Youtube Marketing - A Comprehensive Guide PDF

CHAPTER 13 YOUTUBE MARKETING YOUTUBE MARKETING YouTube Marketing is the practice of promoting businesses and products on YouTube’s platform, by uploading valuable videos on a company’s YouTube channel or by using YouTube ads. Youtub...

CHAPTER 13 YOUTUBE MARKETING YOUTUBE MARKETING YouTube Marketing is the practice of promoting businesses and products on YouTube’s platform, by uploading valuable videos on a company’s YouTube channel or by using YouTube ads. Youtube has massive traffic and viewers, with over 1,325,000,000 people using Youtube. There are currently 300 hours of video uploaded to YouTube every minute of every day – 5 hours of video content every second! This shows that video marketing is a growing trend. Video is where the web is going. For online and offline Business owners and internet marketers, YouTube Marketing is an essential strategy to take advantage of the web’s massive shift towards video. Benefits of YouTube Marketing The following are some of the benefits of YouTube marketing 1. Posting on YouTube Will Help People Find You on Google Google owns YouTube. By consistently utilizing YouTube for your business, you increase your chances of showing up in search results and improving your own rankings. As a business, you should have a goal of maximizing your online presence as much as possible. Google loves businesses that use their tools and most likely give priority to those brands, at least to some extent. 2. YouTube Will Expose You to a Huge Audience Here are just a few important YouTube statistics to consider: YouTube receives more than 30 million visitors a day, who watch nearly five billion videos. More than half of the views come from mobile devices, and these users watch an average of 40 minutes. YouTube has local versions in more than 88 countries and 76 languages. It’s the second largest search engine, after Google. And take note that YouTube is always growing. Year after year, people are spending more time on it. And perhaps unlike some other platforms, YouTube’s audience is extremely varied. People of all age groups, education levels, and income levels use it — men and women who are located all around the globe. They use the platform for a number of reasons, including education and entertainment. No matter what your brand is trying to promote or what your goals are, the advantage is that you can get the job done using YouTube. 3. Videos Have Higher Conversion Rates Research suggests that video content is 12 times likelier to be watched than text is to be read. Furthermore, we might be processing videos 60,000 times faster than text. Additionally, videos can evoke emotion like no other form of online content can. They can make you think and feel. And if they make you think and feel, you’re not likely to forget those videos. Last but certainly not the least, videos help humanize your brand. They bring it to life, taking your messages from flat and static to dynamic and engaging. Videos help your brand build trust and authority in such a unique manner. If a brand really wants to connect with people, videos absolutely have to be a part of their digital marketing plan. Undeniably, videos capture our attention better than both text and images. 4. You Can Utilize YouTube Ads to Reach an Even Bigger Audience Another one of the many benefits of YouTube is their robust advertising platform. It runs through Google Ads but isn’t like your standard paid advertising. You know by now roughly how many people are spending how much time on YouTube. Imagine serving your ads to qualified viewers who could very well turn into leads and then customers. Gaining organic traffic on YouTube is incredibly powerful. Paid traffic can deliver an even higher return on investment for your business. Additionally, as all of the social media platforms become increasingly competitive and saturated, you’re almost required to pay to play if you really want to see a difference.YouTube, similar to Facebook, is very savvy when it comes to delivering your ads to exactly the right kind of people. Unlike other platforms like TV and radio ads, people actually watch the YouTube ads that show up in front of their eyes, because they’re on topics that are of interest to them. 5. Videos Are Better at Getting People to Take Action You might already know how important it is to incorporate a call-to-action (CTA) in social media posts, blog posts, and other types of digital content. That’s because time and time again, CTAs have been shown to get more people to take action than content that doesn’t have a CTA. Your YouTube videos are no different. And perhaps unsurprisingly, videos can be more effective than other types of content when it comes to getting your viewers to actually take action. Remember: You’re not creating content for the sake of creating content. It’s a tool. It should serve a purpose. It should ignite measurable changes in your online presence. As your videos get more traffic, keep that traffic longer, and tell that traffic what to do. It’s a win-win-win scenario. It’s evident that no digital marketing strategy is complete without YouTube videos. HOW TO CREATE VIDEO CONTENT THAT GOES VIRAL? The best thing about YouTube is that anyone can upload their videos to it and sometimes they even go viral meaning many people are watching them. There are a few tips and tricks that can help make your YouTube videos go viral but you should realize that it is all about the content. Everyone knows that boring videos won’t go viral so get out there and create interesting videos. Following are some techniques used to make a YouTube video go viral. 