Advertising on YouTube: Everything You Need to Know

by Wendy Watts December 8, 2022 147 7 min read

As a business owner, you might wonder why some marketers make use of YouTube for their video marketing techniques more than other social media platforms.

This is a valid question since it’s easy to mistake YouTube as one of the least used online platforms. However, statistics show YouTube ranks as the second most popular online platform, with over 2 billion monthly users. This makes advertising on this platform an excellent marketing strategy for most business owners.

In the same light, you must know the appropriate YouTube ad specs before delving into YouTube ads since you’ll want to make sure you produce ad content that will get your money’s worth. Continue reading to learn about YouTube advertisement and all it entails.

Types Of YouTube Ads

YouTube advertising allows businesses to run sponsored ads on the YouTube platform. The most common type is an advertisement that plays before or in between videos on the platform.

The types of YouTube ads include:

• TrueView ads
• Bumper In-stream ads
• Non-skippable In-stream ads
• Overlay ads
• Display ads
• Sponsored card ads

1. TrueView Ads

This is considered the most common advertisement type and gives viewers control over the type of ad they want to watch. This means that the viewers can decide to watch or skip a particular ad, depending on their preference.

Although TrueView feels like it favors the viewers more, in the true sense, business owners also benefit from it. Advertisers only have to pay for the ad if the viewer watches it for a certain time or interacts with it by clicking on the connected call-to-action. This format enables advertisers to save costs while also reaching a large, interested audience.

TrueView ads are usually at least 12 seconds and at most 3 minutes. TrueView can either be in-stream or discovery. For in-stream, these ads appear before or mid-roll of another video. Here, the viewer can skip after the first 5 seconds. In-stream also contains a link or call to action to direct an interested viewer to the intended destination.

In contrast, discovery ads work like Google search results. Your ads pop up in YouTube search results so viewers can see your video, the thumbnail, and a few lines of text. Then, it’s up to the viewer to click on your ad.

2. Bumper In-Stream Ads

Bumper ads are non-skippable six-second ads displayed to viewers before the beginning of their video. Because it’s a concise video ad, you must ensure viewers are compelled to take action afterward.

In most cases, brand marketers use bumper ads to complement other formats. Like other non-skippable ads, payment is made on a CPM (cost per mille) basis.

3. Non-Skippable In-Stream Ads

Marketers have long realized most viewers tend to click the ‘skip ad’ button even before the middle of the video, so many opt for non-skippable ads. The standard length of this ad type is between 15 to 20 seconds. These are often played at the beginning of the video and also appear mid-roll for videos longer than 10 minutes.

Advertisers pay for these ads on a CPM basis. However, it’s worth knowing this format is unpopular, so it’s best to strategically carry out the non-skippable ads to ensure you get the expected ROI.

4. Overlay Ads

YouTube has something for just about every budget. For business owners with smaller budgets, overlay ads might be the right choice. This simple non-video ad is displayed at the bottom of videos across the platform, including on renowned content creators’ channels.

5. Display Ads

Like the overlay ads, the display ads are also non-video. They are static images displayed on the right sidebar above the suggested video lists, and they usually contain a call to action that directs viewers to a relevant link.

6. Sponsored Card Ads

Sponsored card ads appear as small call-to-action pop-ups throughout the video. This format is a relatively subtle way to advertise on YouTube, but it allows viewers to learn more if they want to; The video’s upper right-hand corner suddenly displays a small ‘I’ sign, and the card expands when a viewer clicks on it.

Depending on the advertiser’s aim, the expanded card can show another YouTube video or even Google product shopping.

How To Advertise On YouTube

After knowing the types of YouTube ads that exist, how do you properly advertise on this platform? First, you need to have video ad creative that’s been uploaded to your YouTube channel.

1. Set Your Campaign

You must sign into your Google ads account and select ‘New Campaign.’ Afterward, choose your brand’s marketing objective, which could be sales, leads, website traffic, etc.

Next, choose a campaign type, including all forms of Google ads, like videos. Since you’re working with a video, select a subtype (bumper, in-stream, non-skippable, etc.) Finally, name your campaign in a way that allows you to find it quickly.

2. Define Campaign Parameters

This includes:

• Choose a bid strategy, which can be conversions, clicks, or impressions.

• Input your intended budget and the duration you want your ads to run.

• Select where you want your ads to show, including discovery, all of YouTube, or display network.

• Choose your audience’s location and language. It’s best to select a worldwide location and a universal language so your ads can reach a larger audience.

3. Target Your Audience

It’s best to study your audience and strategically place the video ads for them, as this can enable you to get a more significant ROI. You’ll want to know your audience’s demographics, including age, gender, parental status, and more. You can also target your audience by using specific keywords and topics based on their history or remarket to people who were interested in your past videos.

4. Set Your Campaign Live

The last stage of creating YouTube ads is to set it to live. This involves you inputting the link to your video ad and clicking the ‘Create Campaign’ button.

YouTube Ad Specs

Even after knowing the various ad formats or ways to advertise on YouTube, not knowing the correct specifications for video creation can lead to wasted effort.

• Skippable ads: 12 seconds to 3 minutes (maximum length)
• Non-skippable ads: 15 seconds (although it can extend to 20 seconds for some countries)
• Bumper ads: 6 seconds

Note: the skippable and non-skippable ads take the same format and specs as other YouTube videos because they are uploaded to a channel before being turned into ads.

YouTube Discovery Ad Specs

• File format: AVI, ASF, QuickTime, Windows Media, MP4 or MPEG
• Video Codec: H.264, MPEG-2 or MPEG-4
• Audio Codec: AAC-LC or MP3
• Aspect ratio: 16:9 or 4:3 is recommended
• Frame rate: 30 FPS
• Maximum file size: 1 GB for Discovery ads

Conclusion

Video marketing is becoming more popular, and your business can reach more consumers with this strategy. While you can also upload video content on different social media platforms, YouTube remains one of the best platforms to reach interested viewers.