Getting Online Video Ads Right!

More advertisers are taking advantage of video advertising opportunities.

According to the IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report for 2013, video ads are increasing in popularity, rising up to become the fourth largest ad format after search, display/banner and mobile. Meanwhile, search and display ads are losing ground.

Ad format — full year 2013 results

To round things off, here are some recent YouTube statistics:

• 100 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute
• Google has more than a million advertisers using Google ad platforms (majority are small businesses)

In this article, I’ll cover the anatomy of a good video, video campaign set up and effective ways to optimize your video campaigns.

Anatomy Of A Good Video

A good video as is, obviously, the foundation of an effective video campaign. Following are some things you’ll want to consider when putting together your video.

Is It Worth Watching?

The most important success factor for video advertising is that the content is worth watching. After all, your ad will be interrupting or distracting users from other possibly more important intentions. Videos that aren’t worth watching are a waste of resources. Here are some markers of a video worth watching:

• Are you willing to take time out to watch the video?
• Are you willing to watch it again, share it with others, or take action?

Does It Solve Problems?

In my experience, videos that attempt to solve problems convert well. They address specific needs and hopefully provide an immediate solution with your product or service. Here are some topics that might make great videos:

• How to replace a tire
• How to decorate a cake
• How to fix your dryer

With this strategy, I’ve seen CPA figures 75% better than on the regular search side of the equation. Videos can either encourage an immediate sale or encourage people to make a purchase down the road. If you already have videos produced, it makes sense to start with your most viewed videos, your most popular products, etc.

Is It Entertaining?

Entertaining videos are designed to capture attention and convey emotion. Interesting and engaging videos are particularly well-suited for multiple views and sharing with others. For example, with almost 30 million views, Poo-Pourri is an excellent example of an entertaining video.

Does It Have A Beginning, Middle & End?

Especially when making new videos, it’s useful to think of videos in terms of a beginning, middle and end. Here’s what each part should look like:

• Beginning: Intro and, if appropriate, why people should listen to you
• Middle: Your content (like how to decorate a cake),which should incorporate value propositions and unique selling proposition info
• End: Call-to-Action

Furthermore, this format will keep your viewers on track. Through the study of neuroscience, we know that the brain is confused easily confused by too much info and craves predicable patterns.

Does It Have A Call-To-Action?

Be clear about what you want users to take away from your video. You can use call-to-action overlays and annotations as external links for a direct response. Here are some examples:

• Subscribe
• Donate
• Watch video

Check this out this on our site to get more information.

(Note: If branding related, your calls-to-action will be different.)

Video Ad Strategies

I’ll now cover some specific video campaign setup tips and video campaign optimization tips.

1. Watch Campaign Settings

Similar to regular PPC search settings, video campaign settings can be a little tricky, so you want to make sure that things are set up correctly. Here are some suggestions:

Geographic Settings. They tend to calibrate broadly (like all locations) so ensure you choose specific areas you want to target (like the USA).

Ad Delivery. Choose to rotate ads evenly. This ensures each of your video ads receives equal impression opportunities, which is ideal for testing.

Focus On YouTube Search Network First. Just as search and display are different, it’s different for the video landscape as well.

AdWords Video Campaigns — Network Options

The YouTube Search network only includes video results for search queries, and example of which is shown below:

YouTube TrueView in-display video ads: Search Results

Video ads in search results are obviously more specifically related to queries than ads placed on YouTube video pages. My personal preference is to start with the YouTube Search network; I then explore the YouTube Videos network and Google Display Network advertising once I get the search network working.

Direct Ads To The YouTube Watch Page. Just as specific landing pages work best with PPC (as compared to the home page), specific video pages works best in YouTube ads (as compared to the channel page). Note: As seen below, the default in Google for YouTube video ads is the YouTube channel page.

2. Focus On In-Display Video Ads

An in-display video ad includes an image and some text. This kind of ad will show slightly differently depending on its location; on YouTube, such ads appear on the YouTube search results page or at the top of the recommended videos column on the right-hand side of a watch page (shown below).

YouTube TrueView in-display ad, sidebar

It’s worth noting that the other video ad option is called “in-stream.” In-stream ads are the pre-roll ads that play before a video on either the YouTube Videos or the Google Display Network (depending on your settings).

Conversion rates for in-stream video ads tend to be much lower as advertising is not as targeted; in fact, a recent study showed that 56% of people skip video ads that run before the videos that they want to watch.

3. Get Specific To Tighten Things Up

With video advertising, you can further target using keywords, demographics and interests. There’s also the option to target via remarketing, topics, placements. We often include specific keyword terms in our video campaigns.

Targeting options for video ads

4. Use Call-To-Action Overlays For More Pop!

For extra 1-2 punch, include call-to-action overlays on top of your videos.

These units appear on top of videos in a box ad format and give you the opportunity to sell your items directly from your videos. With this ad unit, you have 25-character headline, a display URL, a destination URL and an image (image is optional).

I like calls-to-action that tell people exactly what to do, like “buy this now,” “get this now” or similar variations.

Note: Call-to-action overlays remain on your video even if the video is no longer being promoted.

A big thanks goes out to Page Zero’s Dave Weber for providing insight and helping shape this article.