1.Create a Unique Video When it comes to creating your video, you need to think outside of the box and create a unique video. Boring and plain videos are not the ones that go viral, but rather the videos that bring something new to the table and are interesting will go viral. This means that the video you want to be viral won’t be a promotional video advertising your products or services because we see those types of videos every single day. Promotional videos won’t stand out in a crowd and aren’t ones that generate millions and millions of clicks or views.One way to make a unique video is by telling a story in your videos, whether that story is sad, funny, or a mixture of both it is up to you. Sit down and try to figure out what story your brand is trying to tell.Telling a story in your video is a good way to get people to relate to it and find a deeper meaning. Relatable content is shareable content meaning more people will be likely to share it with their followers which can help you reach a wider audience. 2.Play With Emotions Viral videos usually tell a story and have a deeper meaning which plays on the viewers’ emotions. There are so many different types of emotions that you could portray through your video such has happy, sad, motivational, inspiring, and so much more. The key to getting millions and millions of people to sit through your videos is conveying emotion through storytelling. When people feel as if you’ve played to their emotions, then they will share a video with their followers or friends. Having your video shared, again and again, is the best way to get more views and gain more traffic to your video. So when it comes to using emotion in your video you need to figure out what type of emotions your brand is willing to display. For example, Brands that sell products for women will sometimes create videos that empower women to do better. 3.Reach Out to Similar Brands One way to make your video go viral that might surprise you is to reach out to similar brands that already have a large following and let them know about your video. Since these brands are already in your niche and you’re posting about relevant information, then they may be more likely to share your video with their audience. Reaching out and telling people about your video is a great way for you to succeed on YouTube and create more viral videos. You may even want to spend more time reaching out to your target audience and letting them know about your videos, than you take in creating them. 4.Find Your Target Audience One thing that you should be doing whether you’re just creating YouTube videos or you’re a brand that wants their video to go viral is to find your target audience. Your target audience is the people who will normally watch your videos or be interested in purchasing your products or services. Your target audience will be the first people who view your videos and then share it with their freinds. They are the people that you should originally be creating your video for. There are also several different resources you can use to help you find your target audience on YouTube. You can use your YouTube analytics to see exactly who has been watching your videos. This is a nifty tool that can show how long people watch your videos, how old they are, where they’re from and so much more usual information. 5.Utilize All of Your Social Platforms Once you’ve posted your video you will want to utilize all of your social media platforms to advertise it. Hopefully, you already have a decent following on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or even LinkedIn so your followers will want to watch your video right away. Social media marketing is a huge benefit to your brand as well as helping you achieve a viral video. This is the number one way to get your video to reach more people aside from the ones already subscribed to your YouTube Channel. When it comes to using social media marketing to advertise your video you need to do it in the right ways. For example, Instagram has an amazing feature called stories where you can even include a swipe up button to link to your video. 