's more, statistics show that 90% of users acknowledge discovering new products or services through YouTube.

And it also allows advertising through YouTube Ads, its platform to create advertising campaigns with videos.

An opportunity that you cannot miss to reach new audiences and attract your audience.

Video marketing is a strategy that you should take into account. I explain how to make an advertising campaign on YouTube Ads.

What are YouTube Ads?

YouTube Ads is the platform for creating ads offered by YouTube. It allows including advertising videos before, during, or after the viewing of videos by users.

And in addition, these videos appear on YouTube, but also in other resources offered by Google, such as display or search results.

Advantages of advertising on YouTube

YouTube offers you numerous advantages to advertising on its platform because it allows you to define objectives, limit investment, and segment your audiences and content.

Let's go by parts.

GET MORE REACH WITH YOUR CAMPAIGNS

YouTube is the second search engine on the Internet and also belongs to the largest, Google.

So being in the same ecosystem offers you the opportunity to take advantage of the users that go from one to another.

IMPROVE POSITIONING IN GOOGLE

As I just told you, YouTube belongs to Google. So using this platform and advertising on it can attract new audiences of interest to your website or blog.

GET MORE ENGAGEMENT WITH YOUR CONTENT

Today nobody denies that the audiovisual format is the most powerful and impressive and that it has become the most consumed. The video connects like no other with the emotions of the users and thus, greater interaction also occurs.

SEGMENT

On YouTube, you can segment your audience in the video advertising campaigns you run, since the range of options it offers you is wide.

This gets you to refine your ads more and reach specific audience groups that really interest you. And so, you will make your ads efficient, boosting conversions 

and always with cost control.

PAY FOR RESULTS

YouTube's pricing system is based on CPV, the cost per view. This means that you will pay for the ad when users see it for 30 seconds or when they interact before that time.

An advantage, since you will take better advantage of this resource, without having to pay for each impression.

OPTION TO LIMIT IMPRESSIONS AND VISITS

YouTube allows you to limit the number of impressions and views an advertisement will receive. This prevents the same user from being bombarded with the same ad regularly. Thus, the possibility of getting tired or bored is mitigated.

VISIBILITY ON DIFFERENT DEVICES

The videos of the advertising campaigns on YouTube Ads can be shown on different devices: computers, laptops, tablets, smartphones, and even smart TV.

GET DATA AND ANALYSIS 

YouTube Ads offers a very complete analytical tool, with which you can obtain rich information about the performance of each of your campaigns.

And based on these results draw conclusions and make decisions. 

You will be able to know things, such as:

• Number of users who visit your channel
• Which videos are the most viewed
• Which videos generate the most/least interaction
• How long the videos are watched
• Demographic information about users
• Level of user participation and interaction
• How your investment in the campaign has been distributed

Types of ads on YouTube

YouTube offers different types of ads, to choose from depending on the type of campaign and objectives.

Thus, depending on its extension, if you want them to allow the video to skip in playback or not, at what point in the video do you want it to appear...

SKIPPABLE IN-STREAM ADS

This type of ad appears before, during, or after the video that the user is viewing. You can skip after 5 seconds of playback. 

It is recommended that the duration of this type of advertising video last a minimum of 20 and 30 seconds.

This type of ad requires you to choose campaign objectives:

• Sales
• sales opportunities
• Website Traffic
• Brand coverage and awareness
• Brand and product consideration
• Create a campaign without a specific objective

Regarding the bidding strategy that should be chosen to start it, it can be:

• CPV, cost per view, when the user views 30 seconds of the video or the entire video, in the case of those of shorter duration. Or when you interact with it.
• Target CPM, Target CPA, or Maximize Conversions: In this case, you will be paid based on impressions.

NON-SKIPPABLE IN-STREAM ADS

This type of ad appears before, during, or after the video that the user is viewing.

They cannot be skipped, so the user will see them in their entirety. The maximum duration of this type of ad is 15 seconds.

And in this case, they are charged with the target CPM bid strategy for impressions. 

It is available in the campaign objective “Brand coverage and awareness” or by creating a campaign without a specific objective.

DISCOVERY VIDEO ADS

These ads appear in places of discovery: next to related videos, in YouTube search results, or on the YouTube mobile homepage. 

The video appears with a thumbnail image and text. The user will see it when they click and will be paid by PPC, for the clicks that have been received.

The video discovery ad is available in the campaign objective “Brand and product consideration” or by creating a campaign without a specific objective.

BUMPER ADS

This type can also appear before, during, or after the video that the user is viewing. 

They have a maximum duration of 6 seconds and cannot be skipped. 

This case is indicated to convey a brief message to a wide audience. 

The bidding strategy used by bumper ads is Target CPM, and Pay Per Impressions. 

Bumper videos work by setting the campaign objective “Reach and brand awareness” or by creating a campaign without a specific objective.

OUT-STREAM ADS

This type of ad only works for mobile devices and is only shown on Google's video partners (display, banners, apps...). 

Its playback starts with the sound off and is activated when users touch the video.

They are used to expand the reach of video ads at a cost-effective cost. 

The bidding strategy for out-stream ads is CPM, cost per thousand viewable impressions when the user watches the video for 2 seconds or more. 

Regarding the campaign objective that must be chosen, they are launched with those of “Coverage or brand awareness” or by creating a campaign without a specific objective.

MAST HEAD ADS

This is a special case because these are ads that are only available on a reservation basis through a Google sales representative. 

These are videos featured on the main YouTube page and that appear at the top of the home feed. 

They play for 30 seconds (desktop) or in full (mobile and TV). They can be accompanied by a complementary information panel, associated videos, an external call to action (CTA)... 

Masthead ads have a fixed cost per day (CPD) or CPM, as agreed with the Google agent.

