You want to try something new for dinner so you pull up a video on YouTube demonstrating the recipe. Before the chef’s video starts, an ad for a blender pops up. You’re happy with your blender so you hit the skip button. You just experienced a YouTube TrueView in-stream ad. With an estimated 74% of internet users in the US watching YouTube video content in 2021, there is ample opportunity to reach a vast audience on this marketing channel!
What is YouTube TrueView?
TrueView is an ad format on the video-sharing platform, YouTube. The name says it all – the advertiser only pays if the video is “truly viewed” or the user interacts with it. What that means depends on the type of ad, either in-stream or discovery.
The Two Types of TrueView Ads
- In-stream ads appear before, during, or after YouTube’s video content. They are considered “truly viewed” if a user watches more than 30 seconds or to the end of the ad, whichever is shorter. Before that, they have the option to skip past the ad within about 5 seconds of its start.
- Discovery ads appear in related search results or watch pages on YouTube. An image thumbnail accompanied by up to three lines of ad copy make up the ad unit. If a user clicks on the ad, they will be taken to the YouTube watch or channel page to view the video, at which point the advertiser would pay for that click.
The Benefits of TrueView Ads
Both ad types are very cost-effective marketing options as the advertiser only pays when the ad is either viewed for the required duration or if the user interacts with the ad by clicking on it. It’s a win-win for viewers and advertisers – viewers get to choose to watch only the ads they are curious about and advertisers get more views from an audience that is definitely interested. This model also makes it budget friendly for advertisers to experiment with creative to test which ones viewers find most engaging.
Another way YouTube ensures TrueView Ads are not wasted on the wrong audience is detailed targeting options. Advertisers can narrow down their audience based on segments like age, gender, income, parental status, and interests, as well as the content the user is viewing. With any digital marketing, targeting the right audience with the right message is key.
YouTube allows advertisers to customize the length of their videos. This is a great feature as different marketing objectives require different length videos. If a business has a goal of generating brand awareness through story-telling perhaps a longer discovery ad is a good choice. Or maybe an objective is to entice users who have abandoned their online shopping cart to come back and finish the purchase, an attention grabbing short in-stream video might do the trick.
Whatever an advertiser is looking to achieve there is a TrueView ad format and length that will help them meet, and hopefully exceed, those goals.
Our experienced team at Amplified Digital can help you in every step of developing a YouTube campaign. From deciding what your marketing objectives should be, what ad formats will help you achieve them quickly and efficiently, to video and content creation, we have your back. Let us make it easy for you. Contact us today to get a conversation started!