6.Find the Right Keywords Another great tip when it comes to helping your YouTube video go viral is that you will need to use the right keywords in your title as well as in your description. Do some research and see which keywords people are searching for, that goes along with your video. When it comes to creating video for YouTube, you are the one who is going to have to figure out what keywords you can use to make your video rank higher in search results. You will want to sprinkle in just the right amount of keywords when it comes to writing your description so that your video will appear near the top of the results. Your title is also a very important part of getting people to click on your video so it needs to be interesting and captivating. Boring titles on videos don’t even get a second glance before the person has moved on to something else so try to spice up your titles with interesting words that will grab their attention. 7.Produce Quality Content Make sure that you’re taking the time to think out your videos and that you have the right equipments to make a quality video. You don’t need to spend lots of money on getting good lighting or an expensive microphone. Rather film during the daytime so you can use sunlight and make sure you’re in a quiet place so your audio is clear. Also during the post-production of your video, you will want to spend countless hours editing your video until you feel it is perfect. Sloppy editing is a quick way for people to click off your video before they even finish it. Make sure you’re spending an adequate amount of time creating the perfect video that you want to be viral. 8.Decide the Perfect Length When it comes to creating your YouTube video you need to decide what the perfect length should be. On one hand, longer videos can help create deeper meanings and people can connect to them better. It might be easier on you and your audience to create a shorter video with the same meaning. You will need to figure out the length of the video that your audience wants to watch. Sometimes cutting out all of the small insignificant details can help your video to be shorter and easier for viewers to watch. Shorter videos tend to be shared more because they are quick and easy. They also can get the point across in an easier and efficient way. The editing process is where you will decide what to cut from a video and what to keep in. YOUTUBE CHANNEL CREATION AND OPTIMIZATION YouTube Channel Creation A successful YouTube marketing starts with the creation of a YouTube channel. Here’s how to build your account. Step 1: Create a Google account If you use Gmail, Google Maps, or Google Play, you probably already have a Google account. If so, skip ahead to the next step. On the other hand, if you are starting from scratch, then create your Google account. Step 2: Create a YouTube account With your Google account, you’re automatically set up with a personal YouTube account. But to use YouTube for your business, you’ll want to set up a Brand Account. Just go to your YouTube account page, click Create a Channel, and then enter a name for your Brand Account. When you create a YouTube Brand Account, you can give multiple people admin access and customize the name and appearance to match your brand. Another best thing about Brand Accounts is that they allow you to access YouTube Analytics, which offers helpful insights about who’s watching your videos and what content is popular. Step 3: Customize your YouTube channel In your channel dashboard, click Customize channel. Go through the three tabs — Layout, Branding and Basic Info — to enter information that will help optimize your channel for audience discovery. While filling out this information, use descriptive keywords that will help your account appear in searches. Under Branding, you’ll have the opportunity to upload your channel art and icons to give your channel a unique look. Choose the one that ideally aligns with your overall brand and visually connects this YouTube account with your other social media platforms and web presence. Step 4: Upload your first YouTube video To put your first video out into the world, hit the Create button in the top-right corner and follow the instructions. Step 5: Make your YouTube channel discoverable To get views and subscribers, you’ll want to optimize your channel and videos for discovery. Optimize video titles Optimize your YouTube description Add tags Cross-promote YouTube Channel Optimization Following are the strategies that help to optimize your YouTube channel. 1.Use Keywords in Your Titles and Descriptions Video titles are extremely important for Google searches. But it’s not the cool, funny name you came up with for your YouTube video that search engines care about. It’s keywords.Your title should include a keyword that will help you rank on Google as well as Youtube. You can produce a high-quality video, but if your title doesn’t include keywords, it may not get the views you deserve. But make sure to optimize your titles for keywords that fit naturally into a title and tell your viewers exactly what they're about to see.Your video descriptions are also critical. And don’t forget to include keywords here. Make sure it’s at least 250 words. This is all critical for YouTube SEO because people search on YouTube, just like they do on Google, except they’re looking for video content as opposed to information in text format. 