As a marketer, it can be challenging to insert a call-to-action into your video campaigns without disrupting the experience. Even if you’ve successfully gotten your audience to view your video from start to finish, the next challenge is encouraging them to take action. Because no matter how impactful your creatives are, you can quickly lose that lead. This is where YouTube’s Video Action Campaigns can help you.
What is a Video Action Campaign?
Video action campaigns utilize all of the platform’s ad real estate on and off YouTube, such as the home feed, watch page, watch next, search results, and Google video partners. At Growth Hackers, we helped a DTC brand launch a video action campaign on YouTube and Google placements, increasing conversion-driven clicks by 34% while lowering cost per acquisition.
If you’re familiar with its predecessor, TrueView for action, video action campaigns also use skippable in-stream and in-feed video ads, except with more formats and placements. Plus, you get to add longer headlines and optimize your video for whatever action you want your viewer to take, such as “buy now,” “learn more,” or “sign up.”
The Benefits of YouTube’s Video Action Campaigns
84% of people say they were convinced to buy a product or service after seeing a brand’s video. Watch time for shopping-related videos has increased by more than five times in the past few years. There’s no denying that video is the most powerful medium today.
If you decide between the top 2 online advertising platforms (Facebook and Google), Facebook has a slightly lower cost-per-click (CPC), but Google has a higher click-through rate (CTR). This may be because Google targets people who are already inclined to buy or are searching for your brand. While Facebook provides broad targeting options, most might still be in the awareness stage.
If your audience wants to take action after seeing your video ad, you’re better off running a YouTube video action campaign. At Growth Hackers, we treated video action campaigns for an e-commerce brand like placing a “buy button” directly in front of ready-to-act customers, and by optimizing CTAs and assets, we increased conversions by 41%.
Google also shares that video action campaigns drive more conversions per dollar than TrueView for action. Using machine learning, Google will serve your ads to relevant audiences at the right place and time.
On top of the standard customizable call-to-action (CTA) button, video action campaigns allow you to support your video with additional assets such as sitelinks, lead forms, and product feeds.
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How to Use Video Action Campaigns to Drive Results? | Top 4 Tips
1. Integrate lead forms into your ad
Video action campaigns allow you to attach additional assets to your ad without interrupting the viewing experience. For example, if your CTA is to sign up for a free trial or product demo, you can include a lead form that appears after the viewer clicks on the CTA button.
This new lead form extension creates a seamless experience for viewers as they won’t have to exit the page or open a new window to fill out their information. At Growth Hackers, we worked with a B2B software company where users were dropping off before signing up, and after adding pre-filled YouTube lead forms, we increased demo requests by 27%.
By making it easy for viewers to interact with your ad, you’ll have a higher chance of converting leads into sales. The lead form allows you to ask for basic information like:
- Name.
- Phone number.
- City.
- Address.
If the viewer is signed in on their YouTube or Google accounts while viewing the lead form, it should be pre-filled with their basic details. All they’ll have to do is submit. This reduces possible friction or drop-offs for those who don’t enjoy filling out forms. YouTube also ensures that the form is optimized for viewing on any device without additional work from your end.
Who can use lead forms?
- Lead forms are still beta testing and are only available to select advertisers. However, you may reach out to your Google representative to get access.
- You must have spent more than $50,000 on Google ads.
- A good history of policy compliance.
Advertisers like the automobile company Jeep have found success with the help of lead forms. The brand used the extension to target customers in Korea to sign up for a test drive. Those who clicked on the CTA button below their video ad were served a form that simply asked for their contact details. According to Jeep Korea’s marketing manager, the lead form generated the most leads at the lowest cost compared to other platforms.
The integration of lead forms presents a powerful tool for advertisers because it drives a specific action many may take for granted. Once someone submits their information through your lead form, they have moved beyond the awareness stage. These leads are ready to receive lower-funnel marketing content that will convince them to convert into customers.
2. Boost your digital storefront with video
You’ve probably heard of shoppable ads on Instagram, but did you know that you can now create shoppable video ads on YouTube? One of YouTube’s newest features allows advertisers to attach their product feeds to their video ads. To maximize the power of this feature, you want to make sure you create professional-quality promotional videos. The ads will act as the banner or “storefront” as customers scroll through your product list.
A panel below will automatically show your products when a viewer sees your ad. With this new feature, users can browse through your products, click on the items they’re interested in, and visit your landing page to proceed with the purchase.
Creating a digital storefront on YouTube is a great way to redirect valuable audiences to your page. With the help of Google’s powerful targeting tools, you can reach an audience with a history of searching for your brand, giving you a higher chance of conversion than any other platform.
