How to optimizing Adwords video campaign?
So, you’ve created a fun video or two on YouTube, and have been running your video campaign for a while. Now you’re thinking about your advertising goals and how to optimize your campaign. Here are some tips you may not have considered yet.
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Adding exclusions to your video campaign
While casting a wide net is certainly a best practice, if you’re pretty sure your ad isn’t relevant to a particular topic or demographic, consider adding it as an exclusion at the campaign level in your account. This can be particularly useful when your video is most relevant to a specific demographic and you want to target certain topics but exclude some viewers. Here’s how:
- Sign in to your AdWords account at https://adwords.google.com.
- Click All video campaigns.
- Select the campaign you want to edit.
- Click the Targets tab.
- Select the targeting method where you want to make an exclusion.
- Expand the + Negative Targets option.
- Under “Campaign Level Exclusions,” select Add negative and follow the steps.
- Click Save.
Improving your bidding strategy
Consider changing your bidding on your TrueView in-display ads to increase the likelihood of your ads showing to interested viewers. In general, because viewers who choose to watch your video in the in-display formats are considered a slightly higher level of engagement, it may make sense for you to increase your bids on these formats. Conversely, if you’re more interested in views, traffic to your website, or branding strategy, consider increasing your bid on the in-stream format to increase the likelihood of viewers seeing at least part of your ad. Here’s how:
Once your campaign has been up and running for a bit, you’ll start to see which ad formats and networks perform best. If you want to increase the engagement of your ad versus the reach, you might want to bid a bit more aggressively on your TrueView in-display ads. Here’s how:
- Sign in to your AdWords account at https://adwords.google.com.
- Click All video campaigns.
- Select the campaign you want to edit, and then click the Targets tab.
- Hover the cursor over the figures in the Bid column and make edits. If you’re using a Basic bidding option and can’t edit your bids, click the pencil icon next to your targeting group and select Customize bids per format.
Adding and excluding placements
Viewing where your video ad was shown is a great way to make sure it’s not showing on irrelevant videos or web sites. Here’s how:
- Sign in to your AdWords account at https://adwords.google.com.
- Click All video campaigns.
- Select the campaign where you want to make changes, select the Targets tab, and choose Placements, under Where your ads were shown.
- Go through the list and make sure your ad isn’t showing on any irrelevant videos or web sites.
- Select the check box next to each item you want to edit, and then click Exclude Placement.
You can add these at the campaign and targeting group levels.
Adding a call-to-action overlay
Call-to-action overlays are eligible to show on TrueView in-display video ads on YouTube. This feature is available at no extra cost to you, can increase viewer engagement, and add an interesting element to your ads. Also, because they’re associated with the video instead of the ad, call-to-action overlays will show whether your video is triggered through an ad or an organic (unpaid) view.
For example, you can mention a specific selling point about your business to put you above your competitors, or mention what visitors can find if they click to your web site.
Just advertising your channel? Tell people what new videos you may be posting soon. Here’s how:
- Sign in to your AdWords account at https://adwords.google.com.
- Click All video campaigns.
- On the Videos tab, click + Add call-to-action.If you don’t see this option, you may still need to link your YouTube account with your AdWords account. ClickLinked YouTube Account, select Link YouTube account, and then sign in with your YouTube credentials.
Using video remarketing
Video remarketing is a powerful tool that takes viewers’ activity on your YouTube channel to create highly specific lists to retarget your ads to. After linking your YouTube account to your AdWords account, you can create these lists based on various ways people interact with your videos, such as watching a video, subscribing to your channel, or even liking. Here’s how:
- Sign in to your AdWords account at https://adwords.google.com.
- Click All video campaigns.
- Click Video remarketing lists, select + Remarketing list, and then select the required criteria:
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- List type: The interaction the viewer has taken on your videos, channel, etc.
- Select channel: If you’re linked to multiple accounts, you can select the account to create your list.
- List name: Name it something you’ll remember, such as “Liked my channel.”
- Membership duration: Select how long you’d like to remarket to this audience.
- Initial list size: Opt to include both people who fit your criteria from the last 30 days and people who will fit your criteria in the future. For example, if you create a remarketing list of YouTube channel visitors, your list will include both people who visited your channel within the past 30 days as well as future visitors.
- Status: Close or open the list for adding new viewers to target. This option is only available after a list has been created. Your video or channel must gain interactions from 100 viewers that meet the remarketing list criteria before the video remarketing list can be added to a targeting group.
- Choose Create list.
- Once you’ve created your list, make sure to go back to the Targets tab and create a new targeting group for it.
Tip
Already using remarketing in your display campaigns? You can use video remarketing lists for your display ads just as you can target your videos to people who have interacted with your web site. For example, you can create dynamic combination lists to target people who’ve seen your video ad but haven’t converted or who have been to your web site but have yet to make it to your channel.
Using advanced campaign settings
Consider using advanced settings to optimize your campaigns. Use the schedule setting to specify certain hours or days of the week when you want your ads to appear and to control how long your campaign runs. It’s important to keep your content fresh so people will keep coming back, so you might consider scheduling your in-stream ad so that it runs for one month.
You can use the ad delivery setting to specify how often we deliver your active ads in relation to one another within an ad group. For example, you can optimize your ads for views, conversions, or rotate them evenly. With the ad delivery setting, you can also set a frequency cap, which limits the number of times your ads appear on the Google Display Network to a unique user. Setting a frequency cap can be helpful if you want to limit the number of times someone sees your ad, or if you want to focus more on gaining exposure to new people.
