Drive Results With New Direct Response Solutions On YouTube
Prolonged store closures have forced brands around the world to recalibrate their media campaigns to focus on driving online sales. With this shift to digital, it’s become even clearer that every advertiser is a performance advertiser.
With YouTube, marketers have the flexibility to shift budgets and invest in driving the results that matter most. As businesses begin to reopen, they have an opportunity to use video to drive both online and offline actions on YouTube, where 70 percent of people say they bought a brand as a result of seeing it on our platform.1 That’s why we’ve invested heavily to introduce effective video solutions that drive action. Last year, the number of active advertisers using TrueView for action grew over 260 percent.2
Today, we’re making it even easier for you to inspire people to take action on YouTube with smarter solutions that make video more shoppable, use automation to drive conversions, and help you better understand attribution.
Make your video ads your new storefront
Brands are strategically using video ads when merchandising new products. Recently, Aerie needed to simultaneously drive brand love and omnichannel apparel sales for their 2020 spring campaign. They used YouTube as a full funnel solution and connected with audiences with the highest likelihood to purchase. As a result, Aerie saw strong engagement for their brand and achieved a 25 percent higher return on ad spend than the previous year—with nine times more conversions compared to their traditional media mix.
To help businesses establish a stronger e-commerce presence, we’re experimenting with a new way to make your actionable video ads more shoppable—complementing your ad with browsable product imagery to inspire the next purchase. All you need to do is sync your Google Merchant Center feed to your video ads, and you can visually expand your call-to-action button with the best-sellers you want to feature and drive traffic to the product pages that matter.
An easier way to drive more conversions
In addition, we know that with limited marketing budgets, it’s become harder to drive reach and convert demand at the same time. Today we’re announcing Video action campaigns, a simple and cost-effective way to drive more conversions across YouTube. It automatically brings video ads that drive action to the YouTube home feed, watch pages, and Google video partners, all within one campaign. To make it even simpler, we’ll include any future inventory that becomes available, like the What to Watch Next feed. This way you can save time to focus on strategic initiatives like crafting the right creative and messaging for your audiences.
We’ve seen Video action campaigns work for companies of all sizes, including Mos, a startup that helps students find funds for college to avoid large student debts. As a newer company, Mos was excited to test out a solution that could drive results quickly. In the last few months, Mos saw 30 percent more purchases for their service at a third of the cost compared to their previous YouTube benchmarks.
Transform your campaign into a lead generation tool
For businesses that rely on new leads to sustain growth, we recommend adding lead forms to your Video campaigns. Lead forms help advertisers capture qualified leads while reducing costs – all without interrupting the viewing experience. Automobile giant Jeep tried this approach with their Korea branch and saw a 13 times increase in completed leads at an 84 percent lower cost per lead. With lead forms, they generated “the most leads at the most efficient cost among all ad platforms,” says Kenny Hwang, Jeep’s Korea Marketing Manager.
Plan for greater impact across different consumer touchpoints
We often see that people switch between Search and YouTube to find new information that influences what to buy. In order to help you understand where your conversions are coming from and provide more transparency around your customer’s path to purchase, we’ve included YouTube in our Google Ads attribution reports. Attribution reports can provide insight into how budgets can be allocated to maximize impact across YouTube, search and shopping campaigns.
As businesses begin to reopen and enter into a state of recovery, we hope these new solutions will make it even easier for you to find new leads, boost web traffic or drive sales. To get started on any of these new products and features, please reach out to your Google account team and we’ll be ready to help.
1. Google/Talkshoppe, US, whyVideo study, n=2000 A18-64 Genpop video users, Feb 2020.
2. Source: Google data, Global, Jan-Dec 2018 vs Jan-Dec 2019. Active advertisers count based on advertisers that had multiple TrueView for action campaigns with nonzero spend throughout the year..
Source: Official Google Webmasters Blog
201 W. Montecito St.
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
We really need to try something like this to build our YouTube presence. It says “All you need to do is sync your Google Merchant Center feed to your video ads, and you can visually expand your call-to-action button with the best-sellers you want to feature and drive traffic to the product pages that matter.” How do we do that? Is it easy? You always provide the best information. Love this website.