2.Add a Transcript in the Description Field Speaking of the transcript, be sure to add it to the description field as well. According to Google, transcripts are a simple way of creating captions. And if your transcript is naturally keyword-optimized for your topic, it’s great fuel for YouTube SEO. 3.Create Impactful Thumbnails Getting potential viewers to read your titles and descriptions is important, but you can help the cause by creating impactful thumbnails. Custom thumbnails are typically the way to go. YouTube will provide you with a few suggestions, but creating (even a screenshot from the video) and uploading a custom thumbnail is not difficult. Think about “eye-catching" thumbnails. 4.Include Related Tags and Hashtags Another thing you’ll want to include in your descriptions is hashtags. When you think of YouTube content, hashtags may not come to your mind, but they’re also part of the strategy you can employ to build viewership on your channel. Hashtags on YouTube work like other social media platforms (for example, Twitter and Facebook). When you click on a hashtag, it takes you to other posts that also use that same hashtag. Add hashtags to your description and be sure to add tags in the tag box after uploading your video. 5.Add Cards to Cross-Promote Cards are a great way to cross-promote. You can place up to five cards in each of your videos and each will promote your videos or your playlists. It encourages the viewer to check out more of your content while they watch your videos. 6.Keep Videos Organized with Playlists Playlists organize your content into groups where a visitor can have a pleasant experience finding and watching content that is centralized around a single thought or vision. Additionally, linking similar relevant videos into a single playlist helps with SEO and gives your channel a cleaner look. You can rearrange the playlists to make your channel look more organized as well and rank in order of importance. 7.Add Accurate Captions Including accurately captioned videos will help to rank your videos higher because search engines can crawl the caption text. Additional benefits to including captions for your videos include: Better user engagement: A study performed by YouTube revealed that captioned videos earn 4% more views. Video accessibility: Viewers who are deaf can also access your video content if you have included captions. Added credibility: Decreases your risk of being labeled as spam and losing search rank for your whole YouTube channel. YOUTUBE TOPIC RESEARCH & KEYWORD RESEARCH USING TOOLS YouTube Topic Research Tools Discussed below are some of the tools or apps that can assist you in finding popular and trending topics for creating quality content for your YouTube channel. 1. Google Trends: Free search analysis site Google Trends allows you to see what's trending worldwide or in a particular country. It's an excellent resource for market research. There are different ways you can use it: Identify the most trending topic on YouTube: Your video can be inspired by what's trending in a specific region. You can monitor YouTube topic's performance by changing the parameters. Comparison of topic: If you want to create a video that is somewhat similar to another popular video. Google Trends can let you compare comparable videos and see how they stack up. Look for a sub-topic: Take a peek at subtopics. Then you'll be able to find out what the audience's preference is for a particular subject. 2. Google Keyword Planner: Using Google Keyword Planner is an effective way to search keywords for your upcoming videos. Two conditions should be met to use this Google Ads product for free. Expert mode is required, not the smart mode. There must be a completed Google Ads account created. You'll need to establish a campaign to get billing information. Also, if you don't want to spend money on your campaign, you can halt it at any time. In addition to keyword search assistance, Google Keyword Planner gives valuable information about historical statistics, search volume, and other relevant data. 3. Keyword IO: Keyword IO is a free service. If you're interested in fresh business ideas or YouTube trending keywords for your YouTube channel, you can use this function to search for keywords and discover new ones. Your search engine and location should be specific. The options will be alphabetical and not ranked by popularity. On the other hand, the paid edition allows you to access a variety of additional services for a monthly fee, such as Cost Per Click (CPC), search volume, and more. For beginners, though, the free version will suffice. 4. Tube Buddy: There are several unique features in TubeBuddy for YouTubers, which is why it is a YouTube-certified add-on. Using the tool's keyword research option, you can search for keywords to develop viable new ideas. TubeBuddy's basic free version assists you with a search for the keywords. Though it's only for YouTube, it's still a terrific method to find out the most searched topics on YouTube. The paid version has more options with Productivity, Bulk Processing, Video SEO, and Promotion Tools. 