How Much Does YouTube Video Promotion Cost?

By now most people that have watched a YouTube video have noticed the advertisements displayed inside the video player. Google has seamlessly integrated Adwords with videos to create its video advertising platform. Video viewership is trending upwards and advertisers can now place their ads directly in front of this huge market.

Anyone not familiar with how these ads are placed wonders how the system works. The most common question is related to cost. Is it really expensive to do a video promotion campaign?

The truth is that there is no clear-cut answer. YouTube video promotion is done through Adwords. Video campaigns are created and run from the same platform. When you are ready to run video ads you simply click over to Adwords for video. The amount you spend on campaigns depends on different factors such as your ad budget, demographics, ad content and promotion length. The platform gives you lots of flexibility to decide what you want to spend.

To get a better idea of how YouTube video promotion works here is some detailed information:

Multiple Ad Display Choices

When you are inside Adwords for video you will see there are several options on how to display ads. Each option creates a different viewer experience. These options are for the TrueView format. Advertisers pay when people watch the ads.

In-stream

Ads play before, during or after a video. The ad plays for several seconds while a counter counts down the time. The viewer is prompted to skip the ad after a certain number of seconds has passed. You pay only after viewers have watched at least 30 seconds of your ad. This is a popular choice among advertisers.

In-display

Your video ad shows up inside of a YouTube display box along with one or two other ads. This display is similar to ads on Google search, except viewers can see a snapshot of the video. To watch the ad a viewer clicks on it directly.

In-slate

These advertisements show up on YouTube Partner videos that are at least 10-minutes in length or longer. The viewers can select one out of three ads to watch. Ads can also be watched during commercial breaks in video content.

In-search

The video ad shows up when a person searches in a particular category on YouTube. Ads are prominently featured above regular content at the top of the page. You can use keywords when setting up the campaign. This helps the ad show up when someone searches a topic that is closely related to your keywords.

Call-to-Action Overlay

When you want to draw lots of attention the call-to-action overlay can be used to entice viewers to take immediate action. The overlay has the advantage of sitting directly on top of the actual video. It is on the bottom and is easily seen without being too intrusive.

The words used in the ad should be strong and direct. The idea is to motivate people to click on the ad to visit your website. Overlays can only appear on one video. This limits its reach, but it is still a powerful marketing tool. Charities are already using this with great results.

A sale or contest would also be a good teaser to attract clicks.

Video Remarketing

Use the video re-marketing tool to have your ads displayed to viewers that show interest in your videos.

Bidding

Bidding on video promotions works the same way as search advertising. You choose the amount you wish to bid. Select the maximum budget amount per day. Ads will run according to the parameters you have set up. Higher bids give your ad more exposure. Lower bids save money, but have a lower return on investment.

You can adjust bidding amounts whenever you like.

Google recommends testing different video ad formats to see which one brings in the best results. Once you know you have a winning campaign you may want to increase its exposure. TrueView in-display and in-search ads are very competitive. These categories may require a more aggressive bidding strategy.

Start Out Slow

When deciding how much money you want to spend on a campaign it is best to be cautious. Start out with a low bid when you are in the testing phase. This preserves your ad dollars as you try out different ad wording, ad display categories and keywords. Bidding too high and aggressively in the beginning can easily cost you a bundle.

Video Popularity

Another factor that determines the amount of money spent on campaigns is the popularity of the videos. Should your ad be featured on a video that goes viral the views can add up real fast. There is no way to know when or if this will happen, but you can use popularity to your benefit.

Ad Targeting

You will be able to target your ads by selecting options such as personal demographics, location, language and subject matter. TrueView uses the same targeting set up as the Google Display Network.

It is nice to have this much control over who gets to see your ad. Spend some time considering who is your best target market. The last thing you want is to waste precious ad dollars on people with no interest in what you are promoting.

Is Video Advertising Worth the Cost?

The only way to know for sure if YouTube video promotion is valuable is to test it out and see what results you get.