Sue, thank you for your kind words!
To sync your Google Merchant Center feed to your video ads and visually expand your call-to-action button, you need to follow these steps:
1. Set up your Google Merchant Center account and create a product feed.
2. Link your Google Ads account to your Google Merchant Center account.
3. Create a new TrueView for action campaign in Google Ads.
4. Choose your video ad format and create your ad.
5. Under the “Ad elements” section, select “CTA” and choose “Shop Now”.
6. Connect your Merchant Center account by selecting the option “Sync your Merchant Center feed with this campaign”.
7. Select the products you want to feature and customize your product picker.
Once you’ve completed these steps, your video ad will display the selected products alongside your call-to-action button. This can help drive more traffic to your product pages and increase your chances of making sales.
It’s worth noting that this process may require some technical expertise, so you may want to work with a Google Ads expert or agency to ensure that everything is set up correctly.
Setting up a True view for actions enables marketers to optimize results on and off Youtube by adding prominent calls-to-action (CTAs), headline text overlays, and an end screen to your video ads.
Yes Lawrence, TrueView for action is a powerful tool for marketers to drive conversions and achieve their advertising goals on and off YouTube. With prominent CTAs, text overlays, and end screens, advertisers can encourage viewers to take specific actions such as visiting a website, making a purchase, or filling out a lead form. This can lead to more effective and efficient advertising campaigns, ultimately helping businesses achieve their desired outcomes.
Hi Taylor,
During the pandemic, it has been tough to shop as I prefer to see and have the product in my hands in order to make a decision on whether or not to purchase the item. Since I was not able to do that, I had to look into other ways to get a better perspective of the item before purchasing. That is where YouTube, and the internet comes into play. I would search for reviews on the item on the internet, and some items have reviews on YouTube. The ones that are most helpful on YouTube are the ones where the package is opened in front of you, as that allows me to see what I will be seeing when the item arrives.
Hi there, Jen! Thanks for sharing your experience with shopping during the pandemic. It’s great to hear that you found YouTube to be a helpful resource for product reviews and unboxing videos. It’s interesting to see how the shift to digital has impacted not only advertisers but also consumers’ shopping behavior. With the introduction of new video solutions, such as Google Video Ads: Shopping and Video action campaigns, businesses have even more opportunities to drive online and offline actions through video advertising. It will be exciting to see how advertisers continue to innovate and adapt in this rapidly changing landscape
Whether branding or rebranding; video action campaigns offers a full-funnel strategy for achieving marketing objectives. It has been observed to generates more leads and conversions.
Yes, that’s correct, Austin! Video action campaigns on YouTube provide businesses with a cost-effective way to drive more conversions and reach their marketing objectives. By incorporating shoppable product imagery and lead forms, businesses can transform their video campaigns into effective lead generation tools. With the added transparency and insight provided by Google Ads attribution reports, businesses can better understand their customer’s path to purchase and optimize their budget allocation for maximum impact.
Our business has ramped up marketing on YouTube to meet the trends that you’ve describe here. Bigger call to action buttons equal more conversions. I’m with Sue on this one. Love the information, but it is a bit vague on what needs to happen. I’d love an infograph to complement the great information in this article. I support that YouTube is rolling out more tools for businesses to engage with their following and grow. Can’t wait to see what’s next.
Thanks again!
Glad to hear that your business has ramped up marketing on YouTube to meet the changing trends. The article highlights some of the new tools and features that YouTube is rolling out to help businesses drive online and offline actions with their video ads. The new shoppable video ads and video action campaigns are designed to help businesses drive more conversions, while the lead generation with video campaigns can help businesses capture qualified leads at a lower cost. YouTube is also included in Google Ads attribution reports to provide more transparency around the customer’s path to purchase. An infographic would be a great way to visualize this information and help businesses better understand how to use these tools effectively. It’s exciting to see what new features YouTube will roll out in the future to help businesses grow their following and engage with their audiences.
Video action campaigns are boosting leads in muli-folds now. Making videos and search together encourage consumers to land on the action platform right away and thus create business impacts.
