YouTube pre-roll advertising is an impactful — yet underutilized, form of digital advertising. And even though some consumers may think of it as a thorn in their side, a tailored pre-roll strategy can cause quite an impact for many brands.
A well-thought-out strategy can lead to brand awareness, name recognition, and ad recall. These can then, in turn, become leads, customers, and long-lasting relationships.
Before we dive into the how-to, it’s important to understand what pre-roll advertising is and how it is beneficial.
What are YouTube Pre-Roll Ads?
Even if you aren’t sure what YouTube pre-roll ads are, the chances are extremely likely that you have encountered a few — assuming you’ve ever watched videos on YouTube.
Also known as in-stream video ads, YouTube pre-roll ads are a form of video advertising housed within the Google Ads platform.
A pre-roll ad is a short video advertisement that plays before the intended video once someone clicks on a YouTube video.
There are a couple of different ways that consumers can tell if it’s a pre-roll advertisement.
- A countdown might be displayed at the right-hand side of the video, after which point, the viewer will be able to skip the ad.
- If there is not a countdown shown, it will instead say “Video will play after ad.” This means the advertiser has made the decision to have the entire clip play before the video. Rather than giving the audience the chance to decide to continue watching or skip to the video.
- The call-to-action button and advertiser details on the left-hand side of the video.
As we can see in these pre-roll ad examples, the format looks the same with the notable difference being the skip option.
Consumers may feel like these ads are a thorn in their side, but it can be a powerful way to encourage brand recognition and ad recall.
There are three types of pre-roll ads offered by YouTube.
- Bumper: These are six-second, non-skippable ads offered in specific markets.
- In-Stream Skippable: Much as the name would suggest, viewers are given an option to skip the ad after an initial five seconds. For this type of pre-roll, the advertisement must be longer than 12 seconds.
- In-Stream Non-Skippable: With this type of ad, viewers are not given the option to skip ahead to the chosen content. These ads are a maximum of 15 seconds long.
How to Setup a YouTube Pre-Roll Ad
To start, you’ll need a captivating video that is capable of winning the audience’s attention and keeping the brand top-of-mind.
Ideally, the video will be able to do this in the first five seconds before the skip button appears.
Step 1. Upload the Video
Upload the video to the brand’s YouTube account. Then, save the link as it will be used later in the process.
If you aren’t sure if the brand has an account, the platform has an easy way to check. Or if an account needs to be created, please follow the instructions to do so.
Step 2. Build the Campaign
Now it’s time to create the campaign in Google Ads. To do this, choose the goal of the campaign. It will likely be sales or leads, depending on if the company is looking for an increase in sign-ups or purchases.
Then it’s time to select the campaign type, which in this scenario is “video.” And similar to any campaign strategy, you will need to determine the campaign name, bidding strategy, and budget.
Step 3. Determine Targeting
This step is vital as it allows the video to reach its ideal audience for the campaign. At this time, you can determine the demographics and audiences that have been categorized by Google based on behavior.
For example, business professionals may find themselves in the same category based on recent search history. But search history isn’t always an accurate portrayal of an audience member. Because of this, it is important to keep an eye on the campaign and performance.
This section will also allow brands to reach re-targeting audiences that have been created. These audience members can include but are not limited to, consumers who have visited the company’s website.
Step 4. Placements
Now that the audience is in place, it’s time to decide where the pre-roll video will run. Even though you can target specific keywords or topics, placements will allow you to target specific YouTube videos or channels.
This gives you the ability to pinpoint potential videos the audience is searching for on YouTube.
5. Create the Ad
I know it sounds like this is what you’ve been doing so far, but now it’s time to actually create the ad.
Once the targeting selection is made and the audience(s) has been selected, it’s time to paste the video link into the campaign.
This step gives the ability to preview how the ad looks, change the ad copy, and include a URL. As with other campaigns, the URL used should send the audience to a correlating section of the website or a campaign-specific landing page.
Then, the display URL, call-to-action, and headline can be added. The display URL is typically a condensed version of the URL seen by the user.
It’s important to keep in mind that the video should do most of the talking, while the ad copy, headline, and call-to-action act as support.
Why YouTube Advertising is Important
YouTube is the second most popular website — second to Google, which owns the video-sharing platform. In 2020, it was estimated that more than 2.1 billion users around the globe were active on YouTube — resulting in more than one billion hours of video consumption daily.
Yes, billion with a B. Daily.
And these numbers aren’t related to consumers spending more time at home thanks to the pandemic. YouTube reported in 2017 that users had collectively chalked up one billion hours of daily video consumption.
In the technology and marketing world, 2017 was a lifetime ago. These numbers holding steadfast only solidifies how essential it is to incorporate pre-roll ads into a marketing strategy.
We know this was a lot to take in, and unless you — or someone on your staff, has the time or know-how, this can be an overwhelming task.
To make life a bit easier, we suggest working with a talented crew that can handle the video production aspect in addition to the pre-roll advertising side of the campaign. Delegating these tasks can allow business owners and brand managers to focus on the larger picture for the company while simultaneously ensuring a job-well-done.
If that sounds like the start of an ideal strategy for your brand, contact the Elevation Ten Thousand team. Let’s make your brand a household name.
