By: Madison Johansen
As a Google Premier Partner agency, we are lucky enough to be invited to exclusive conferences and summits for new products across Google’s advertising channels. At last month’s YouTube summit in NYC, we learned about the new YouTube video ad format – TrueView for Action ads. These are a type of in-stream ad that gives users the option to take action directly from the video, with a bold blue CTA button and accompanying text that will appear on the video ad itself. This release is especially exciting as it was created specifically for lead generation purposes, instead of the typical awareness goals that most other video ad types are used for. Be aware that the character limits are low for both the CTA and the headline text (10 and 15 characters), so your call to action and message need to be concise, eye catching, and convincing. Companies that have started testing out the TrueView for Action ads have already begun seeing an uptick in performance compared to their previous video strategy.
Google also recently released a new targeting capability called ‘custom intent’ audience targeting, which essentially allows you to target users on YouTube based on what they are searching on Google – reaching users with high intent to buy. By utilizing the new TrueView for Action ad format and/or custom intent audience targeting, we can now create lead gen focused campaigns in the YouTube platform.
Still Focused on Brand Awareness?
If lead generation is not your focus and you are looking to reach a larger audience, Google has another new product for you as well. The announcement that came mid-April benefits advertisers on the other side of things – those focused on reach and brand awareness. The new video format is called Outstream video ads, and just as it sounds, these ads are served outside of YouTube on partner sites and apps. These ads can help increase brand awareness by getting your videos in front of more people.
Outstream videos are mobile-only ads that will play either in an app or within content on a partner site’s page. They will play automatically on mute when they appear on screen and users can initiate the sound if they choose to do so. Since users can quickly scroll past the video ads, advertisers are only charged for Oustream ads when they count as “viewable”, or on a viewable CPM (vCPM). An ad counts as viewable when 50% of the ad screen space is visible for two seconds or more of continuous video play.
Outstream ads complement the current YouTube solutions for reach (TrueView In-Stream and Bumper ads) but now you can reach even more of your target audience across the web with a video ad designed for the ways people read, play, and scroll on their mobile devices.
Let’s Test Out Video Advertising
If you are interested in testing out TrueView for Action ads, Outstream video ads or audience targeting, we would love to get a campaign set up for you! If you do not have the necessary video assets to do so at this time, Google might just have some other exciting things on the horizon to help so stay tuned…
