If you ask what is the best way of advertising to hook your target audience, the answer is arguably video ads. With over 50 million content creators who upload 576,000 hours of video to YouTube every day, video ads are definitely the most effective way to build your brand and reach the target audience. But with viewers hovering the mouse over the skip button for those long Ads, the current ad formats are not effective up to the mark for the marketers.
But when it comes to video ads, there are a lot of issues. For starters, it takes a very long time to design, be in animated or the one you shot and edited. From file size to rendering, video ads require great craft and care. But do they really pay off?
As a marketer, whenever you place a video ad in front of a YouTube video, people generally tend to skip it. Even if they are hooked, it’s pretty difficult to hold their attention even for a mere ten seconds. No matter what you do, your ad is skipped eventually.
YouTube found a solution for this with Bumper Ads. From an audience’s perspective, the ad will annoy them for only 6 seconds. But the catch is they cannot skip the ad. They have to watch it for the whole 6 seconds before they can watch the video they intended to watch. From an advertiser’s perspective, one can be 100% sure that one’s ad is viewed or heard. The catch is one has got only 6 seconds to let the audience know about his brand.
Either way, Bumper Ads make everyone happy. If you are an advertiser, here are some important things you should probably know about Bumper Ads for your YouTube Ad campaign:
1. The Purpose of YouTube Bumper Ads
Since you only have six seconds to convey your message to your audience, it would make more sense if you use your bumper ads not to launch your brand, but to increase brand awareness. Let the TrueView ads pitch your brand with the 15 seconds it has got. After it has done its purpose, it’s time for Bumper ads to increase awareness.
2. They Work Best When Used with an Existing TrueView Ad Campaign
Although technically Bumper ads can be launched as an independent campaign, Google recommends you merge it with your existing TrueView ad campaign to increase brand awareness. Once your TrueView ads gain enough momentum, it’s time to launch the non-skippable YouTube Ads which elevates your brand awareness.
3. Know about the Formats and File Sizes
File sizes and formats are very important when it comes to all video ads. A big file size causes too much buffering time and you don’t want that. Plus you have to upload the video in a suitable format which YouTube can process. Everything about that could be understood with an infographic developed by TechWyse. This infographic works as a guide to a successful YouTube Bumper Ad campaign.
4. The Design of Bumper Ads
When you design a Bumper Ad, always keep in mind you have only six seconds to say what you have to say. The easy way of trimming down one of your existing ad to six seconds won’t do the trick. You have to design a focussed and hooking ad from scratch. The infographic from TechWyse has some tips for you.
5. The Placement of Your Ads
Like other YouTube ads, make sure you place your ad in the beginning or in the first 60 seconds of the video. Most people close the video before it reaches the one minute mark to make sure your ad is seen before that. Even though the ad is unskippable, the audience is less likely to feel annoyed since your ad lasts only for a few seconds.
How Do You Make a Winning Campaign with Bumper Ads?
It looks simple in question to make an ad that lasts just 6 seconds. But many marketers fail to convey the message in such a short duration. You’ll also miss out the opportunities to communicate with the specific audience with such a short time. So how do you overcome this?
1. Creative Thinking Is Everything!
Leave all the cliche stuff and put your brain to work. The attention span of people is shrinking which puts marketers in a tough spot. This makes creative content important not only to grab the viewers attention but also to deliver the right message in a short span of time.
2. Data Research Can Make a Difference
Always do thorough research on your target audience before starting a campaign. Use the data to drive them to reach a specific audience. This method is extremely effective and improves the reach for your content.
3. Build in Series Than Singles
The best Ads on the internet are a series of small stories. Those powerful little touches of six seconds can make a memorable series with different facets of idea or message.
4. Works Best with an Existing TrueView Ad Campaign
Although Bumper ads can be launched as an independent campaign, Google recommends you merge it with your existing TrueView ad campaign to increase brand awareness. Once your TrueView ads gain enough momentum, it’s time to launch the non-skippable YouTube Ads which elevates your brand awareness
Bumper ads are neat and nifty no matter whose side you think from, the advertisers or the users. And that’s what makes it an ineluctable choice for your YouTube Ad campaign. Try it out at least once and witness the brand awareness escalation for yourself!
Rebecca Hill is an Outreach Manager and content writer at TechWyse, an SEO Agency in Toronto, Canada. While she isn’t building relationships with bloggers and influencers in the marketing world, she can be seen rooting for the Blue Jays.
