🧠Why simply running YouTube ads isn’t enough—And what you should do instead

YouTube, with its billions of monthly active users, is a goldmine for businesses. However, simply creating ads isn't enough. To truly harness its potential, you need a well-crafted strategy. This guide will walk you through the essential steps to create and execute effective YouTube ads that drive results. 🎯

Let’s break this into 3 most important steps.

Conversion tracking 📈

Key benefits of tracking:

• Measure performance 📊

• Optimize campaigns ⚙️

• Understand customer journey 🗺️

All marketers are aware that conversion tracking is something that’s a base for building a castle but most of them are tying the tracking to only the main conversion goal like lead or purchase, which are indeed the core conversion actions used for the campaign’s optimization but are not aware how micro-conversions are important and why. 

The power of micro-conversions in YouTube ads ⚡

Micro-conversions are small, measurable actions that users take on your website, indicating increased interest in your product or service. While they may not directly lead to a purchase, they provide valuable insights into user behavior and help you optimize your YouTube ad campaigns.

Why track micro-conversions? 🤔

Enhanced audience insights:

• Understand user behavior: By tracking micro-conversions like “landing page view”, "add to cart" and "begin checkout," you can gain a deeper understanding of how users interact with your website. 🧐

• Identify bottlenecks: If you notice a significant drop-off between "add to cart" and "begin checkout," you can identify potential issues in your checkout process and take steps to improve it. 🚧

• Optimize ad targeting: Use the data from micro-conversions to refine your targeting and reach users who are more likely to convert. 🎯

Improved campaign performance:

• More data for optimization: Tracking micro-conversions provides Google Ads with more data to optimize your campaigns (that’s pretty important on the account with no data as it’s essential to feed the pixel as much with the conversion data in order to speed up the process of the campaign’s learning phase) 🧠

• Enhanced bidding strategies: With more data points, Google Ads can make more accurate bidding decisions, helping you maximize your return on investment (ROI). 💰

• A/B testing: You can test different ad creatives, landing pages, and call-to-actions to determine which elements are most effective in driving micro-conversions. 🧪

Better customer experience:

• Personalized experiences: By understanding user behavior, you can tailor your website and marketing messages to their specific needs and preferences. 

• Reduced cart abandonment: By identifying and addressing the reasons for cart abandonment, you can improve the checkout process and increase conversions. 🛒

Campaign structure 🏗️

Why does campaign structure matter?

A well-structured YouTube ad campaign is crucial for maximizing your return on investment (ROI). Here's why:

1. Enhanced targeting and relevance:

   • Precise audience segmentation: By organizing your campaigns into distinct ad groups, you can target specific audience segments with tailored messaging. This precision helps you reach the right people at the right time, increasing engagement and conversions. 🎯

2. Simplified campaign management:

   • Organized workflow: A clear campaign structure makes it easier to manage and monitor your campaigns. 🗓️

   • Efficient troubleshooting: When issues arise, a well-organized structure helps you quickly identify and resolve problems. 🛠️

3. Enhanced reporting and analytics:

   • Actionable insights: A well-structured campaign provides granular data that you can use to measure performance and identify areas for improvement. 📊

   • Data-driven decisions: By analyzing performance metrics, you can make informed decisions about future campaigns. 🧠

Let’s expand this with more practical content. 

I saw in a lot of cases that marketers use the same campaign structure cross-channel and that in practice doesn’t show good results and here’s why: 

Inside YT i.e. you can’t set the budget on the ad group level like on FB so you don’t have control over the spending on the ad group level. So, when you have multiple ad groups within one campaign they are not tested fair way as one or two always dominate the ad spend while the rest are barely or not spending at all.  This pattern results in the same way when having more than 2-3 ads per ad group as the pixel is not pushing each creative equally and you will see that 1 ad spent 80% of the budget with having bad performance while some underspending ad is doing great results wise but it’s not given a chance ad spend wise. That’s something that needs to be set properly when it comes to the campaign creation and optimized regularly in order to make sure you are ahead of the curve regarding the wasted ad spend on low-performing assets. In other words, you can’t expect the pixel to do all the magic, so this side as well is pretty important in order to ensure proper tests and best results. 

Creative 🎨

Video ads have revolutionized the way businesses engage with their audience on YouTube. They offer a unique opportunity to captivate viewers, tell compelling stories, and drive conversions.

When it comes to the creative approach, we can divide them into 2 most basic approaches:

• Short-form

• Long-form ads

Leveraging short-form and long-form video ads 🎬

Short-form video ads:

• Perfect for hooking viewers: These concise ads, typically 10 seconds or less, are ideal for capturing attention quickly. ⚡

• Ideal for brand awareness and lead generation: Use them to introduce your brand, showcase a product, or drive traffic to your website. 📣

Best practices:

• Keep it concise and impactful. 🎯

• Use strong visuals and sound. 👁️👂

• Include a clear call to action. 📣

Long-form video ads:

• Ideal for storytelling and product demonstrations: Longer-form ads (10 - 60 minutes) provide ample opportunity to tell a story, showcase a product in detail, or educate your audience. 📚

Best practices:

• Hook viewers early on. 🎣 

• Break up the video with chapters or timestamps. ⏱️

• Use strong visuals and sound. 👁️👂

• Include clear calls to action throughout the video. 📣

Key considerations for both formats are:

• Niche - depending on the nature of the offer short format videos are mostly a good fit for lead gen, and info product while long-form ads tend to work really well when it comes to e-commerce, nutra offers, etc. 

• Funnel type - If you want to create a strong setup when it comes to the viewer/visitor journey and how much you educate them down that road, then you need to take care about the ad length, and landing page content as that’s crucial when it comes to direct response marketing from a creative side of things. 

By effectively utilizing short-form and long-form video ads, you can elevate your YouTube advertising efforts and achieve your marketing goals. 🏆

By combining these essential elements and ensuring they work seamlessly together, we can dramatically improve our chances of achieving significant outcomes. 💪

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