5. Ahrefs: In terms of backlink and SEO analysis, Ahrefs has a wide collection of tools at its disposal. Compared to the other solutions we've discussed so far, this one is a bit pricey. However, you'll get access to a wealth of information if you decide to purchase the tool. You may also create keywords depending on different search engines. What Ahrefs offers you in terms of generating trending subject ideas are the following features: Site Explorer: For paid search, you'll learn which topics are most beneficial for your business. Backlinks are also easier to keep track of with this tool. Keywords Explorer: For locating appropriate keywords and coming up with new ideas for your video as well as the difficulty in ranking and search volume for each keyword will be aided by using this tool. Content Explorer: It'll help you find the material that's been shared the most. YouTube Keyword Research Tools Following are some of the best YouTube Keyword Research Tools: 1.Ahrefs: Ahrefs is a marketing analyst’s best friend. This tool has a huge collection of SEO, competitor analysis, keyword research and keyword identification functions to help you optimize your digital content. Ahrefs YouTube Keyword Tool, pulls YouTube search volumes for keywords from up to 171 countries. The tool is managed in a sleek, easy-to-use dashboard. Simply type your keyword in the search bar and Ahrefs pulls data from around the world to show you the total search volume for each term and how many clicks that the search phrase earned. Ahrefs also pulls a few other interesting data points, including relevant search phrases that uses your keyword and other keywords or phrases that are relevant to your term, making this tool not just a research platform but a keyword generator, too. 2.Keywordtool.io When you search for a video on YouTube, the platform gives you a longer list of recommended results based on what other people searched for in the past. Keyword Tool leverages that data to help marketers like you improve your YouTube SEO. Keyword Tool is a YouTube auto complete keyword program that generates popular search phrases from base terms. For example, a company that makes clothes for toddlers and infants might regularly use the term “baby clothes” as a keyword. 3. Keyword Keg Keyword Keg is a YouTube keyword tool that generates search phrases based on keywords – and provides a robust amount of data about those terms. With Keyword Keg, you can see a term’s search volume, Google Ads cost per click, and overall “keyword power,” Keyword Keg will let you see a sample of results for free, but if you want a full keyword analysis, you’ll need a monthly membership. Packages range from $40 to $280 per month, but you can save up to 40% with an annual package. 4.VidIQ VidIQ is a YouTube Certified partner that helps video content creators determine the best keywords for improving search ability. When you research a search term, VidIQ pulls data from YouTube to give you a look at what’s going on with that term. You’ll be able to see helpful information like recommended tags and what top-performing videos are currently displayed in SERPs. This tool is great for helping marketers confirm whether they’re using the right keywords, explore new keyword options, and assess who they’re competing against for higher search rankings. VidIQ comes with dozens of other features designed for video creators, but the keyword research tool requires a subscription. 5.Keyword Tool Dominator Keyword Tool Dominator is an easy-to-use tool for keyword research newbie's. Simply type a term into the search bar, and the Keyword Tool Dominator generates a lengthy list of the suggested YouTube search phrases that incorporate your term. You can also pick and choose which keywords you want to add to a custom list, and export your list all from the same screen. This tool keeps keyword research – and its pricing model – simple. Keyword Tool Dominator is free for up to three keyword searches per day. If you want to search more terms more frequently, you can purchase the YouTube keyword tool for a one-time price of $69.99 MONETIZATION OF YOUTUBE CHANNEL It is possible to monetize your content on YouTube to start generating revenue. There are four golden rules to making money on YouTube, and they are: You need to have 1,000 subscribers on your YouTube channel. Your videos must have generated 4,000 Watch Time hours over the last 12 months. You must comply with all of YouTube's policies and guidelines. You must have an AdSense account set up. Following are the steps to be followed to monetize your YouTube channel: 1. Learn the YouTube Partner Program Requirements Commonly known as the YouTube Partner Program, or YPP for short, you'll need to hit all four requirements (listed above) before your channel will be accepted. Let's start with the 1,000 subscribers rule. This one is pretty straightforward in that it doesn't matter how long it takes for you to get to 1,000 subscribers. Once you hit that milestone, you can cross it off the list. You also need 4,000 hours of Watch Time on your videos over the last 12 months. This is all about how much video content is watched on your channel by people across the world. It’s all those hours of video that people have watched on your channel in the last 12 months (from any given date). 