Search Scientist recently had the privilege of being at the Google Accelerate conference at Google’s EMEA Headquarters in Dublin. This event is only open to the top Google Ads agencies across all of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. There we were made privy to lots of confidential information about new ad features to be released in 2019. We’re working behind the scenes on this, getting our clients whitelisted for Betas and testing, testing, testing. For now though, we’d like to share some YouTube Creative tips with you that were laid out by the YouTube team at Google Accelerate.
1. Have a Hook
Win the first 5 seconds. Have the ‘Wow!’ impact straight up. See below for the difference between a traditional story arc that builds to a climax in the middle, compared to a video that has the most impact at the start, followed by subtle brand cues, an unexpected shift, multiple quick peaks, then followed by more story for those you continue to watch. Studies repeatedly show that the traditional story arc loses viewers early on. Consider using an emerging story arc for higher impact video ads.
2. Design for Action
The three main design templates used for video ads are as follows:
– The Explainer Ad (that explain why the product or service is valuable to the viewer)
– The Demo Ad (show not tell ads that demonstrate the product/service)
– The Straight Offer Ad (for products/services that don’t need explained, e.g. 30% off a known brand)
Consider using the new Trueview for Action video ad format on YouTube. These are skippable, but more prominently push taking action, linking people through to the site with a call to action button.
3. Edit for Mobile
Take a look at what proportion of your video ads are viewed on mobile. For many, it’s the majority. The experience of watching videos on mobile is very different to that on a big screen. Editing for mobile, with faster pacing and cuts, tighter cropping, brighter footage and bigger text/graphics has been found to be more successful in engaging and converting users.
See example of this in the slide below.
Perhaps you feel that you don’t have the resources to create or update videos along these lines in house? Google can also assist by offering video editing and shooting services. They have a third party directory of YouTube trained video agencies. You can find out more at youtube.com/ads
Hope you find this helpful. If you’d like help with managing the performance of your YouTube video ads please feel free to get in touch on info@searchscientist.co.uk.
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