YouTube is the most effective platform for video marketing based on data gathered by global web agency Go-Globe. Nearly four out of five marketers (78.5%) felt that way while Facebook trailed at 58.5%.
Despite this, what’s surprising is that only 24% of marketers polled by Sprout Social said they were planning a YouTube Live strategy even though 51.9% felt it delivered the best ROI. These results tend to cloud the latest results of rising social media trends indicating consumer preference to live videos.
It may be equally surprising that YouTube ranks second only to Google for most visited sites based on Alexa’s data on the world’s top 500 websites. Earlier articles extolled the merits and popularity of video in general, and the power of YouTube videos seems quite evident.
Every age group has an affinity for YouTube videos. Teenagers and young adults between 15 and 25 are the most ardent YouTube visitors comprising 81% of the U.S. market alone. This isn’t to say that brands marketing to other age groups should steer clear. Although popularity was a bit lower, YouTube usage among Americans 26-35 was still high at 71%, it was 66% for those 46 to 55 and 58% for those 56 and older.
YouTube videos have always been its core, and users have come to acknowledge video ads as part of the platform. Similarly, studies have shown that when videos are embedded in a brand’s pages, conversion rates increase by as much as 80%.
Like millennials, some generations expect videos from influencer channels, and YouTube allows marketers to work with those channels by sponsoring content to reach a broader audience. This matters because Go-Globe reported that 64% of consumers decide to buy after watching a video ad. Here are some things to consider in video ads on YouTube.
The beauty of running video ads on YouTube affords marketers the ability to target their audience(s) to their brand Choices range from demographics, including age, gender, income, etc., to interests in particular topics or subjects. The choices can be further narrowed to include remarketing to viewers who previously interacted with the brand or keywords in the brand’s video. The other option is to select channels and apps within select websites.
There are six ways in which marketers can elect to have their ads appear on the sites they’ve targeted. The first is the standard display ad, which typically appears to the right of the featured video. The second is a semi-transparent overlay ad that appears on the lower 20% of the featured video. Viewers must either delete it or watch the ad before viewing the video they wish to see. Skippable video ads can be inserted before, after, and even during the primary video. It allows viewers to skip the ad after five seconds.
Non skippable video ads, on the other hand, must be viewed. They can be inserted before, during, and after the main video and can run up to 30 seconds. Bumper ads are similar but only up to six seconds in length. Viewers must watch it before they can see the main video.
The final type of ad is the sponsored card. It would normally display content pertinent to what’s shown in the brand’s video. On visiting the page, viewers would be greeted for a few seconds with a teaser for the card or may simply click on the card itself.
While there’s a lot of talk about the strength of video marketing for B2C, B2B shouldn’t be discounted. According to Sprout Social, 71% of B2B marketers use YouTube. 64% even increased A/V content like webinars and live streaming between 2018 and 2019. Another thought is to repurpose webinars and repost on YouTube.