YouTube Ads: Video Types + How to Setup an Ads Campaign

Picture of Komal Chaturvedi
Komal Chaturvedi

Co-Founder & CEO, MotionGility

Youtube Ads
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There’s a lot that goes into creating YouTube ads. So if anyone terms it as an art and science, you should not be surprised!

 

With YouTube’s ad revenue crossing $30 billion in 2023, marketers can gain many insights by looking at the overall performance reports.

 

Running a YouTube advertising campaign can be tricky. As a marketer, you must tap into the buying behavior, and psychology of your target group, and understand exactly what drives their action.

 

Sure, A/B testing is a thing for optimization and analysis. But what’s important is to strategically create ads that push viewers into clicking the CTA.

 

Let’s discuss everything about YouTube ads below in detail.

6 Types of YouTube Ads:

Before you dive into how to create a YouTube ad, it’s important to understand the common 6 types of ads offered by the video streaming giant.

 

Here are the common ad types:

1. Skippable In-stream Ads

Skippable Ad YouTube Example

Put simply, ads that you can skip after 5 or 6 seconds are known as skippable ads. Generally, they’re played before a viewer’s selected video plays in-feed. 

 

Now YouTube may choose to even play these ads anytime during the beginning, middle, or at the video’s end. When the ad begins and if you do not find it useful or interesting, you can skip it once the 5 or 6-second timer ends.

 

If you’re an advertiser, you pay only once the viewer finishes 30 seconds of viewing your ad or he/she clicks on the branded CTA you’ve attached to your ad [whichever occurs first]. The recommended skippable ads’ length is 12 seconds.

Want to explore the best short animated ad examples for YouTube?

 

Check out: Best Animated Ad Examples

2. Display Ads

YouTube Display Ad Example

You must have seen ads on the top right side on YouTube above the suggested videos. They’re called Display Ads and they can be either static [post] or a video.

 

Available only on desktops, these ads are soundless – meaning they don’t support audio so that the viewer’s experience watching the main video doesn’t get compromised.

 

This is a great spot for promoting your product and driving clicks to your website or landing page. Focus on using a catchy copy to stand out on the YouTube feed.

 

As soon as the viewer switches to full-screen viewing, the display ad disappears.

3. Non-Skippable In-stream Ads

YouTube Non-skippable ad example
Source - Hubspot

Unlike skippable ads, these are ads that viewers cannot skip! 

 

Here too, YouTube can insert these ads anywhere during the entire course of the video. Usually, the length of these ads is capped at 20 seconds – with 15 seconds length also available in a few regions.

 

So if you think from a viewer’s perspective, non-skippable ads might come out as irritating as they cannot skip it. 

 

However if you’re an advertiser opting for this ad format, ensure your ad is highly engaging. Since viewers won’t be able to skip it, it would be best to make the most out of the duration through actionable visual content.

4. Bumper Ads

Bumper ads are the most frequently used ad format by advertisers. 

 

Capped at 6 seconds, these ads are non-skippable and excellent for brands wanting to drive quick engagement.

 

You might wonder what brands would make out of those mere 6 seconds. Well actually, bumper ads are good if you wish to quickly reinforce your product’s awareness, boost signups or downloads, drive web clicks, etc.

5. Masthead Ads

YouTube Masthead Ad example
Source - Search Engine Journal

If you have a big budget, this ad format is for you! Imagine your target audience accesses YouTube, and the first thing they see is your brand’s head – Could anything be more amazing than that?

 

Ideal for brand launches, product releases, movie launches, etc., it translates to occupying the most elite spot on the YouTube homepage across all devices.

 

Opting for a masthead ad is winning the 100% share of voice on YouTube. Plus, you get to enjoy a sea of impressions and URL clicks which you can redirect to your website, app, or the desired landing page.

6. Banner/Overlay Ads

YouTube Overlay Ads Example

Often, you must have encountered an ad overlapping your YouTube video – these are overlay ads.

 

They can either be static or visual, depending on your advertising agenda. Overlay ads are visible only on desktop & laptop screens and are a great format to drive instant brand clicks and boost web engagement.

 

Remember – On the positive side, advertisers opting for overlay ads are charged only when a viewer clicks on them, not by impressions.

How to set up a YouTube Ads Campaign?

Okay, so here’s the most important part – Setting up and running an ad campaign on YouTube. 

 

The initial step is to upload the video on which you wish to run ads on the platform. Once it’s live on your channel, it will be easy to select it directly on your Ads dashboard.

