A performance-based strategy will help brands achieve more on YouTube through relevance. YouTube itself validated the performance-based concept when it announced that it was dropping unskippable 30-second ads.
Moving to all skippable ads makes sense for YouTube users, who are long accustomed to being able to choose their content. If they can skip to the content they want to watch, they should also be able to choose the ads they wish to watch. Skippable ads are simply part of the construct of YouTube.
While so many marketers shudder at the concept that their ads will be skipped, we’re here to tell you that giving consumers the choice to watch you or not will improve your campaign metrics.
Herein lies where you can YouTube better than YouTube itself: adopt a performance-based strategy by marrying the large scale of TrueView with precision targeting. This approach enables the marketer to personalize messaging and target campaigns to those viewers that are most relevant to them. If the viewer chooses to watch, they (obviously) deem the message more relevant to their experience. Adding the layer of precision targeting on top of TrueView is how you get results.
The proof is in the pudding. Campaigns exposed to performance-based YouTube ads see a 57% lift in consideration, and 65% boost in brand awareness.*
One mainstay of television advertising that applies to the digital world is that quality content will get viewed. But “quality” isn’t the same as “viral.” Yes, those viral ads certainly deliver for their brand. Brands shouldn’t seek to be breakout YouTube stars. Instead, precision targeting, personalization, localization and messaging that is relevant to the consumer experience will deliver campaign success.
Here are some ideas on how to YouTube better than YouTube with Performance Video:
- Localize: Through connecting with consumers in the construct of the real world in which they live, with locations and offers that are locally relevant.
- Personalize: Render as many personalized messages you need to in the ad, but do so at scale, making the messaging more relevant.
- Optimize: Verify campaign performance with industry metrics from Nielsen DAR and other industry standards
*SOURCE: Sightly performance metrics, 2016