From addressing the audience to making a sale. New YouTube advertising features in 2021. Complex tools in simple words!
The number of active YouTube users in the world has reached 2 billion a month and 30 million a day, which makes YouTube one of the most popular media forms among advertisers. Google is actively creating new YouTube solutions and consolidating these according to the advertisers’ marketing objectives.
Velta Mestere, Board member, RealWeb marketing agency
This article provides an insight into the new YouTube advertising features in 2021, segmenting them according to advertisers’ requirements.
Hereinafter you will find a list of YouTube advertising solutions in accordance with the advertising funnel.
Reaching the audience
New formats
Video Search Campaigns
A new type of video advertising campaign, which combines several ad formats to reach 2 goals: Awareness and Maximize Reach.
Awareness – first approach.
20-second unskippable video ads. How do they work? Machine learning determines the probability that the user will watch the video (or skip it). If the system believes that the person will watch the video until the end, they are shown the cheapest ad format – skippable video ads. If the system believes that the person will not watch the clip until the end, it shows an unskippable 20-second video. This allows optimisation of the cost per impression while maintaining a high level of views within a specific budget.
Maximize Reach – second approach.
Available in two formats: 6-second unskippable video and skippable video. The objective of Maximize Reach is to reach as many viewers as possible per investment unit. The system chooses which video format the viewer will be shown to reach the audience as efficiently as possible with minimum budget expenses per impression.
Video Search Campaigns are available to advertisers as a beta version.
Masthead
Masthead is a digital billboard placed on YouTube’s homepage. The objective is to reach most of the audience quickly. Available features:
- dynamic placement;
- different frequencies and audience segmentation;
- works on all devices: desktop, mobile, tablets.
New: uniform format in 2021 with CPM (cost per thousand impressions) rates. CPD (cost-per-day) rates are no longer going to be available.
Masthead is popular, which is why it needs to be booked in advance, with the advertiser choosing the period they require. The rates for 2021 are already available and depend on the country where the ad is going to be shown.
Feel free to contact us for information on costs!
Instant Reserve
Instant Reserve is a new direction in the development of YouTube ad booking.
How do they work? As usual, an ad campaign is created in an advertising account, and the advertising budget, video and audience segmentation is added. The last stage of ad creation has two options:
1) CPM rate will be determined through an auction;
2) set a fixed rate per impression and a specific number of impressions in a specific period of time. If the second option – Instant Reserve – is chosen, the system calculates an average auction rate and offers to fix it for a slightly higher price than the average auction rate. In this way ads will be shown at a fixed rate and a specific number of impressions will be guaranteed.
When to use Instant Reserve:
- If you want to make sure that your ads are shown to a narrow and specific audience. If you choose to pay on an auction basis (if your budget is small), there is a big chance that the ad will not be shown;
- If you want to show your ads in a specific popular period.
Instant Reserve is easy to use in media planning because specific CPM and the number of impressions are known, which allows a campaign to be planned within a specific budget. Such ad booking supports all video ad formats.
It is available as a beta version in Google Ads and Google Display&Video360 advertising accounts.
Audio Ads
A huge music library is available to YouTube users. A large portion of active YouTube users use the website specifically to enjoy music (as a background, when working, doing sports, etc.). To allow advertisers to actively communicate with this audience, YouTube has developed a new feature – Audio Ads!
Audio Ads are available in Google Ads advertising accounts, and all Google Ads features can be applied to them: audience segmentation, performance evaluation, and result optimisation.
How is it used? To expand the audience addressed.
It is very easy to use Audio Ads. Just create a 15-second audio announcement and add the image of the offer.
Available as a beta version in Google Ads advertising accounts.
Involving the audience in communication. Interaction.
New formats
YouTube offers several new features for the interaction of the audience with the brand, product and offer. Speaking of YouTube, we think of a media platform with millions of active users that we want to interact with as an advertiser. BUT… users come to YouTube to consume CONTENT! According to YouTube statistics, one active user consumes content for 50 minutes a day on average. Content is classified as follows:
- exciting, entertaining;
- Premium content (no ads, exclusive content created by YouTube’s most popular users);
- educational.
How does one understand which content is most popular with YouTube users?
YouTube Select – new premium content. This is the content that is most popular with users, and it is divided into 8 packages for advertisers’ convenience.
How do they work?