 

Here are the exact steps you can follow for your YouTube ads setup:

1. Creating a Google Ads A/c

Now that you’ve uploaded the video to your YT channel, it’s time to set up a Google Ads Campaign. Sign up with your email ID and after logging in, you will see a ‘Create New Campaign’ button.

 

Click on it to begin creating your ads campaign.

New Google Ads Campaign Setup

2. Selecting the Campaign Goal

Based on your end objectives, select the most suitable campaign goal from:

Sales, Leads, Website Traffic, Product & Brand Consideration, Awareness & Reach, and App Promotion.

 

Analyzing the requirements will ensure you attract the right form of engagement and do not end up losing big money on unnecessary results.

 

After selecting Brand Awareness & Reach as the goal, click ‘Video’.

YouTube Ads: Video Types + How to Setup an Ads Campaign

3. Selecting the Campaign Goal Sub-type

Ahead, you will be prompted to select the campaign subtype. Here, you can opt from different YouTube ad formats available to advertisers such as skippable, bumper, non-skippable, etc.

Google Ads Video Campaign Subtype

Note: In the latest Google Ads dashboard, the above options have now been shifted under the “Video Reach Campaign” heading. On selecting this option, you will be asked to choose either of the 2 options shown below.

Efficient Reach vs Non-efficient reach

4. Enter your Campaign’s Name & Desired budget

As soon as you’re done with setting up your YouTube ad campaign’s basics, you will be asked to name it and enter the bidding amount alongside the bid strategy of your choice.

 

Remember – Set a daily budget and not for the entire campaign. This will keep your daily ad spending low and not spend extravagantly fully. 

 

Further, you will be prompted to set a beginning and end date for your campaign. If required, you can even pause your ad campaign in between and resume once you’re done analyzing your performance and ad spending.

Google Ads Campaign Name
Google Ads Campaign Budget

5. Choose your Display Preferences and Locations

Following the budget setting, the next step is to choose where you want your ads to appear.

Locations & Ad Display Preferences

From the three bifurcations such as Network, Locations, and Languages, you will be prompted to make selections:

 

  • Networks: Video to be showcased on YouTube or Google’s other display partners
  • Locations: To be showcased in a particular region, semi-global, or global
  • Languages: To be displayed in the language your desired target audience speaks

6. Set up Advanced Settings & Audience Demographics

If you wish to dive deep into audience targeting settings, you can leverage the advanced settings panel to target operating systems, device-based targeting, etc.

 

Next, you will be prompted to provide details about your target audience – Demographics, Professional interests, Age, Gender, Household income, Marital Status, etc.

YouTube Ads: Video Types + How to Setup an Ads Campaign

Also, you will be asked to include keywords that you feel your target audience uses to search for your products/services.

 

You can even make use of Google’s Keyword Planner to identify potential volumes and search intent of your keywords for better choices.

 

We would recommend you set up multiple campaigns solely based on audience demographics for efficient targeting. This will allow you to A/B test your campaigns and optimize the best-performing campaign, thereby halting the other one to save costs.

7. Finalizing Ad campaign by creating Video Ad Assets

YouTube Ads: Video Types + How to Setup an Ads Campaign
Source - Hubspot

To configure this, select your desired YouTube video for the ad campaign. Further, you must also select your choice: An in-Stream Ad or an In-Display Ad.

 

Next, enter a catchy title [limit up to 25 characters], a short description [limit up to 35 characters], and the destination URL. 

 

Choose an appealing thumbnail that grabs attention. Also, an image banner will be created for your ad campaign from the video selected and displayed on the top-right side of your ad.

 

That’s it! Your ad setup is done and you just need to provide your billing details, post which your ad campaign will be reviewed, and then go Live!

8. Configure Performance Monitoring [GA4]

Google Ads Campaign Performance Tracking

Before you begin tracking your ad’s performance, make sure you have defined your conversion goals.

 

It could be anything from increasing downloads, boosting signups, website visits, etc. Linking GA4 to your YouTube channel will help you collaborate and facilitate smooth data sharing and storing between the two platforms.

 

Also, do not forget to connect conversion channels. Doing so will help Google attribute your ad performance data into GA4 and thus provide you with a complete performance summary, insights, clicks, impressions, etc.

Over To You

Running a YouTube Ad campaign is a comprehensive yet fulfilling activity. What requires the most attention is setting up audience demographics and bidding.

 

The idea here is to understand various ad formats, and their specifications carefully, and at last, what drives your target audience and how quickly you can convince them to take action on your videos.

 

Pretty much, that’s it from us on YouTube Ads.