Why choose YouTube advertising?
YouTube, owned by Google, is the world's second most used search engine, surpassed only by Google itself. All advertising on YouTube is managed through Google Ads, giving businesses the opportunity to leverage the same advanced targeting options they know from search and display advertising. This makes YouTube an extremely effective platform where you can reach your desired audiences with precision and flexibility.
Unlike traditional TV commercials that reach a broad audience, YouTube allows you to tailor your video ads to specific demographic segments, based on factors such as age, gender, interests, and behaviour. This targeting creates a cost-effective way to engage users and increases conversion rates, regardless of your company's size. The flexibility and precision that YouTube advertising offers makes video marketing accessible for both small and large businesses, providing them with a powerful platform to increase brand awareness and drive conversions.
Types of YouTube ads
YouTube offers several different ad formats, so you can choose the format that best supports your marketing goals. Here are three of the most popular formats:
- Discovery ads (formerly TrueView Discovery): Discovery ads do not appear directly within a video, but as a thumbnail and text ad in YouTube's search results or alongside related videos. These ads help get your videos shown to users who are actively looking for related content, and are effective at increasing discovery and engagement.
- Masthead ads: Masthead ads are large banner ads displayed on YouTube's homepage. They can be either static images or videos, and are highly visible, making them ideal for generating massive attention in a short time. They are often used in larger campaigns.
- In-feed video ads: In-feed ads are placed in YouTube's feed, where users can click to watch your video. This format is similar to Discovery ads, but focuses on attracting clicks and engagement directly from the user's feed.
- Skippable Ads (TrueView In-Stream): These are a subset of TrueView ads, but can vary in length and placement (preroll, midroll, postroll). Users can skip them after 5 seconds, and you only pay when the user has watched at least 30 seconds.
- Non-skippable mid-roll and long-form ads: Mid-roll ads can be longer if the video allows it. These ads can be up to 30 seconds or more depending on what YouTube permits for the given video.
- Bumper ads: Bumper ads are also non-skippable, but last only up to 6 seconds. These short, precise ads are designed to create brand awareness quickly, especially among mobile users where attention spans are shorter. They often work well as a supplement to longer campaign videos, reinforcing key messages.
Targeting and optimisation of your YouTube ads
One of the greatest strengths of YouTube advertising is the advanced targeting, which is now even more precise thanks to Google's machine learning algorithms. With YouTube, you can tailor your campaigns based on factors such as
- Age
- Gender
- Location
- Interests
- Behaviour
- Life events
- Specific Google search intent.
In addition, YouTube offers dynamic targeting options where you can use Custom Audiences based on consumer behaviour across both YouTube and the Google network. With In-market audiences, you can reach users who are actively researching and comparing products.
Consumers are increasingly using YouTube as a platform to research products and services, making the platform ideal for influencing purchase decisions. By optimising your video campaigns with relevant messaging, using AI-driven optimisation tools such as Smart Bidding, you can not only increase awareness of your brand, but also drive conversions more effectively.
Case: Fleggaard – A YouTube advertising strategy with compelling results
Following COVID-19, our client Fleggaard faced a significant challenge in reclaiming their market share. With closed borders during the pandemic, they lost a large portion of their customers who would normally travel to their border shops in Germany. Our goal was to revive customer activity and increase both Click & Collect (C&C) orders and physical store visits. YouTube advertising became a central part of the strategy.
We developed a targeted YouTube campaign that used data from Fleggaard's previous purchase records. By analysing geographical data on customer behaviour before and during the pandemic, we were able to segment the campaign into seven different geographical areas. Each area had its advertising budget tailored based on previous performance and growth potential.
YouTube was chosen as a central platform, as it enables precise targeting and storytelling. The campaign consisted of video content titled "Just across the border", which used humour as a key element to connect with the target audience.
The results spoke for themselves. The YouTube campaign contributed to over 400,000 additional store visits in a year and a significant increase in both C&C orders and revenue. This campaign has resulted in us being nominated for both European Search Awards and Global Search Awards, where our work combining data, targeting and creative video content on YouTube has been recognised as a leading example of modern marketing.
An unavoidable channel for younger audiences
YouTube's strength in Denmark lies primarily with younger audiences, for whom the platform is an integral part of their digital lives. Millennials and Generation Z spend many hours on YouTube every day as a source of entertainment, inspiration and product research. In fact, YouTube is one of the most visited platforms among these age groups, where they watch videos from influencers, brands and other users alike. For businesses that want to reach younger audiences, having a presence on YouTube is therefore essential.
If your target audience includes Millennials or Generation Z, YouTube is almost unavoidable as part of your marketing strategy — otherwise you risk overlooking a significant portion of their media consumption during the buying journey.
