A Complete Guide to Different Types of YouTube Ads
YouTube is a powerful marketing tool that ensures unmatched coverage for any brand, regardless of its size. Often, we see companies struggling to choose between different video types regularly. While the power of video ads cannot be denied, choosing a wrong format will burn through your advertising budget in no time. We’ve created this detailed guide so that you can understand exactly what kinds of ad formats are available on YouTube.
Selecting the appropriate video ad format in line with your promotional goal means you get the highest possible ROI on the platform. Moreover, having worked extensively on building YouTube exclusions, we learned how important it was to consider placement when launching any kind of video campaign. Poor placements kill even the best ads. Let us go straight into the details of each YouTube ad format type!
Skippable In-Stream Video Ad Format
Skippable in-stream ads are the most popular YouTube video format among the many ad types on YouTube. As the name implies, these ads play in the beginning, middle, or the end of another video. What sets them apart from others is the fact that viewers can skip them in five seconds.
Experts usually recommend choosing them for mass awareness campaigns as you get charged only once a user watches the video for at least thirty seconds or clicks a link. To prevent your ads from being shown on irrelevant and low-quality channels, we always recommend using our solid exclusions list at Exclude Kid Channels.
Using Non-Skippable In-Stream Ad Format Effectively
Non-skippable in-stream ad format plays until the end and takes up to fifteen seconds of someone’s time. These types of ads on YouTube tend to be used by advertisers who have a strong and concise message to share. Their effectiveness stems from the fact that people will not be able to skip the video in five seconds, thus allowing them to see everything.
On the other hand, non-skippable ads might irritate people if the content does not seem interesting enough. For this reason, we always combine them with exclusion lists to ensure they get shown to potential buyers only.
Short-Form Bumper Ads – Catchy and Short YouTube Video Format
Bumper ads are incredibly fast videos of six seconds. What sets them apart from others is the fact that there is no option to skip these videos ever. Professionals use bumper ads mostly for mobile clients since the majority of users browse through mobile content faster than anyone else. As they have only six seconds for promotion, it is important for the ads to be catchy and short. To make sure they run on premium channels instead of on spammy content, we recommend choosing proper placements from the very beginning.
Getting the Attention of Your Audience with In-Feed Video Ads
As they used to be called Discovery ads, in-feed videos show up with a thumbnail next to the videos people are looking for on YouTube. Users have to click the thumbnail to watch the video. This makes them incredibly suitable to be used for reaching people who are interested in your niche. To avoid placing your video ad among some irrelevant or even dangerous search requests, exclusions are important again.
Extending the Reach of Your Video Campaign with Outstream Ads
This type of video ad shows up not in the native YouTube environment, but on partner sites and applications across the entire display network of Google. It means that outstream ads autoplay in muted mode and allow people to unmute them by tapping the screen. We usually recommend using them when trying to extend the reach of your ad campaign beyond YouTube users, especially when testing different types of YouTube ads. As these ads run across the internet, applying exclusion lists here is extremely important.
Getting Noticed with YouTube Masthead Ads
If we had to name the most prestigious place to promote your brand, then it would definitely be the Masthead position on the YouTube home feed. As they play autoplay across all devices – PC, smartphone, and TV, Mastheads ads attract tons of attention in a matter of seconds. These formats are usually used only by huge corporations as it requires substantial investments and a separate budget allocation strategy.
If you need to raise massive awareness for your product launch, this is the best choice you can make. While the placement itself is fixed, we take care of brand safety across other formats.
Controlling YouTube Video Ad Strategy with Exclusion Lists
Selecting the right YouTube video ad format is only half of the job done. In addition to choosing an appropriate format type, you have to adjust your creative concept to fit particular ad viewing mechanics. Besides the type of ad format selected, you also require the ability to control its placement and measure YouTube ad performance. We strongly recommend reviewing all placement reports on a weekly basis. Contact our specialists at Exclude Kid Channels to discuss how we could boost the effectiveness of your video campaign with exclusion lists.
FAQs
What Kind Of Youtube Ad Format Generates The Most Conversions?
Skippable in-stream ads generate the most conversions as they include the option to insert call-to-action buttons on the video player itself.
How Expensive Are Video Ads On Youtube?
The price may greatly depend on the targeting strategy, ad format, and your industry competition. You might get charged a couple of cents per view or pay a lot of money for a Masthead ad.
How Can I Prevent My Ads From Being Placed On Kids’ Channels?
The best thing to do is apply our comprehensive and properly maintained exclusion list. This way, you can filter out kids-related channels and save your budget for paying adults only.