Initially, the system uses machine learning to determine the most interesting and popular content. Signs such as the time when the content is viewed and audience involvement (shares, likes, and comments) are used to select the highest quality content.
At the next stage, such content is divided into packages (YouTube Lineups) based on different topics, events, or interests of users.
At the final stage, this packaged content is checked again using manual moderation to make sure that it only includes the highest quality and most popular content.
8 packages are currently available:
- AUTO
- FOOD AND RECIPES
- GAMES
- FASHION AND BEAUTY
- SPORTS
- BEST CONTENT CREATORS
- TV-CONTENT
- All YouTube Select
We want to pay attention to the packages with content created by the most popular bloggers and TV content. These not only include the channels available on YouTube, but a selection of the most exciting content!
YouTube Select statistics for different countries show an average growth of brand recognition by 13%, growth of ROI (Return on Investment) – 6 times, which is almost 80% more efficient than TV content for interaction with the audience.
How does one use YouTube Select packages correctly?
No need to worry about a lack of audience in any package. YouTube checks and ensures that each package has a big enough audience. Moreover, a separate package is available which includes THE MOST popular content – All YouTube Select. It must be used with traditional videoclip formats.
Divide the campaign budget as follows:
20% – YouTube Select / 80% – other formats for full audience coverage.
By using unskippable ads you will achieve maximum possible user interaction with the offer and the video will be watched until the end.
Use packages in combination with Instant Reserve and ensure that ads are shown during premium content at a fixed rate a specific number of times. In such a combination, YouTube Select is most efficient, with a high % of views at a guaranteed CPM.
YouTube Select is already available in Google Ads and Google Display&Video360 advertising accounts.
Sales
New formats
Video Action Campaigns
Video Action Campaigns is yet another new YouTube feature. With this feature, ads are places on Google supported pages and in the YouTube App. It gives access to new platforms, whereas Google’s machine learning acquires more data to search for the audience, which will potentially convert into the purchases and orders the advertiser needs.
SiteLinks extensions on mobile devices
SiteLinks extensions allow the adding of links to specific products and services on your site, to your video ads. Suitable for e-commerce companies for increasing sales as well as any other advertiser for increasing the number of requests. For example, replace “Shop now” with “Learn more” and get more clicks, greater return (conversion) and lower costs!
Google Merchant Center extension
Another new feature – YouTube advertising solution for e-commerce. It allows product cards to be added to video ads.
Thanks to this extension, the goods available on Google Merchant Center can be included in commercial video clips. This solution significantly improves ad conversion.
It automatically shows corresponding products from the data file (XML) and allows one to add from 6 to 10 units. A link to the specific product on the website is added to each impression.
Audience Expansion
Audience Expansion is one more YouTube solution for performance ad campaigns.
This new YouTube feature allows one to expand target audience reach based on the Look Alike principle. The system helps you find the YouTube channel audience most similar to that which was most profitable in the advertiser’s previous campaigns.
Audience Expansion works as an ad extension, which can easily be turned on or off.
Available in Google Ads and Google Display&Video360 advertising accounts.
Other important new features from youtube
Cross Network Reports
The greatest challenge for advertisers in media campaign evaluation is the effect of media ads on profit. Before making a purchase, the user migrates between search systems, social networks and media, and the initial effect of a video ad is difficult to identify. Google has now added a Google Ads attribute to the YouTube Web Engaged View Conversion Events report. Its aim is to monitor the customer’s interaction with YouTube ads on their journey to the purchase and simplify ad effect evaluation.
The report is already available in Google Ads advertising accounts.
YouTube Video Builder
Advertisers often do not use all the YouTube video format opportunities because they lack knowledge about convertible formats.
To make YouTube accessible and comfortable for any advertiser, a new tool has been developed – the Video Builder. A convertible video clip can now be created in a few clicks.
How do they work?
YouTube video clip library contains the best video ad clips (according to conversion rates). It also offers different scenarios of what the video clip could look like, for example, as a promotion or a goods catalogue. To create a clip, you need a logo, pictures of the goods, advertising slogans and the colours of the brand. You need to choose the most suitable sample and video clip type from those offered by YouTube, change the pictures, add the brand’s colours and slogans, choose the background music, and the video clip is ready!
YouTube Builder is already available as a beta version in Google Ads and Google Display&Video360 accounts.