How to run a YouTube Ads campaign

Now that you know the range of possibilities you have to carry out an advertising campaign with YouTube Ads, I'm going to explain how to do it step by step.

1. POST THE VIDEO ON YOUTUBE

The first step is to publish the video on YouTube.

For this, obviously, you will need to have an account on the platform. If you don't already have one, you can create one with your Gmail account.

To publish the video on YouTube you just have to select the camera icon in the upper right part of the YouTube interface and click on “ Upload video ”.

Complete the fields of the video file, with the title, description, thumbnail, and keywords. On the right side, you will see the preview as you complete the content.

You must think about the copy of these sections in advance so that they are attractive to your audience. And that you also take into account SEO, using the keywords that interest you.

Do not forget to complete all the sections:

• Audience: select if it is children's content or not (age restrictions).
• Promotional content: from here you must indicate if a third party has paid for you to show a service or product in your video. 
• Hang tags
• Configure end screens or cards: This is where you configure related videos or nuggets with related content that appear during playback.
• Choose the type of visibility you allow for the video: public, that everyone can see it and find it in searches; hidden, which will only be visible to people who have the link and does not appear in search results; or private, so that only you and the Google users you choose can see it.
• Schedule the publication: if you want it to be published at a future date.

2. SIGN IN TO YOUR GOOGLE ADS ACCOUNT

You already have the video uploaded on YouTube and now you can create an advertising campaign with it.

To do this, you must log in to the Google Ads account you want to act on.

On the left side, select the “ All campaigns ” section and click on the blue icon, which has a “ + ” sign, to create a new one.

3. SELECT THE OBJECTIVE OF YOUR CAMPAIGN

As I have explained before, you can select which objective you want about your advertising video, between:

• Sales: drive sales online, in the app, via mobile, or in a physical store
• Leads: to encourage users to take actions that lead to leads and other conversions
• Website Traffic
• Brand and product consideration: encourage users to discover your products or services
• Coverage and brand awareness: reach a large number of users and increase awareness
• Application promotion: specifically focused on apps, to get more application downloads and user interaction.
• Create a campaign without a specific objective: it is also possible not to define an objective.

4. CHOOSE THE TYPE OF CAMPAIGN, VIDEO

Select the type of video campaign for your ad to appear on YouTube.

5. CHOOSE THE CAMPAIGN SUBTYPE

As it is a video, select one of the first three options that it shows you: 

• Personalized video campaign: allows skippable in-stream, bumper, and video discovery
• In-stream no saltable
• Out-stream

Click “ Continue ” to proceed to the campaign creation and setup screens.

6. NAME THE CAMPAIGN

Put a name for your campaign, which allows you to identify it and differentiate it from the rest.

7. CHOOSE THE BIDDING STRATEGY

The bid strategy determines how you seek to optimize the bids to achieve the set objective.

• Max CPV: The most you're willing to pay per view. This bid strategy allows you to create skippable in-stream ads or video discovery. 
• Max CPM: The bid amount you enter is the most you're willing to pay for every 1,000 times an ad is shown (cost per thousand impressions).
• Viewable CPM: The most you're willing to pay for every 1,000 viewable impressions of an ad. In videos, the visible concept is considered when at least 50% of its content is shown on the screen for a minimum of two seconds.
• Target CPM: The average you're willing to pay for every 1,000 times an ad is shown.
• Target CPA: Google Ads automatically sets your bids so that you get as many conversions as possible at the target cost per action (CPA) you've set. You'll be charged cost-per-thousand-impressions (CPM) because the Target CPA strategy automatically sets the optimal CPM bid for your ad each time it's shown.
• Maximize conversions: Let Google Ads automatically set your bids so you get the most conversions for your budget. 

8. BUDGET AND DATES 

Mark in the corresponding field the total budget of the campaign, and your total investment.

Choose the start date of your campaign and if you wish you can also mark an end.

9. NETWORK WHERE THE AD WILL BE SHOWN

Choose where your ads will appear:

• Youtube search results: Ads are displayed next to search results on YouTube. You can only use video discovery ads.
• YouTube Videos: Ads may appear on YouTube videos, channel pages, and the YouTube homepage. In this case, you can publish in-stream ads and video discovery.
• Video partners on the Display Network: Video partners extend the reach of video ads to more websites and apps on the Google Display Network. 

10. LANGUAGES

Select the languages your customers speak. Your ads are shown to customers with these language preferences or on websites with these languages.

11. AD LOCATIONS

Choose the geographical location in which your advertising video will be shown.

12. CONTENT EXCLUSIONS

In this section, you select where the ad can be displayed. YouTube Ads calls this inventory, which is one more step of control over the content your ad will appear on.

Thus, it allows you to disable groups of sensitive content that are not suitable for your brand.

13. LABELS AND EXCLUDED TYPES

One more option is to control where your ad will appear and prevent it from being shown in content that does not fit your brand. From here you can exclude, for example, that your ad is shown on videos aimed at children. And also depending on the type of video, how to exclude it from live broadcasts.

14. ADDITIONAL SETTINGS

There are still some more settings you can adjust:

• Conversions: Set up conversion tracking for your account however you like.
• Devices: you can segment by type of device, keeping in mind that if you eliminate some you will limit your coverage.
• Frequency capping: You can also limit how many times your campaign ads can be shown to the same user.
• Ad scheduling: You can also limit when your ads will run and set days and times.

Creating an advertising campaign on YouTube Ads can take more time and investment than other types of content. That's true.

In its favor, it is a more impressive format, which generates greater interaction and which is also preferred by the audience.

So I just have to add that you shouldn't miss out on the opportunity to run an advertising campaign on YouTube Ads.