How to Launch and Optimize a Youtube Ad: Beginner’s Guide

YouTube Ads for Beginners 

Welcome to our beginner’s guide on how to launch and optimize YouTube ads! 

If you want to expand your brand’s reach and visibility, YouTube can be a powerful tool. With over 2 billion monthly active users, it’s one of the largest video-sharing platforms in the world, making it a great place to advertise your products or services. 

The table below shows the number of monthly active users in each platform. 

However, getting started with YouTube advertising campaigns can be intimidating, especially if you’re new to the platform. 

In this guide, we’ll break down the process of launching and optimizing a YouTube ad into simple, easy-to-follow steps. If you’re just starting out, this guide will help you make the most of your YouTube advertising efforts. 

Let’s get into it!

Find a Catching YouTube Name First!

We’ve talked about YouTube ads, now it’s time to talk about your YouTube channel! A great channel name is essential for you to be remembered all across the platform. To ensure that you have chosen the perfect name, check out our free YouTube name generator and pick the ideal one today!

What You Need To Know About YouTube Advertising

Did you know that 70% of YouTube viewers say that they bought something as a result of YouTube ads?

YouTube advertising is a popular and effective way for businesses and individuals to reach their target audience and promote their products, services, or content. YouTube ads are managed through the Google Ads platform, which you will be working with as you create your campaign. 

The platform is visited by billions of people who are subjected to seeing YouTube ads every single day. Whether it’s small ad pop-ups or longer unskippable videos, you can be sure that by creating a YouTube advertising campaign, your products or services will be shown to your target audience (and hopefully lead to bigger sales). 

You might be tempted to try to reach your customers through organic YouTube search results. But the sad truth is that if people don’t hear about your product (no matter how amazing it is), they won’t buy it. And with so many possibilities for selling products these days, the best way to promote yours is to invest in online ads.

If you’re still unsure whether YouTube ads are the ones for you, perhaps you’ll be more convinced when you look at the chart below. 

According to the information we found on Statista, in the first quarter of 2022, YouTube was the leading platform for companies investing in digital video marketing. 60% of companies who invested in video ads did it solely on YouTube. And with 14% of businesses investing in YouTube and other platforms, we can see that YouTube is used for video promotion by as much as 74% of all businesses. 

Isn’t that impressive?

Now that you know a little more about YouTube advertising, let’s look at what types of YouTube ads you can run in your campaign.

Types of YouTube Video Ads

In-Feed Video Ads

In-feed video ads appear on the YouTube homepage, as well as in YouTube search results and the related video page. They don’t come up on the video itself, so keep that in mind. 

Overlay Ads

Overlay ads are the ones that show up as, for example, a banner ad at the bottom of the video. They can be closed at any point after appearing on the video. A banner ad is great for raising brand awareness while not being too intrusive while users watch the actual video.

Bumper Ads 

Bumper ads are non-skippable ads that run for 6 seconds before the user plays the video. For a bumper ad to be successful, ensure that you choose the most high-quality content that represents your product well and grabs the audience’s attention enough to want to find out more.

Skippable Video Ads (TrueView Ads)

Skippable in-stream ads show up in the video, but can be skipped. They can last anywhere from 12 seconds to 6 minutes. Advertisers pay for these ads only when a user watches at least 30 seconds of the ad or clicks on it.

Make sure the video tells a story when you advertise on YouTube with skippable video ads. The longer you can keep the user watching, the bigger the chance you will profit from the ad. 

Thanks to a Google Ads account, you can collect data about how your YouTube video ad did, the CTR on the ad’s CTA, and other important information. 

Non-Skippable Video Ads

Non-skippable in-stream ads can have various placements in the video. They can come up before, in the middle of the video (providing they are over 10 minutes in duration), or after it finishes. They are usually around 15 to 20 seconds long. 

With this video ad, you can get as creative as you want. Make sure to include a CTA to improve your ad’s likelihood of being noticed. A great example of a CTA is a redirection to a website that you own, thus rising your website traffic. 

