YouTube is owned by Google. So, you advertise on YouTube through the Google AdWords network. Like any other type of AdWords campaign, YouTube ad pricing requires you to bid for the ad placement. Therefore, it is impossible to say with certainty how much YouTube ads cost. This blog looks at YouTube from an advertiser's perspective.
The average cost of YouTube ads is $0.010 to $0.030 per view, and the views you generate count towards your total YouTube audience. The average cost to reach 100,000 viewers is around $2,000.
Why should you advertise on YouTube?
YouTube has a huge following - in fact, there are more than2.1 billion users logged in monthly. On average, they watch YouTube on mobile for over an hour a day. With the recent popularity of smart TVs, the use of YouTube on TVs has also rapidly increased.
Nor should we forget that the YouTube search engine is only surpassed by Google in terms of use.
Given the power of Google AdWords, it's not surprising that YouTube is now a popular medium for advertisers around the world.
The only difficulty from a budget point of view is that there is no explicit price for the cost of YouTube ads. However, this is not unlike many other types of online advertising. The rule of thumb online seems to be that you bid on ad space and the highest bid usually wins.
- Ad formats to consider
YouTube offers a variety of ad formats. These include:
- Video ads in feed- These are the videos you see alongside related videos in YouTube search results and appear on the YouTube mobile home page. They appear as thumbnails of your video with text and always invite you to click on them to watch the video.
- Skippable video ads– the most common type of advertising on YouTube. These are the ads you see before, during, or after a video that a viewer might skip after 5 seconds.
- Non-skippable video ads- These are video ads that the viewer must watch before being able to see the main video. Non-skippable videos are typically 15-20 seconds long, depending onregional norms.
- bumper ads- These are non-skippable videos of up to 6 seconds that the viewer must watch before seeing the main video.
- overlay ads- These are semi-transparent overlay ads that appear in the bottom 20% of your video - desktop platform only. They can be text or image ads.
In-stream ads are the ads that appear as part of videos, sponsored videos that appear in monetized organic content, ie. H. skippable and non-skippable video ads and bumper ads. In-feed video ads are ads that help you discover your videos by showing them alongside YouTube content that is most likely to be seen by your audience.
By far the most popular ad is the skippable video ad. While non-skippable ads can be profitable for advertisers, they are unpopular with users.
- Targeting your video ads
You'll find a Goals tab for each of your video campaigns. It works similarly to targeting different audiences when you buy AdWords on Google Search. The Targets tab allows you to restrict the types of people that YouTube will serve your video ad to.
To keep the cost of your YouTube ads low while ensuring you receive enough clicks to make your campaign worthwhile, you just need to target the right people to show your ad. The more targeting options you choose, the more specific your target will be. Two to three targeting options should be enough for most audiences. Think about keywords.
What terms is your audience likely to use when searching for YouTube videos?
The more you monitor this, the less unnecessary costs you'll incur on people who watch your videos but likely won't go further down the funnel. If you're selling a product aimed at middle-aged men, avoid using video search terms most commonly used by teenagers. When targeting older women, include positive keywords you want to focus on and negative keywords you want to avoid.
You should also consider other target demographics. If you only sell your product in one country, avoid advertising to the rest of the world. Likewise, you should limit your advertising to countries where most people speak English. Your videos can be entertaining, but you don't want them to be seen by people who are unlikely to ever buy your products.
- Create your video ad
Businesses often find that video creation can account for the lion's share of YouTube video costs. Of course, this depends on how polished and professional you want your video ad to be.
If your video is low quality, it will be skipped after 5 seconds. A low-quality video also doesn't reflect well on your brand. It depends on the expectations of your target audience. Some companies can get away with a $5,000 home video. Others look miserable unless they spend $100,000 and employ professional actors, a crew, and production values.
The more creative you are with your video ad, the less reason there is for the viewer to click the Skip Ad button. Remember that YouTube is not the same as a TV show. Even if you think retargeting your TV ads will save you money, you're probably also losing revenue if people skip your ads.
The only exception is if you manage to create a cult ad. Some companies may upload their ads to YouTube as a video creation instead of running paid ads. Air New Zealand, for example, gained fame with its fantastic safety videos. That's why they don't have to pay for advertising on YouTube. They have a thriving channel that people go to to check out their latest safety videos.
- offer
The key to your YouTube advertising costs is the need to bid on your ad placement. There is no fixed price for advertising on YouTube. You set a daily budget that you are willing to pay for your YouTube ads. Most companies spend at least $10 a day on their YouTube ad campaigns and increase that amount after trying different options. You only pay when someone interacts with your ads. They might stare at your skippable ad for 30 seconds or click on a call-to-action in a display ad.
Be sure to target before setting your bid options.
- Bidding suggests that YouTube make changes when you change your targeting. In most cases, you are bidding on a CPV (cost per view) basis. This means that you are willing to pay up to your bid for each view (30 seconds and above).
- You also set a maximum amount you are willing to pay per day. This will ensure that you don't get any nasty surprises when you find that your ads are being seen by more people than you expected.
- You will be asked to bid at the maximum cost per view. YouTube offers a typical bid range, which of course depends on how narrow your audience is when targeting.
- If you click Adjust bids by format, you can split your bids separately for in-display or in-stream. If you are more interested in in-stream advertising, bid higher for this stat than for in-display
- YouTube offers a projection of your expected views/tags for "In-Search", "In-Display", and "In-Stream". If these numbers aren't what you intended, you'll need to review your bids and adjust them accordingly.
This gives you an expected average CPV.
- Optimizing your YouTube campaigns
At the end of the day, you shouldn't be concerned about how much your YouTube ads cost, but how much you can earn from your YouTube advertising spend. That means keeping an eye on your campaigns and regularly tweaking them to optimize their performance.
The key to optimizing your YouTube campaign is to review your campaign stats and understand what they are saying. The most important stats are your ads' view rate and click-through rate. These stats tell you if people are finding your ads interesting and if they're working as a campaign.
The most common problem is that your videos are not convincing enough. While some companies give up at this point and dismiss YouTube as a marketing option, it's better to revamp your videos and create more engaging content.
Alternatively, you can choose suitable influencers to work with to create compelling content that highlights your product.
Sometimes your problem is lack of awareness. This could be because competing companies have outperformed you in the best advertising positions. You can experiment by bidding higher and then see how your ads perform with greater exposure.
You'll find that you generally get the best overall results when you want to increase the amount you're willing to pay for your YouTube advertising. Saving costs can hurt your overall ROI and your bottom line.
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