Gearing up to create your first YouTube Ads campaign? We bet you have some questions.
You may be wondering:
- Is YouTube advertising really worth it? What are the benefits?
- What’s the point of linking your Google Ads and YouTube accounts?
- Once you get started, which are the most important metrics to pay attention to?
You’ve come to the right place. Below, we answer the top questions marketers have when getting started with YouTube advertising.
Sections
What does linking a Google Ads account to a YouTube account let an advertiser do?
Linking your Google Ads account to your YouTube channel offers advertisers a few major benefits. The main benefit is it allows you to run ads based on how people engage with your YouTube videos, and target people who have watched your videos or visited your channel.
But that’s not all. Link your accounts, and you unlock enhanced reporting for your YouTube channel. You can see the organic view metrics for your YouTube videos in the same dashboard as your other Google Ads campaign, which is convenient, but you can also see key metrics on how people are engaging with your channel after they see your ads. For example, are they subscribing to your channel, or sharing your videos?
Link your Google Ads and YouTube accounts, and you can also add call-to-action overlays to your videos, encouraging viewers to subscribe or watch a related playlist:
Finally, you can create a remarketing list from people who interact with your YouTube channel or videos.
How to link your accounts: You can link your Google Ads and YouTube accounts from either YouTube Studio or Google Ads. Follow the instructions here.
What metrics can you view on Google Ads for YouTube?
With your Google Ads and YouTube accounts linked, you get access to the full list of metrics below:
- Engaged-views
- Views
- View rate
- Average cost per view (CPV)
- Watch time
- Average watch time per impression
- Clicks
- Clickthrough rate (CTR)
- Engagements
- Engagement rate
- Unique users
- Unique cookies
- Unique viewers (cookies)
- Average impression frequency by user
- Average impression frequency by cookie
- Average view frequency by cookie
- Video played to: 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%
- Earned views
- Earned subscribers
- Earned playlist additions
- Earned likes
- Earned shares
- ActiveView
It’s a lot! We know. But there’s no need to get overwhelmed. If you’re short on time, here are the most important metrics to pay attention to on YouTube.
- Views: YouTube counts a “view” when someone watches at least 30 seconds of your video, or watches a video in its entirety if it’s shorter than that. If someone engages with your ad, it also counts as a view, even if they don’t watch the entire video.
- Average cost per view (CPV): This is the metric all good stewards of their budget want to keep an eye on. It tells you how much you’re spending, on average, for one of those views.
- View rate: This metric represents your total views divided by impressions. In other words, it answers the question, “How many people presented with your video actually watch it?”
- Video played to: How engaging are your videos? This metric will help you find out, by showing you how frequently your video is viewed to 25%, 50%, 75%, or 100% of completion.
- Clicks and engagements: Clicks tell you how many people are clicking on your video, while engagements tell you how many people are clicking on other elements, like a card.
- Earned actions: Understand what other actions people take as a result of watching your video. Do they watch another video on your channel, subscribe, add your video to a playlist, or like or share your video?
What are the benefits of running YouTube campaigns?
If the above section was any indication, one of the many benefits of advertising with Google is the wealth of reporting they provide. Here are four more benefits:
- YouTube has a massive reach. YouTube claims more than 2 billion users, making it the world’s second most visited website (after Google), with the ability to reach more adults during prime time than any cable network.
- Not only does YouTube have a huge reach, but that reach caters to people ready and willing to engage with and buy from brands. Over 70% of people say YouTube introduces them to new brands, and YouTube users are twice as likely to buy something after seeing it on YouTube.
- When compared with other types of ad formats, YouTube video ads promise higher brand awareness, ad recall, and consideration.
- You get access to the best-in-class Google Ads platform. That means you can hone in on the best audience for your brand — whether they prefer certain video topics or match a demographic profile — and monitor your success using detail-rich reporting.
Make Your YouTube Ads a Success
From video production to ads strategy and reporting, we can manage every aspect of your YouTube advertising campaign. Contact us today to learn more about our services. Let’s see what we can do for your brand.