2. Track Your Progress Towards Meeting the YPP Requirements Are you close to monetizing your channel through the YouTube Partner Program? Here's how to check: Log in to YouTube and go to the YouTube Studio (click your profile image and select YouTube Studio). Click Monetization in the left navigation menu. The monetization page will track your progress toward reaching 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of Watch Time. When you reach both milestones, you'll see a blue button prompting you to "apply now." 3. Follow YouTube's Rules for Monetization Next on the list is the rule book. If you want to monetize your content, you need to make sure you do it the right way, as YouTube states: When you apply for the YouTube Partner Program, you'll go through a standard review process to see whether your channel meets YouTube's policy and guidelines. Only channels that meet them will be accepted into the program. YouTube constantly checks whether channels in the program are meeting YouTube's policies and guidelines. Both are comprehensive and strike a balance between meeting the interests of creators, viewers, and advertisers. It is highly recommended to familiarize yourself with these policies and guidelines if you want to monetize your content in the future. 4. Avoid Copyright and Monetization Mistakes on YouTube Among YouTube's policies and guidelines is the huge topic of copyrighted material. Essentially, if you use other people's work, you could be using copyrighted material without their permission. YouTube does not want you to do that. It will almost certainly get you demonetized or prevent you from entering the YouTube Partner Program. YouTube confirms that if all or most of your channel is dedicated to reused content, and you're not transforming the original work by adding your own unique value, then your channel is not eligible for the YouTube Partner Program. The spirit of this policy is to make sure that YouTube is incentivizing unique and original content. It also wants to reward the creators who work hard on original content. 5. Link a Google Adsense Account With Your YouTube Channel If you are going to earn money from your videos, YouTube needs a way to pay you. This will be done through an AdSense account. If you already have one, you can keep using the same one. If not, set one up during the YouTube Partner Program application process. 6. Apply to the YouTube Partner Program Let's remind ourselves of those requirements one more time. You need: 1,000 subscribers on your YouTube channel 4,000 Watch Time hours on your videos over the last 12 months To comply with all YouTube's policies and guidelines Have an AdSense account set up When you apply to the YouTube Partner Program, it may take up to a month for the platform to make a decision. Some channels have been approved in days, so the progress might move quicker. However, if it does take longer than a month, your channel will usually be placed for further review. When this happens, unfortunately, the wait times can get very long – three, six, possibly even 12 months. YOUTUBE ADS Advertising on YouTube is very different from running a PPC or paid social media campaign. There are specific creative constraints and a ton of options for on platform, and you need basic knowledge before you make use of the paid promotions. While great content is bound to be found, it's important to be proactive about gaining the attention of prospects and educating those who are unfamiliar with your brand. YouTube ads allow you to do just that. It’s a cost-effective way to target your audience with a more engaging form of content — video or audio. The Types of YouTube Video Ads There are several key types of video ads in which you can invest on YouTube. Following are some types of YouTube ads: 1. Video Discovery Ads Video discovery YouTube ads show up on the YouTube homepage, search results pages, and as related videos on YouTube video watch pages. This ad appeared after performing a YouTube search: Once a user clicks on the ad, the destination video page features a spot on the right- hand column where a companion banner display ad will appear. 2. TrueView In-Stream Ads (Skippable Ads) TrueView ads are the standard video ad type on YouTube. Advertisers only pay for TrueView ads when viewers watch or interact with their ad (for example, by clicking on a call-to-action), and videos can be easily customized to share a variety of content. Advertisers only pay when a user watches the ad for at least 30 seconds or until the end of the video or if the viewer takes an action, such as clicking on a call-to-action. 