Correct, Roger! Video action campaigns have proven to be very effective in boosting leads and driving conversions on YouTube. By combining video ads with automation and shoppable features, businesses can encourage consumers to take action and make purchases more easily. Additionally, understanding the consumer’s path to purchase through attribution reports can help businesses allocate their budgets more effectively and maximize their impact across different touchpoints.
Video action campaigns helped marketers to ensure budget optimization while generating more leads. The solution is customizable across platforms and getting popular each day.
Right, Daniel! Video action campaigns are a great tool for marketers to optimize their budget and drive conversions. It’s great to see that Google is investing in new solutions to make video ads more shoppable and providing more transparency around the customer’s path to purchase. It’s also encouraging to hear success stories from brands like Aerie and Mos, who have seen significant improvements in their ROI and conversion rates.
The use of digital media has undergone a paradigm shift due to the coronavirus pandemic globally. Now every dollar spends on digital media requires calculating ROI for the marketers. Video action campaigns solution ensures more leads generation.
Aronia, the pandemic has accelerated the shift towards digital media and has made it more important than ever for marketers to calculate the ROI of their campaigns. Video action campaigns can be an effective solution for driving more conversions and generating leads. With features like shoppable video ads and lead forms, businesses can make their video campaigns more actionable and see better results. Additionally, the integration of YouTube into Google Ads attribution reports can provide valuable insights into the customer journey and help marketers allocate their budgets more effectively.
Enabling deferred deep linking gives new app users a smoother onboarding experience—from app install straight to the item they saw in the ad. This feature has proven to boost app conversion, higher mobile purchases, and an overall smooth consumer experience.
Hello, Ann! It’s interesting to see how brands are shifting their focus to digital advertising and using video solutions like YouTube to drive both online and offline actions. The new Google Video Ads solutions like Video action campaigns and lead generation with Video campaigns seem like effective ways to drive conversions and capture qualified leads. Enabling deferred deep linking is also a great feature that can enhance the user experience and increase app conversions. It’s exciting to see how technology is constantly evolving to better serve businesses and consumers.
Creating an easy and engaging user experience is the key to sustainability. Test my site can help boost the web vitals. You can measure the app conversion from Google analytics.
Thank you for the comment, Ken! I agree that user experience is crucial for sustainability, and testing with tools like Test My Site and Google Analytics can help improve website performance and conversion rates. It’s great to see companies investing in video solutions that drive action and provide more insights into customer behavior, especially in the current digital landscape.
Measuring the quality of user experience has many facets while some aspects of user experience are site and context-specific. Such core user experience includes loading experience, interactivity, and visual stability of page content, and combined these ‘Core Web Vitals’are critical to all web experiences.
Absolutely, Brian! Measuring the quality of user experience is essential to ensuring that users have a positive experience when interacting with a website or application. Core Web Vitals are a great starting point for measuring and improving the user experience, but it’s also important to consider other aspects such as accessibility, usability, and content relevance. A holistic approach to user experience can help businesses build trust with their audience, improve engagement and drive conversions.
Mobile Responsive web design can improve the user experience which will translate into a positive perception of brand and business. It can improve the conversion rate radically and provide a lasting impact on the brand adoption funnel.
Indeed, Gary! Mobile responsiveness is crucial in today’s digital world where more and more people are accessing content on their mobile devices. By providing a seamless user experience on all devices, including smartphones and tablets, brands can increase engagement and ultimately drive more conversions. It’s great to see that Google is introducing new solutions to help businesses make their video ads more shoppable and easier to convert, which will undoubtedly lead to a more positive brand perception and increased sales.
Coronavirus pandemic has changed a lot into consumer behavior lately. Purchasing online became new normal with a preference for mobile as a convenient platform for the purpose. Now both the marketer and the developer have to marry on the fact for further developing the platform.
True, Nathan. The pandemic has certainly accelerated the shift towards online shopping and mobile commerce. It’s important for marketers and developers to adapt to these changes and provide seamless experiences for consumers across various touchpoints. The advancements in Google’s video ad solutions, such as Video action campaigns and shoppable ads, can help businesses drive more conversions and sales on YouTube, which has become a key platform for reaching and engaging with consumers.