Google Ads Video Campaigns

Many marketing experts today still consider YouTube to be a good way to increase brand awareness and generate cheap traffic. This assumption is indeed legitimate, as YouTube video ads primarily served this purpose in the past. But times have changed, and so have the opportunities YouTube offers marketers. While it used to be unimaginable to achieve many direct conversions with YouTube campaigns, it is now possible to focus your campaign on conversions and use automated bidding strategies such as “maximize conversions” and “maximize conversion value.” And this is thanks to one of the latest Google Ads video campaigns launched on the market - the video action campaign.

Before addressing the main topic, I want to emphasize the significance of YouTube as a channel and highlight the importance of incorporating this platform into your marketing mix.

Why YouTube?

Image Source: Google Support

In a world where digital presence is increasingly decisive, YouTube has established itself as a key platform in the marketing mix. This has been confirmed by several statistics in recent years. According to Statista, more than 2 billion users are active on YouTube every month worldwide, which corresponds to about 40% of global users.
In January 2024, YouTube secured the second place in the ranking of the world's largest social networks. This positioning is no surprise when you consider that only in Germany, about 72.6 million people use YouTube monthly, with a daily reach of about 37%, according to a survey from 2022.
The fact that many users spend a lot of time on the platform is evidenced by the 2019 Comscore study, which shows that YouTube offers the longest playback time among ad-supported streaming services.
Regarding the user demographics, YouTube is most frequently used by people aged 25 to 34 years, unlike platforms like TikTok, which are more preferred by a younger target audience.
YouTube's popularity is due to its numerous advantages. Users can learn, get inspired, become part of a community with shared interests, and discover new products. All these factors make the platform a powerful tool for advertisers looking to effectively engage their target audiences and increase brand or product awareness. Especially the possibility to reach users at the very moment they search for products or services is a decisive advantage. Moreover, many users consider the recommendations of their favorite YouTube creators in the purchasing process.
All in all, YouTube has proven to be “the place to be,” and as marketers, we want to advertise where everyone wants to be.

What is a Video Action Campaign?

Video action campaigns offer an efficient way to generate a higher number of conversions through a single automated campaign on both YouTube and other platforms. They are designed to directly encourage your audience to take action and not only scale conversions but also the overall revenue.

However, this is not the first YouTube campaign type designed to encourage direct conversions. Video action campaigns are considered an evolution of the former TrueView for Action campaigns, which have not been available on Google Ads since 2022. While the latter offered many benefits, they lacked some of the advanced features integrated into video action campaigns. Google reports that compared to TrueView for Action campaigns, you can achieve up to 20% higher conversion rates with them. In this sense, the “True View for Action” campaign served as the foundation for developing the current YouTube campaign type.

Where are the video ads displayed and what do they look like?

YouTube allows advertisers to deliver their ads through various formats, including skippable in-stream ads, in-feed video ads, and YouTube Shorts. In contrast, True View for Actions could only use skippable in-stream ads.

Besides the homepage feed, video ads can appear in the “Recommended Videos” section and on the search results pages. They are displayed not only on YouTube but also with Google video partners, significantly increasing reach.

If you want to use video ads, they should be at least 10 seconds long. As for video ads themselves, the Google ad videos you want to use as ads must be at least 10 seconds long. Since the introduction of video action campaigns, Google Ads has improved the ad's appearance. Recently, the number of assets you can add to ad texts has been expanded. Currently, you can insert 5 call-to-actions, headlines, long ad titles, and descriptions per ad. However, some assets are not displayed in certain formats. For example, descriptions are not visible in skippable in-stream ads.

For even stronger campaign performance, various additional assets can be integrated. These include site links, lead forms, or product feeds. These elements can significantly enhance user engagement and conversions by providing additional interaction opportunities directly within the ad.

Which creatives are suitable for video action campaigns?

ABCD Principle

Creating relevant advertising content is key to the success of any YouTube campaign. The first few seconds of a video are crucial in capturing the viewers' attention. Use visually appealing, high-contrast images and ensure that your brand is noticeable from the beginning and consistently present throughout the video. Try to tell a story within your video that highlights important USPs but also evokes emotions. End each video with a clear call-to-action (CTA) to encourage interactions. For more information, you can check out Google's ABCD principle for effective creatives.

What bidding strategies can be used?

Since video action campaigns focus on conversions, you can select conversion-related bidding strategies like “Target CPA.” It is important to note that the set campaign budget influences how quickly the algorithm can optimize the campaign for conversions. Particularly for the “Target CPA” bidding strategy, a daily budget is recommended that is at least 15 times the targeted CPA.

The “Target ROAS” and “Maximize conversion value” bidding strategies are only available for video action campaigns once the campaign has achieved at least 30 conversions.

Which best practices are recommended for video action campaigns?

Using the WAVE tool on the Google Store

1. Test different ad variations: Experiment with different CTAs, ad texts, and video content to find out what resonates best with your audience. As more users are mobile, it is advisable to include vertical videos among the ad materials as they are optimized for mobile devices.

2. Use additional assets only when necessary: While the use of assets, such as lead forms, can improve your campaign's performance, this is not always the case. They can affect how your ads are delivered and user behavior. For example, a long lead form may cause users to abandon rather than convert. Furthermore, you should strategically consider whether different assets are even beneficial for the success of your video action campaign.

3. Select the right conversion goal: This point is particularly important if many and different conversion goals are stored in the account. When creating a video action campaign, you should only retain those that are relevant, as the algorithm cannot distinguish between different conversion goals.

4. Activate optimized targeting: With this option, Google promises about 20% more conversions.

5. Set the right expectations: As already mentioned, video action campaigns are conversion-oriented, and as such, the algorithm prioritizes the conversions set as a goal in the campaign. You can certainly strengthen your brand or product awareness, but the prices you would pay for this, e.g., the average CPM, would be higher than with other Google Ads video campaigns. For this reason, you should be clear about what you want to achieve with YouTube as part of the marketing mix and which measures are best suited for this purpose.

Why test the video action campaign?

Testing is an essential part of every marketing expert's daily routine. Taking the known path might generally be beneficial but does not always work. Regular success on Google Ads requires staying up to date and testing what the platform has to offer. In this sense, I encourage you to give the video action campaign a fair chance and experience its unique features for yourself.

If you need help planning, creating, or optimizing such campaigns, the Warriors from Berlin are happy to assist you. You can contact us anytime for a non-binding offer contact us.