3. Non-Skippable In-Stream Ads Non-skippable ads can play before, mid-way, or after the main video. They can be 15 to 20 seconds in duration. Here’s an example: Non-skippable mid-roll video ads appear midway through a YouTube video that's 10 minutes or longer. On the desktop, viewers will see a five-second countdown, and on the app, they’ll see yellow markers where the ads are placed. 4. Bumpers Bumpers are the shortest type of YouTube video ad available to you. At just six seconds per bumper, these ad spots play before a viewer's chosen video. It’s also non-skippable ad. Bumper video ads obviously can't tell a good-enough story in just six seconds, but they make terrific complements to larger video campaigns on a new product launch or event. Just be sure to use the six seconds wisely, and include only the components of your brand you want your audience to remember. 5. Overlay Ads Overlay ads are banner ads that hover at the bottom of the video, as shown below. This type of ad is ideal to supplement your other in-stream video campaigns. A banner ad is a great way to avoid advertising your product in an intrusive way. How To Advertise On YouTube? The following are the steps to be followed to advertise on YouTube: Step 1: Account setup First, go to your Google Ads account. If you haven’t made one already, you can sign up with a Google Workspace email (either personal or business). When you first sign up, the screen might prompt you to start creating a campaign right away. Look for an option that says “Are you a professional marketer?” or “Set up without creating a campaign” and click. That way, you can get to your brand new Google Ads dashboard. When you access the dashboard, click the button that says “+ New Campaign”. Step 2 : Goal and campaign type You’ll be prompted to select a goal, then a campaign type. Choose whatever goal you’d prefer. Under campaign type, select “Video.” Step 3 : Select campaign subtype and strategy You’ll be prompted to select a campaign subtype: Video reach campaign, outstream, or ad sequence. Choose “Video reach campaign.” In the same screen, select your method for reaching your goal: Either “Efficient reach (Bumper, Skippable in-stream, or a mix)” or “Non-skippable in-stream.” Step 3: Enter a campaign name Next, enter a name for your campaign. Leave the bid strategy as it is. Step 4: Set your budget Set your budget per day or for the entire campaign. Setting a daily budget can help you keep daily costs low while ensuring you don’t run out of money too quickly. Setting a campaign total budget can help you establish a fixed investment amount that Google won’t go over. After that, choose a start and end date. Step5 : Select networks, location and languages Decide where you want your ad to appear. YouTube search results: Your video ad will appear in results for searches and will appear on the YouTube homepage, channel pages, and video pages. YouTube videos: This runs TrueView ads that appear pre or mid-roll during a YouTube video. Video partners on the Display Network: With this option, you can choose for your video ad to appear before or around videos across the Google Display Network. You should create separate campaigns for YouTube search results and YouTube videos, as this will help you to better track performance metrics. These ads are served to people performing very different activities and require a different amount of commitment from the viewer, so it's best to monitor performance separately. Next, define the location of users whom you want the ad to be shown to. You can also exclude certain locations. Last, choose the languages that your target audience speak. Step 6:Advanced settings In the advanced options, you can specify the operating system, device, and carrier for more granular targeting. This is especially useful for mobile app ads, and there's an option to increase or decrease your bid based on if the video ad is shown to someone on a mobile device. Demographics and Audience Segments Next, define the audience you would like the video to be shown to — options include gender, age, parental status, and household income. You can also target individuals by their interests, such as beauty mavens, cooking enthusiasts, horror movie fans, etc. Keywords, Topics, and Placements You can also target individuals by keywords, topics, or placements where you would like your video ad to appear. Keyword targeting with in-display ads can be a powerful tool for finding individuals who are looking for a visual answer to a question. Be sure to do your research, and try testing out different groups of keywords to see which leads to more views, clicks, or conversions. Step 7:Creating the Video Ad Last, insert the YouTube link for the video you would like to run the ad for. You will then choose whether you want this to run as an in-stream ad or an in-display ad. In-stream ads provide you with the option to overlap a display URL on top of