How Much Do YouTube Ads Cost?

Did you know that YouTube was the second most visited site globally in 2020, with over 20 billion visitors a month? 

Advertising on YouTube is just as important as advertising on the most visited site globally, Google.

Because Google owns it, YouTube has a similar bidding mechanism that determines placement.

With YouTube, however, you pay per video view. If a viewer watches your video advertisement for 30 seconds or clicks on a call to action or companion banner, you pay for that engagement. Comparing this to a platform like Facebook, which charges advertisers for 3 seconds of view time, you can see how YouTube can be a viable option for advertisers.

So how much do YouTube ads really cost? 

According to Google Ads Support, the average YouTube ad will cost advertisers between $0.03-$0.30 per view. 

What factors affect the cost of YouTube advertising?

Several factors affect how much you'll pay for advertising on YouTube.

• Bidding price. How much you're willing to pay for an ad is a crucial component of determining how much you end up paying for an ad.
• Relevancy. Considering whether your ad is relevant to the audience you're marketing to can affect not only the price you pay for an advertisement, but its placement as well.
• Ad Type. Where is your ad being shown, and what type of ad is it? There are several types of advertisements on YouTube.

1. Instream Trueview ad: This is the advertisement that runs before a video that you can skip after five seconds. The beautiful thing about this type of ad is that you are not charged unless a viewer watches the ad for at least 30 seconds. However, if your ad is under 30 seconds and the viewer completes the ad you have to pay for the view as well.
2. Discovery ads: These are considered as the search engine results within YouTube. These ads are charged a bit differently. You only have to pay for these ads when a user clicks on the ad to view the video.
3. Non-skippable Instream ad: Non-skippable before a video that can't be skipped and generally lasts anywhere from 15 to 20 seconds. These ads are mainly used by brands to increase brand awareness and are very expensive.

How Do You Save Money on YouTube Ads?

Saving money and having a cost-effective campaign go hand in hand. Here are some ways you can create the most effective YouTube ads that'll keep costs down:

1. Delegate. A YouTube advertising campaign takes a lot of time and effort, and ensuring you have the right people working on your campaign is critical. Whether you decide to run the campaign in-house or hire a marketing agency, ensure a YouTube team leader is focused strictly on your business's YYoutube advertising campaign.

2. Know your target. Understanding who you are trying to reach with your YouTube advertising campaign is essential. Knowing who you need to market to is the first step to getting conversions. There are several different ways you can narrow down the crowd and find your ideal audience: 

• Demographics: Think of attributes such as gender, age, income, and parental status.
• Interest and Topics: Consider what topics and relevant information your ideal audience is interested in watching on YouTube videos. Ask yourself what specific topics are my ideal customer searching for on YouTube? What keywords or phrases are they using?
• Remarketing: Market to people who have previously interacted with your brand and video content.

3. Produce Relevant Quality Content. In order to get the best result with your YouTube ads, it's essential to create quality content. You want to produce content your target audience wants to watch and engage in, and for that to happen, the content quality should be good. This means creating high-resolution videos that provide viewers with the information they want to learn about your product or related subjects. Now that you've filmed a high-quality video that answers your ideal target's pain points, it's time to release it to the world.

4. Keep your video length to a minimum. Producing concise and compelling videos will encourage better results for your campaign. According to Hubspot, your video should be 45 seconds or less. This is usually seen as the industry standard and allows you to get your message across without potentially irritating viewers.

5. Relevant landing pages. Whenever you run an advertising campaign, whether it's on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, or Google, it's essential to provide relevant information and connect potential customers to the exact information they want to learn more about. The best way to do this is with a landing page. These landing pages are specific pages that help users learn more about your product that interests them already. You will want to create a specific landing page for your YouTube campaign to optimize it with the relevant information your YouTube ad is presenting. If someone fancies the information they see in your ad, a landing page is an excellent way to direct that highly relevant lead into a conversion.

6. Observe your operations. In order to understand how effective a campaign is, it's essential to monitor how it's performing. With YouTube ads, you can access a wide variety of metrics that allow you to monitor your campaign's performance. Essential metrics you'll have access to are things like views, likes, shares, and subscriptions. Seeing these real-time stats gives you the ability to constantly test and refine your advertising approach, ensuring you are providing the best content available as well as running your ads optimally.

If you intend to market your business YouTube is one of the best options available. Remember to keep in mind the cost effective strategies above while refining your YouTube ads. 

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