With the types of YouTube ads out of the way, it’s time to dive deep into the creation process of video campaigns.

Launching a YouTube Ad Campaign

With our step-by-step guide on launching a YouTube ad campaign, you’ll be up and running with your YouTube ads in no time. 

Step one

First things first, you can’t set up video ads without uploading the content, so make sure to have your video ad ready before you do anything else. Don’t forget that your ad should be eye-catching and very-well-made in order to be remembered (check out our tips on optimizing video ads in the section below).

Step two

Now that you got that sorted, it’s time to log in or set up a Google Ads account. If you don’t already have one, make sure to sign up. This will be the platform from which you will manage your ad campaign.

Step three

Once your account is up and running, you can create your new campaign. Go to your dashboard and click the “New Campaign” button. On the following screens, you’ll have to choose the goal that will make the campaign successful and the campaign type (choose the video option). 

Step four

Next, you’ll have the option to decide on a campaign subtype. As we mentioned, you can pick from in-feed video ads, overlay ads, bumper ads, skippable in-stream ads, and non-skippable in-stream ads. Decide on the ad formats that best suit your goals and target audience.

Step five

With that out of the way, it’s time to give your campaign a name.

Step six

Determine your budget. What are your expected ad costs? Set a daily price limit. Decide on your ad schedule. Select a start and end date for your campaign. 

Step seven

Do you know where you want your video ad to appear? You can decide on three separate spaces, and it’s advisable for you to create different ad campaigns for each space. You can choose between YouTube search results, YouTube videos, and video partners on the display network. 

Step eight

Define your target audience. Determine who you want to reach with your ad. Consider factors such as demographics, interests, and location. You can also pick the language that your target audience speaks.

Step nine

Check under “Excluded types and labels” if you want to exclude your ads from coming up on, e.g., profanity or sexual content. (this is optional)

Step ten

You can also target keywords, select topics or placements. Play around with different keywords on your videos and see which ones get the most clicks and conversions. 

You can also choose related YouTube videos for your ad. Perhaps these could lead to your own YouTube channel?

Step eleven

Launch your campaign. Review all the details and launch your ad.

Step twelve

Monitor performance. Keep track of your ad’s performance and make changes as needed to improve its effectiveness.

Step thirteen

Optimize for success! Continuously test and optimize your ad to improve its performance and reach your desired results.

Note: This is a general guide, and the specific steps and options may vary depending on the current features and tools available in Google Ads.

Tips On Optimizing Video Ads

Optimize your video ads for success! Maximize the impact of your video ads in the following ways:

• Make sure your video ads are short and to the point. These days, attention spans are short (hence why Youtube shorts and Tiktok reels are getting increasingly popular). We recommend aiming for a length of around 15 to 30 seconds.
• Use attention-grabbing visuals. High-quality and eye-catching content is bound to keep your audience engaged. In this case, quality over quantity is definitely the way to go.
• Paid ads should have a clear CTA. Whether it’s making a purchase or visiting a website, the user should know what your ad is for. Otherwise, even if they’re interested in your ad, they might continue right past it and continue to watch the next video. A good call-to-action is going to drive up conversions for sure.
• Keep testing! Try different headlines, visuals, and CTAs – see what resonates with your audience the most and what drives up the CTR.
• Use captions. They make the video ad more accessible to a wider audience and increase the chance of your audience staying on the ad for longer.
• Make sure your ad is mobile-friendly. These days, anything not optimized for mobile phones is basically potential thrown out the window. So before you upload, double-check that your content looks great on all mobile devices. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, launching and optimizing a YouTube advertising campaign can seem intimidating for beginners. Still, with the right tools and strategy, it can be a powerful way to reach and engage with your target audience. 

By setting up a Google Ads account, defining your target audience, choosing the right ad format, creating compelling content, and continuously monitoring and optimizing your campaign, you can ensure that your ad is effective and reaches your desired results. 

Follow these steps, and you’ll be well on your way to creating a successful YouTube ad campaign.