If a picture is worth 1000 words…
How much is a YouTube video
worth?

The creation of your company’s YouTube channel will generally be done in two steps.

Before the creation, there are already many factors concerning your positioning to define:

• The image you want to have on the network: it is important to remain consistent with your existing brand image
• The target you want to reach
• The objectives of your channel: to gain notoriety, to inform about your company or your products, to sell…
• Your content strategy: frequency of posts, length of your videos…

Once these factors are established, you will have a good approach regarding your strategy on the platform. To create your account you will first have to follow the classic steps. You can consult them on our tutorial provided for this purpose.

Your account is now created, it is important to feed it. Add an icon, a banner and a description. These elements will inform the public about the content they will find on your channel and will increase your visibility.

There are many parameters that go into the configuration of your YouTube Ads campaign.

First, define the goal of your campaign: do you want to promote your brand (branding), encourage the user to perform an action (call to action) or make him download your application? Your campaign will depend on its goal.

Then, depending on your target, define your distribution network. Your ad will be found in YouTube searches, directly in YouTube videos, or on video partners (Display Network). The next step is to choose your ad format.

You will also need to segment, or target, to determine who will see your ad. Then comes the definition of the budget, which determines the number of people who will see your ad.

You can also integrate a “call to action” button into your ad, which can send the user to your website or YouTube channel with a simple click. Finally comes the writing of the ad, with three main elements that are the title, the description and the thumbnail.

There are four different formats for your ads on YouTube :

• In-stream: In-stream ads are those that launch before the video plays on YouTube. Their cost per view is between 5 and 10 cents which will be charged to you only after 30 seconds of viewing. The Instream format also exists in a non-passable version. The advertisement must last between 15 and 20 seconds that the Internet user will have to watch before switching to his video.
• Discovery: Discovery ads are displayed on YouTube at the top of search results or at the top of video recommendations (you choose this setting). They can be targeted by topic, keyword or interest, and their cost per view is slightly higher than instream: 6 to 12 cents, charged after the first second of viewing.
• Bumper: This ad format is similar to the instream, it can be played before or during the video playback. However, the ad must not exceed 6 seconds, and the user cannot skip it.
• Outstream: Finally, the Outstream format is exclusive to mobile and tablet devices. The ads are not broadcast on YouTube, but on applications or partner sites, allowing to reach a wider audience.

It is very important to make the right choice of video format for your ad. This will depend on many factors: the message you want to get across, the objective of your ad, your communication strategy and your budget.

An Instream video will give you time to develop an idea or a product, to attract people to watch it in its entirety or even lead to an action.

A Bumper Ad, which lasts 6 seconds, should have a very quick impact in order to generate traffic to your site by piquing people’s curiosity.

The Discovery format, more targeted, can be useful to target a smaller audience, which can allow the use of a more technical vocabulary.

On the other hand, the Outstream format will allow you to reach a more varied audience outside the YouTube platform, which is a considerable advantage if your target is large.

YouTube is an extremely powerful platform, it is the second largest search engine behind Google and everyone uses it. So the possibilities to reach your goals are endless. However, it takes more than a snap of the fingers to make your YouTube ads work. A rigorous preparation is necessary: strategy, budget, formats, frequency, target, objective, analysis are all parameters that must be considered in order to reach your objectives on the platform. There must be a lot of groundwork, and it’s this work that will help you generate engagement, awareness, sales according to what you are looking for.

YouTube Ads, as a modern platform, allows thanks to two tools to publish ads in augmented reality (AR Beauty Try-On) and in 3D (Swirl).

Augmented reality ads allow to realize campaigns featuring products. For example, on the AR Beauty Try-On platform, users can try on make-up products directly on the image of their face. This allows Internet users to be actors of the advertising. They can compare products and find what they like the most. The experience is therefore more engaging than a simple video.

The 3D ads go through the SWIRL feature. It allows for three-dimensional content, which multiplies the possibilities, on a mobile format. No more accumulating photos to show a single shoe from all angles. Here, the user can directly rotate the object, zoom in and out at will.

In addition to offering enriched advertising content, these two new ad formats attract the curiosity of users. They are therefore, if they are adapted to what the advertiser is looking for, an option not to be neglected.

Targeting on YouTube Ads is not necessarily different from the definition of targeting in marketing, also known as segmentation. Targeting allows you to define who will see your ad. So first you need to establish the segment of the population you are targeting. Is it a large segment or a niche? Then come the demographic data: age, gender, location, socio-professional class, job, income… Segmentation also includes personal characteristics, such as passions or interests. In addition, YouTube Ads allows to integrate remarketing. This means taking into account the user’s past interactions with your brand.

Targeting is an essential aspect of your digital marketing campaign on YouTube Ads. Trying to sell a car to a young teenager doesn’t make sense, yet it’s a cost to your business. Targeting helps you avoid this unnecessary expense and get your message to the people you want.

Writing a YouTube Ads is a very important phase and includes three main elements: the title, the description and the thumbnail.

The role of the title is to highlight your ad as much as possible. It must attract attention and hook the user. However, be careful not to overdo it.

The description is used to get your message across. If your ad is about a promotion, indicate the discount, the products on which it is applied, the deadline to take advantage of it, etc.

The thumbnail is the first visual element of your ad. It must catch the eye of the Internet user by standing out. A good choice of color, with thoughtful contrasts, will make it stand out. Also, as with your marketing campaigns, be consistent in your thumbnails. Keeping a similar layout and color code will help users remember your brand because it will have an identity. The thumbnail should convey the subject and content of your videos. So don’t hesitate to add images or text, making sure that it will remain readable even on mobile. Here again, be careful not to overload your thumbnail because the user will get lost and will not pay attention to it.

Sequenced advertising consists of making an ad in several video sequences. These videos can have a different format from each other, for example an In-stream video and then a Bumper Ad. The most effective format of sequenced advertising is done in three steps: the teaser, with a short format, which will serve to attract the curiosity of the Internet user. The amplification, a longer sequence, will allow you to detail your offer in order to increase engagement. A user who has already seen your teaser will be more likely to watch a long ad sequence. Finally, the echo will allow you to recall your offer with, once again, a short format.

Of course, a user will not be able to see one of your sequences without having seen the previous one. In addition, YouTube has a tool, the bumper machine, that allows you to create 6-second sequences from your longer videos to facilitate the creation of sequenced ads.

Given the potential of YouTube, the ways to boost the performance of your video campaigns are endless. Here, we’ll focus on four tips that can be an important performance lever for your ads.

First, it’s important that your ads are mobile-friendly. More and more YouTube users are consuming the platform’s content on their phones. This means avoiding too small text or elements and having a faster pace in the video, among other things.

Also, establish a storytelling scheme adapted to the format and to your offer. The classic scheme is to introduce with a problem, then present the solution (your offer) and conclude. The emergent storyline is more compelling and presents your proposal in the first few seconds.

It is also important to never lose sight of your objectives. Whether you want to draw the viewer to your YouTube channel or website, introduce them to your brand or encourage them to perform a particular action, you need to draw them to an action button, on the video or on a banner, in order to “convert” the efforts made during your teaser.

Finally, it is necessary to have previously defined your audience during the targeting phase. In concrete terms, you need to reach the target with the strongest intention. That is to say, the segment of the population that is most likely to be interested in your offer and to initiate an action based on your ad.