Key takeaways from this post:
· YouTube is hot and getting HOTTER!
· There’s now THREE YouTube options to capture audiences.
· Short is better. Ads that keep attention and provide retention.
From Cat Videos to a MAJOR player in Video Consumption
It’s been twenty years since the very first video was posted on an unknown website called YouTube. April 23, 2005 Jawed Karim, a co-founder of YouTube, posted a :19 second video called, “Me at the Zoo.” It’s a rather underwhelming video that started somewhat of a butterfly-effect that would change the way we consume video forever. Two decades and millions of cat videos later, YouTube just hit yet another impressive milestone. According to Nielsen’s monthly report of The Gauge™, streaming video surpassed not only broadcast television and cable television, but BOTH COMBINED! YouTube topped the list of streaming services contributing 12.5% or slightly of ¼ of the total 44.8% share.
Is it a sign of the times? That remains to be seen. The clear takeaway is if you’re not advertising on YouTube, you’re missing the boat! Less than a few years ago, advertising on YouTube meant your pre-roll or mid-stream ad might appear on some vlogger’s page on someone’s smartphone or tablet. Now your ads not only appear in “How to Unclog Your Sink” videos, but also in movies, tv shows, music, and the continuously growing sports landscape. AND it’s being consumed across more than just handheld devices, mainly smart TVs. In a recent blog post from YouTube CEO Neal Mohan he points out, “Viewers are watching, on average, over 1 Billion hours of YouTube content on TVs daily, and TV is now the primary device for YouTube viewing in the U.S.” (by watch time across all YouTube services, as of Dec 2024)
The YouTube+ Suite is Sweet!
By now I’m convinced that you’re convinced you need to be cashing in on the YouTube advertising cash cow. So how do you do that and what are the options? Let me break it down:
YouTube: :6 seconds to a whopping 6:00 minutes of unskippable ads using behavioral targeting in conjunction with retargeting. Six minutes? Don’t do it. (We will cover this later in the blog post)
YouTube TV: :6 to :15 seconds of unskippable ads using behavioral targeting in conjunction with retargeting. Premium inventory that is served ONLY on Connected TVs. Big screens mean big branding!
YouTube+ - :6 to :15 seconds of unskippable ads using behavioral targeting in conjunction with retargeting across YouTube (traditional), Google TV, YouTube Movies and YouTube TV.
That’s right, one ad buy with four placements! Here’s a little more about the reach of those placements:
1. YouTube: The same great YouTube ads we’ve always offered. We’ve established YouTube is the KING of video content.
2. Google TV: provides targeted, in-stream video inventory across more than 125 channels built into Google TV. Google TV provides targeted, in-stream video inventory across more than 20 million monthly active Google TV and other Android TV OS devices.
3. YouTube Movies: has 163 million active monthly users. YouTube Movies is listed under YouTube channels and those placements are automatically included with our YouTube buys. In reporting, YouTube Movies are not broken out by movie title like YouTube TV is broken out by channel.
4. YouTube TV will reach 15.8 million subscribers this year (its main Pay TV competitor, Hulu + Live TV, trails at 11.4 million). YouTube TV is now the exclusive home of NFL Sunday Ticket. There is a HUGE selection of channels on YouTube TV! It also boasts over 100 of the best networks and channels including ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, ESPEN, CNN, Food Network and more.
As you can see, if you have an audience to capture, YouTube+ hits every checklist.
Keep YouTube Ads Short & Sweet
If you ask a 100 marketers, “What gets better results, short video ads or long video ads?” 99 out of 100 will tell you short ads are better. The other one… Should read this blog. It’s not a matter of opinion. It’s not what the client wants because they like seeing their own face for six minutes. It’s science! We discussed earlier how YouTube and video have changed the way we consume video and how we consume ads has changed with that. The TV and Radio ads we grew up with were generally thirty to sixty seconds and were often clustered into two to three minutes breaks. These days we’ve developed a bit of “TikTok brain”, short form has changed our ability to pay attention the same way we did years ago. With advertisements its no different. Our expectations are one, at most two, 15-second videos before we consume the content we selected. Anything beyond that we might disengage and do something crazy like read a book about, “How to train a hamster to dance” instead.
According to MNTN Research, a study conducted by WARC revealed that a few seconds of a short-form TV ad had a bigger attention impact than someone who viewed the same duration of a longer commercial. This means shorter ads are more attentionally efficient and drive a higher uplift in either recall or choice. To put it simply, we aren’t very patient, we’re getting used to short content and we remember brands just as well or better in :6 to :15 seconds as we do 3-minute ads. Which brings me to another point, branding and awareness.
Where Does YouTube+ Land in the Funnel?
While the biggest chunk of funnel belongs to Branding and Awareness, the fact is, YouTube+ really can hit ALL areas of the funnel. With the uptick in QR codes embedded into ads and new innovations like “Send to Phone” buttons, so direct conversions can now be effective and tracked. Though the conversions are much lower than some other forms of digital advertising, we are seeing this trending towards a more common interaction. From local “Mom and Pops” shops setting up a call now QR code to Superbowl ads displaying only a floating QR code… it’s becoming a more popular choice to include some form of conversion into your video ads.
Final Thoughts: Why YouTube Advertising Is a Smart Move
In today’s digital landscape, attention is everything and YouTube is where that attention lives. With billions of users, laser-sharp targeting, flexible budgets, and measurable performance, advertising on YouTube isn’t just a trend it’s a strategic advantage.
Whether your client is building brand awareness, launching a product, or has a service that folks just need to know about, our YouTube+ suite gives you the tools to connect with audiences in a powerful, visual, and memorable way. If you're ready to amplify your client’s reach and turn views into value, YouTube, YouTube TV or YouTube+ is an absolute must campaign strategy.