the video. You should use a vanity URL that directs to another final URL to make it more memorable. Click Done, then click Create Campaign. YOUTUBE ANALYTICS YouTube Analytics refers to an advanced mode of YouTube where you see more specific data about your channels, assets, and audience. You can also compare content performance metrics and export your data. It helps to analyze your channel performance and understand visitors' behavior. Once you create a high-quality video and optimize it for SEO, it’s important that you understand how to use YouTube video analytics to monitor your progress. You have to keep track of how your audience finds your videos and how they’re engaging with them so that you can see which ones are performing well and which ones aren’t being discovered in search. Important metrics of YouTube Analytics 1. Watch Time Watch time is the total amount of minutes viewers have spent watching your videos. It’s a key metric because YouTube elevates videos and channels with higher watch times in their search results and recommendations section. YouTube does this because the more watch time a video has, the more engaging their algorithm presumes it to be. 2. Average Percentage Viewed Average percentage viewed is the percent of each video the average viewer watched. It measures your video’s ability to hold viewers’ attention for its entirety. And when YouTube realizes your videos can hold people’s attention, they’ll reward it with higher search and recommendation rankings. You can find this metric in your watch time report. 3. Average View Duration Average view duration is the total watch time of your video divided by the total number of video plays, including replays. This metric measures your video’s ability to engage viewers. If your video can’t engage viewers, they’ll bounce from your video quickly, leaving you with an unimpressive average view duration. But if your video can engage viewers, your average view duration and total watch time will increase at the same time, boosting your search and recommendations rankings. You can also find this metric in your watch time report. 4. Audience Retention Audience retention shows you the percentage of viewers who watch and leave your video at every single moment of the video. YouTube elevates videos with high audience retention in their search rankings and suggestions because these videos can effectively capture viewers' attention. 5. Re-watches Re-watches are the amount of times viewers re-watch certain parts of your video. If a lot of people are re-watching a specific part of your video, then they’re probably interested in the topic your video is covering during that moment. These topics can be helpful for your future video strategy. You can find this data in the absolute audience retention graph. Re-watches are usually indicated by rising curves in the graph. 6. Engagement Comments, shares, likes, and dislikes provide marketers with a lot of valuable qualitative data. Comments can paint a clear picture of your video’s emotional effect on viewers. Shares can decide how much viewers value your content and brand. Since people share content that confirms to their ideal self-persona, people who share your video are publicly displaying that they trust and support your brand. Likes and dislikes can help you determine what video topics work best with your particular audience. You can find your videos’ engagement metrics in YouTube’s Interactions Report. 7. Impressions Click-Through Rate Impressions click-through rate measures your video’s ability to prompt people to watch your video after seeing it on their homepage, recommendation section, or trending section. A higher click-through rate means your title was compelling and your video’s topic resonates with a lot of relevant audiences on YouTube. 8. Views Per Unique Viewers ‘Views per unique viewers’ is the amount of times the average viewer watches your video. This metric tells you if people can’t get enough of your video and keep re- watching it. Video topics with a lot of views per unique viewers could also be your most popular content topics, and if you cover them more, you could generate more views, watch time, and subscribers. 9. Who’s Watching Your Videos In YouTube’s demographics report, you can see the different types of people who watch your videos, segmented by age, gender, and geography. This data tells you who your most engaged audience is and who your target audience should actually be. You can also take a different approach with this data. If you’re not reaching the audience you want, try pivoting your video strategy and cover topics that would attract them. 14. Traffic Sources External referrals like social media or sites that embed your videos and YouTube referrals like search, the recommended section, and the homepage are all traffic sources. The Traffic Sources report shows you how viewers found your videos and what sources rack up the most views and watch time. You can use this data to better optimize your video promotion strategy.