By Enric Llonch, on 2 July 2021
YouTube is a part of many video marketing strategies because it allows you to both reach a huge number of users around the world and to segment in order to reach a specific audience. This makes investing on YouTube ads very effective. But what formats and ad sizes should you use for your YouTube ads and how do these factors impact your campaign?
Why You Should Advertise on YouTube
YouTube is the second most important search engine in the world after Google, which makes it extremely important for a company or brand to have a presence on it. Additionally, video content has gained importance so brands that want to achieve success and increase their visibility should definitely make the most of what this platform and all that it has to offer. So what are the benefits of Youtube ads?
Global Reach
Because YouTube is the second most important search engine in the world, your advertisements will reach users anywhere. This means that with YouTube ads a company can gain international visibility.
YouTube Content Is Also Google Content
Google has started showing YouTube videos among its results. This means that more users will be able shown that content and, consequently, more users will see the advertising included in it.
Video Is One of the Most Popular Formats
Video consumption has increased considerably over the last few years. The more of this type of content is viewed, the bigger the audience for your advertising campaign.
High Rate of Conversion
Video advertising has proven to be much more effective than other types. When the content is engaging and it is possible to segment to reach a specific audience, this type of advertising is much more effective than any other.
Investing in YouTube ads has its advantages, though the quality of your content key to becoming more visible and getting leads or customers. You have to think very carefully about how to launch your advertising campaign in order for it to be really effective.
YouTube Ad Formats and Sizes
YouTube offers different advertising formats, which are designed to meet the different needs or objectives of a brand or company.
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Display ads are the ones that appear on the right side of the video. Their maximum duration is 30 seconds and their size will be 300x250 pixels, so they are designed for larger devices.
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Overlay ads are those that appear at the bottom of the video and can occupy up to 20% of it. Their size can range from 480×70 to 728×90 pixels depending on whether image or text is used. They are intended for users who consume content from a computer.
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Skippable video ads allow the user to choose whether to skip the ad after 5 seconds. They are played before the video and are designed for any type of device, so their size must be 300×60 pixels.
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Non-skippable ads are a type of ad that must be seen before a video starts. If you chose this type of ad make sure that it does not exceed 30 seconds and that the image is 300x60 pixels.
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Bumper ads are non-skippable ads that should not exceed 6 seconds. They appear before a video and should have a format of 300x250 pixels.
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Banners are usually images that are displayed at one end of the screen on the outside of the video. Unlike display ads, these are fixed images. The objective is to attract the user to click on them, since they are ads that are paid based on the impressions received. The size is usually 300x250 pixels and they are designed for desktop computers.
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Personalized cards show products or services directly related to the content of the video. They are designed for any type of device and must be an image no larger than 2 MB.
As Google itself explains, these are the characteristics of the some of main types of ads.
Image via Google support
In order to choose the advertising format it is important to take into account the devices that they will be viewed on as well as the duration of the ad and type of content that will be shown.
Tips on Making YouTube Ads
Marketing specialists agree that for a YouTube ad to be successful, it is necessary to know the target audience. This means knowing their interests, needs, concerns, etc. After that, you can show how the featured product or service will meet the needs of your audience.
Segmentation can be very useful, even necessary. By this we mean identifying the type of person that might be interested in the product or service so that the ad will reach them and resonate with them. For this to happen, you'll need to look at the information YouTube collects about each user, such as content viewing times, type of content, etc.
Another key part of achieving success through YouTube ads is creating interesting and attractive content for your audience. In order for the user to watch the entire ad, it must be eye-catching from the beginning.
Finally, use a call to action so that the audience knows what to do next. This means that you should do something like leave a link to the product, the service, the web page, etc.
It is also very important to know YouTube's rules and follow them. This means creating appropriate content and adhering to the formats and sizes of each type of ad on this platform. If you don't comply with any of their rules, YouTube could report the account.
Advertising on YouTube has numerous advantages and benefits for a company or brand. However, for this strategy to take into account the type of audience you want to reach, the type of content that will be effective, and all the possibilities that this platform can offer.
