In our introductory Guide to an Always On Campaign piece, we offered insights into designing creative strategies that result in winning video campaigns and drive actions/conversions all year. But what do you do after whipping up awesome action-oriented creative assets? Your next focus needs to be on reaching the right audience at the right time, which is where a solid media strategy comes in. Here are 5 ways digital media and measurement tools can help you expand on performance video campaigns to drive active engagement.
1. It’s all in choosing the right format
We know that sight, sound and motion are powerful drivers of measurable behavior but, until recently, it wasn’t easy to connect video spend to the bottom line. While advertisers have always known they’ll get views and boost campaign awareness when they use YouTube they wanted to know: “how can we actually see if our campaigns are working?”.
To give advertisers answers, we developed:
- TrueView for Action Ads, specifically designed to drive site visits, product page views and sales, with conversions being entirely measurable. Featuring a clickable format and automated bidding-position video ads that drive consideration and action, adverts are a minimum of 12 seconds long and boast customizable action buttons. They also feature 5-second end screens to encourage viewers to take action. TrueView for Action is the only YouTube format with automated bidding covering target cost per acquisition (tCPA) and max conversions, with ads being skippable after 5 seconds.
- TrueView Form Ads, our latest addition, takes YouTube advertising and measurement to another level, driving leads direct from video ads by allowing viewers to fill forms on-video, with user information being pre-filled for a logged-in user base.
2. Signals and algorithms differentiate between interested viewers and users with intent
Google’s real-time cross-platform signals and machine learning algorithms make it easier to identify the difference between interest and intent. Let’s take the example of two potential online customers:
- Potential customer #1: A 35-year-old man watching highlights from the latest Geneva Auto Show on YouTube and searching for the ‘top 10 electric cars’ on Google Search. He has car gaming apps on his phone and has been looking for nearby parking on Google Maps.
- Potential customer #1: A 60-year-old woman turns to Google Search looking for ‘the best electric car’ and watches a review of the new Tesla model X car on YouTube. She has downloaded a car-sharing app on her phone and is on Google Maps looking for car dealerships and parking spaces that can charge electric vehicles.
While these consumer’s online behavior could indicate that both intend to buy a car, our platforms’ wider ecosystems suggest that while Potential Customer 1 is interested in cars, Potential Customer 2 is more likely to buy. Aside from searching for car dealerships, downloading the car-share app, and watching reviews on specific car models, the frequency at which she’s been doing all of the above differs. This indicates with high certainty that she is in-market for a car. Research shows that ads served with intent signals alone have 30% higher consideration lift and 40% higher purchase intent lift than when the same ads are served using demo signals.
3. YouTube and Search work together to power up intent-audience reach
Did you know that 86% of people turn to Google for ideas on what to buy? Now you can effectively extend your search campaigns’ reach to YouTube too. Our data reveals that 85%of people who use Search also use YouTube. Search campaigns utilizing video remarketing have 32% higher click-through rate (CTR) and 17% higher conversion rate (CVR) compared to those that don’t use video remarketing.
On top of that, advertisers that run YouTube video ads in addition to search ads see an 8% higher search conversion volume, 3% higher search conversion rate, and 4% lower search cost per acquisition (CPA). So, with that in mind, someone who just typed in ‘ski equipment’ on Google Search is likely to be more easily influenced by an ad for your brand’s skis when they land on YouTube.
4. Measurement consistency will help you avoid common pitfalls
To ensure you can use Google’s data to reach your digital goals, you need to know how to effectively measure your campaigns’ results. We always suggest evaluating YouTube performance in isolation as this exposes all conversions in which the platform played a role. To make the most of Always On campaign media and measurement, we recommend:
- Creating a separate Google Ads account to host YouTube campaigns, using a separate tag, or setting it up in its own YouTube-specific My Client Center (MCC).
- You could see duplication of conversion across Search and Display campaigns. If you don’t want to build a separate account or risk duplication, we recommend building a remarketing list of video viewers (from your ad) and targeting on both Remarketing Lists for Search Ads (RLSA) and Google Display Network (GDN). Those conversions should then be attributed back to YouTube in performance discussions.
- Reporting all conversions driven by views, clicks and impressions of your YouTube video ads.
- Verifying Count setting in Google Ads . You’re tracking a specific behavior on your site, so you need to decide whether it’s more important if someone actions multiple times, or only once. Generally, this comes down to sales versus lead generation, but there are many other use cases. You can change the setting by clicking on the conversion name.
- Not judging your campaign’s performance too early. Video conversions take time, with data showing that conversion can take 7–14 days on YouTube versus 1 day on Search.
Stay tuned for our final installment in the ‘always on’ series on optimizing the user experience on your brand’s website!
