Almost 5 billion videos are watched on YouTube every single day, reaching more 18 to 49-year-olds than any other broadcast or Cable TV network.
That’s a large pool of customers to tap into.
But that’s not even the best part.
According to my inside source at Google, because it’s still in its infancy among other reasons, advertising on YouTube is very cheap. You don’t have to have a large TV advertising budget to get your ad in front of people. In fact, ads range from only two or three cents per view to between 10 cents up to 40 cents for the most competitive niches.
Five additional reasons you should consider advertising on YouTube.
1) YouTube is very good for scale. You can start with an ad budget for as little as $1 per day if you wanted, test things and scale when you determine what works. My advice would be to spend more the first few days to get the data quickly. The data will help you determine whether your videos are good enough and discover who your customers are so you can target better. (You’d be surprised how many people are wrong about who their customers are)! Once you have that data, you can turn off the ads that aren’t working and scale up on the ones that are.
2) You can generate leads cost effectively. As mentioned, ads range from only two or three cents to forty cents per view. The key here is to understand how valuable a lead is to you. Even leads for customers with a small lifetime value can be generated affordably here.
3) It can be profitable straight away. Because the ads are so inexpensive, you’ll will get a return on your investment very quickly. Plus, because you’ll know within a few days if your ad is working, you won’t have to waste weeks or months testing like you do with other types of advertising.
4) It builds a strong bond with the user. Because a lot of information can be shared in a video, not only with words but with what’s visually presented in the video, you can bond with the user very quickly.
5) You can repurpose your video ads. Once you’ve created your video, you can use it on other platforms such as Facebook and Instagram to extend your reach even further.
What type of YouTube ad should you use?
There are different options for running ads in YouTube. The most prevalent are the ads you see at the beginning of a video where you have to wait five seconds before you can skip the ad. Discovery ads are the ads that appear at the top of search results on the right-hand side of the video you’re watching. The ad looks like a thumbnail of a video which encourages people to click. Overlay ads are the semi-transparent text ads that appear in the lower part of a video.
Recommendations will differ depending on what you are trying to accomplish and testing to determine which is the best option for you.
What should you include in your YouTube ad?
The beauty of video today is that you don’t need expensive equipment to create one. You can even shoot a video on your phone! That said, there are some important things you’ll need to consider when creating your ad yourself.
Remember the human aspect. It’s important to remember that you are doing business with a real human being on the other end of that video. Focus on the user and think about the impact you want to have on them. Imagine they came into your business, what would you say to them
The first five seconds are critical. You want to capture their attention within that first five seconds so they will stay and watch more rather than skipping your ad once they can. Focus on images and words that will grab them by the lapels and draw them in (while still being relevant to what you are selling.)
Market backwards. Think about your best customers, clients or patients. Where did they come from? What were they searching for to find you? What problem were they looking to solve? If you can work back from the sale to when and how they discovered you, it will help you identify the moment that triggered them to interact with you. This will give you clues as to what to include in your ad.
Create different ads to connect with your audience where they are at any particular moment. Not everyone is going to be in the same place as far as how ready they are to buy. One person may be looking forward to a future event and simply doing research. Another person might need to buy something today. For example, let’s say you’ve moved and need a new dentist. You’re just doing research at this point so you want to know why you should pick one dental office over another. Now let’s say you have a bad toothache. The information you want is about a dentist who can alleviate your pain immediately with no wait. By structuring your ads differently and using different keywords, you’ll be able to connect with your audience the way you would in a face-to-face meeting, speaking directly to their exact needs at that moment.
Deliver an authentic, customer-focused message and YouTube advertising can be an incredible advertising platform. Plus, jump on now, and you can get in on the ground floor while it’s still inexpensive.