Advertisers who have integrated shoppable ads into their campaigns have experienced 60% more conversions at a lower cost. At Growth Hackers, a fashion brand we partnered with was using standard video ads that required multiple steps to convert users, but after switching to shoppable YouTube ads with integrated product feeds, they increased conversions by 22% and significantly shortened the buying journey.
Aerie, one of the first brands to test out the new ad format, experienced nine times more conversions using the shoppable ads compared to their traditional ad formats.
The beauty of YouTube’s shoppable video ad is that it can complete the purchase journey (from awareness to conversion) in one go. Remember that online shoppers have short attention spans. You can convert someone at the first interaction when you strike at the right time. Otherwise, they can lose interest or forget about your product almost immediately after seeing an ordinary video ad.
Pro-tip: Instead of showing regular product shots on your storefront, try showing your products in action or integrating user-generated content.
3. Lead viewers to specific pages with sitelinks
Sitelinks are links that lead viewers to an advertiser’s landing page. YouTube’s video action campaign allows you to add up to four sitelinks to your ad, which will appear right below the CTA button.
Sitelinks can be changed anytime, making the feature extremely valuable if you have a hero ad that you want to run across different seasons. For example, you can initially lead your viewers to your homepage, but if you have a sale later in the month, you can change the link to lead to the promo landing page.
When sitelinks were first beta tested for YouTube automation, advertisers reported 23% more conversions and 50% more clicks.
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4. Prioritize creatives and storytelling
Storytelling helps our brains absorb and retain content more effectively, which is why it is an essential element of videos.
Since video action campaigns already make it easier for your viewers to take action upon seeing your ad, it’s your job to create a video that can convince them. When conceptualizing your story, think of how you can hook your audience.
Take inspiration from brands like Cheetos, whose famous “Can’t Touch This” ad campaign used catchy music and striking visuals to avoid the dreaded “skip” button. While there was constant product placement in the ad, the story kept people watching.
Aside from encouraging your audience to take action after seeing your ad, you want them to feel something. At Growth Hackers, we helped a B2B SaaS company improve their video action campaigns by focusing on stronger storytelling and creative hooks, increasing ad recall and improving conversion rates by 26%.
LinkedIn used video ad sequencing to rework a traditional TVC and reinforce its brand message. The result was a mini video series that zooms in on different LinkedIn members who share their reasons for searching for a job. The honest and heartfelt campaign increased brand consideration by 20% and ad recall by 178%.
Here are some additional tips and facts to keep in mind:
- Capture their attention in the first few seconds: As of now, the average attention span is down to eight seconds. For ads, it’s probably less.
- Include closed captions: It makes your content accessible to a broader audience, including those with hearing loss.
- Optimize for various devices: Viewers could watch your ad on their laptops, mobile devices, or TVs. YouTube allows you to upload vertical, square, and landscape versions to ensure it works across multiple aspect ratios.
Tracking Your Campaign
The most crucial aspect of running a campaign is tracking the results. Here are the campaign metrics that you need to know:
- Views: Total number of people that viewed your video ad for at least 30 seconds.
- View rate: Total number of people of were shown your ad and viewed it.
- Cost per view (CPV): Amount spent per 30-second view.
- Cost per click (CPC): When you run YouTube ads, you want to make sure they’re delivering results. Using a CPC calculator will help you understand how much you spend for each click.
- Conversions: Number of people who took action after viewing your ad.
At Growth Hackers, we worked with a lifestyle brand running YouTube ads without clear performance visibility, and after implementing structured tracking for views, CPC, and conversions, we increased conversion-driven traffic significantly.
Final Words on Using Video Action Campaigns on YouTube
With YouTube’s video action campaigns, your video assets are more powerful than ever. Your viewers can turn into customers at the tap of a button or browse your product catalog without skipping or minimizing your video. Coupled with more placement options in and out of YouTube and Google’s powerful targeting tools, your campaign video campaign has never been this hardworking.
Growth Hackers is an award-winning YouTube marketing agency helping businesses from all over the world grow. There is no fluff with Growth Hackers. We help entrepreneurs and business owners power up their marketing with video action campaigns, increase their productivity, generate qualified leads, optimize their conversion rate, gather and analyze data analytics, acquire and retain users and increase sales.
We go further than brand awareness and exposure. We make sure that the strategies we implement move the needle so your business grow, strive and succeed. If you too want your business to reach new heights, contact Growth Hackers today so we can discuss about your brand and create a custom growth plan for you. You’re just one click away to skyrocket your business.
