YouTube Ad Targeting: How to Improve Your Reach

Just a year after launching in 2005, YouTube was acquired by Google, by far the most popular search engine on the planet. The video content platform has since blossomed into the world’s largest online video platform, boasting over two billion users worldwide.

Equipped with Google’s powerful audience targeting options, YouTube advertising can be a powerful optimization tool for your next digital marketing campaign.

Join us for a look at how YouTube ad targeting can get your ads in front of the right people at the right time.

What is YouTube ad targeting?

YouTube ad targeting is designed to create a customized ad experience by showing each user the ads they’re most likely to find useful or relevant. Not only does this create a better user experience, but it plays a vital role in any marketing strategy.

Namely, it allows marketers to specify their target audience or the people who are the most likely to be interested in the product or service they’re advertising. By conducting YouTube video campaigns through your Google Ads account, you’ll be able to pinpoint your target audience based on anything from location to interests.

But how does Google Ads know what a user is interested in? As the world’s largest search engine, Google enjoys access to plenty of hints based on a user’s recent search history. While keyword targeting is not an exact science, it significantly increases the odds of delivering ads to viewers who will find them the most helpful.

Why YouTube ad targeting is important

Imagine that you’ve created a video ad for a new boxing gym in New York City. Sure, you could throw a huge advertising budget into placing it on various apps and social media platforms for all the world to see.

But the reality is that no matter how much money you invest in your campaign, you’re unlikely to win many conversions from viewers who are elderly, live in California, or are completely uninterested in boxing.

Or you could log in to your Google Ads account and create a targeted campaign geared toward specific viewers on YouTube and a prevetted selection of Google video partners. Not only is this likely to prove the more cost-effective option, but it also offers plenty of other benefits:

• Specify your target audience. YouTube ad targeting allows you to specify detailed in-market audiences based on key demographics, gender, age, parental status, household income, and much more.‍
• Track your goals. Whether you want to increase brand awareness or track conversions, YouTube Advertising offers tools designed to track key metrics.‍
• Remarket to your audience. With dynamic remarketing, you can serve YouTube ads to visitors who have previously interacted with your homepage, app, or even specific videos.‍
• Use advanced campaign settings. YouTube’s advanced campaign settings allow you to specify the exact days or hours you’d like your ads to appear. You can also cap the number of times they appear to certain users to ensure a broader audience.‍
• Take advantage of flexibility. YouTube’s multiple bid and budgeting options make it possible to reach people, whether your budget is large or small.
  

YouTube ad types

If you’re a YouTube user, you may have already realized that not all ads are alike. That’s because YouTube offers marketers a choice of several different ad formats and types. Let’s take a closer look at each option and what it has to offer.

Skippable in-stream ads

Skippable in-stream ads appear before, during, or after videos, a bit like TV commercials. As you may have guessed from the telltale name, skippable in-stream ads allow viewers the option to skip the duration of the ad after the first five seconds.

As long as you have a great lead-in, skippable in-stream ads can be helpful for increasing awareness and traffic or driving sales and leads. Skippable in-stream ads also offer several different bidding options.

If you select Click Per View (CPV) bidding, you’ll only be charged each time a user watches at least 30 seconds of your video ad. If your ad is less than 30 seconds long, you’ll only be charged when a viewer watches all of it.

Other bidding strategies, however, such as Target CPM, Maximize Conversions, and Target CPA, are charged based on impressions. This means that you’ll be charged each time your video begins playing, whether a viewer chooses the skip option or not.

Non-skippable in-stream ads

Much like their skippable counterparts, non-skippable in-stream ads also appear before, during, or after videos. Non-skippable ads are exactly what they sound like, as they don’t give viewers the option to skip to the end of the ad before it’s finished playing.

For this reason, they’re limited in length to 15 to 30 seconds, while skippable in-stream ads aren’t technically limited to a certain length, even though it’s recommended to keep them under three minutes. Additionally, non-skippable ads cannot be remarketed to viewers, while skippable ads can.

As far as bidding, all non-skippable in-stream ads use a Target CPM strategy, which means that you’ll pay based on every 1,000 impressions (views). While the perks of non-skippable ads include ensuring that viewers watch your entire pitch, the risk is that some viewers may be annoyed at being forced to watch them. That’s why it’s important to make sure they deliver value, whether it be great information or a clever presentation.

In-feed ads

YouTube in-feed video ads (formally known as YouTube video discovery ads) display your ads as videos in their own right. You’ll often see these ads appear in your YouTube search feed as “sponsored” content when you search for specific topics.

The nice thing about in-feed ads is that YouTube uses topic targeting to make sure they appear alongside related YouTube videos or search results. In-feed ads may also appear on the YouTube home screen to invite interested users to click and watch them just like any other video.

The perk of in-feed ads is that you’ll only be charged when people actually click on your video to watch them. Just make sure you use catchy messaging and thumbnails to make them click-worthy enough for consideration.

Bumper ads

If you have a short and snappy video ad, then playing it as a bumper ad may be the way to go. Much like non-skippable in-stream ads, bumper ads play before, during, or after a video and cannot be skipped.

The difference is that they’re only six seconds or less in length, so viewers don’t tend to mind them much. Like non-skippable ads, bumper ads work on a Target CPM bidding strategy.

The challenge, of course, is to come up with great messaging that can make an impact in six seconds or less. Check out this YouTube success story to see how Oreo recently used bumper ads to achieve a 100% year-over-year growth in return on ad investment.

Getting started with YouTube ads

Now that you’re familiar with different video ad formats, let’s go a bit deeper into how to maximize the potential of your YouTube ads. We’ll also discuss some of the tools and features that Google Ads offers to help you make the most of your YouTube video ad campaign.

Defining your target audience

If you watched the Oreo bumper ad success story above, you may have noticed that the entire campaign began with identifying key target audiences. If you want to run a successful marketing campaign, the importance of understanding your target audience cannot be overstated.

But don’t fall prey to a major mistake that marketers make all too often by assuming your target audience is anyone with an internet connection. The unfortunate truth is that no matter how great a bank’s mortgage offerings may be, its target audience will never include children, teenagers, or die-hard renters.

Rather than spending time attempting to convert viewers with no interest in your product, focus on the specific niche of people who are in the market for it. Google Ads recently released a new audience insights tool that can help you get to know your target audience even better.

During the pandemic, Petco used the Insights tool to identify a huge spike in “curbside pick-up” searches among its target audience and used the information to drive a 100% year-over-year e-commerce increase. Another online retailer called Getting Personal increased its return on ad spend by 37% by using the tool’s insights to inform social media, ad, and inventory choices.

How to optimize YouTube ad placements

Placement targeting is the art of selecting where you want your ads to appear, whether it be on YouTube, the Google Display Network, or a combination of the two.

You might use ad placement targeting to select website pages, apps, or specific channels on YouTube. Google will offer you hints as to where certain ad groups may perform the best based on the keywords you select and the past traffic of certain sites.

We offer some tips to keep in mind when using the placement targeting feature.

• Choose the right network. This is where the importance of knowing your target audience comes into play. Understanding your audience will help you target the places they hang out online.
• Pay attention to budget and bidding. Keep in mind that, just like with all Google Ads budgets, placement targeting involves bidding against competitors. More popular sites or YouTube channels may require higher bids.‍
• Consider in-feed ads. Businesses often use a blend of search engine optimization (SEO) and paid ads to climb to the top of Google search results pages. In-feed video ads can help get your message across to more viewers faster than SEO alone.‍
• Keep it short and sweet. Remember, viewers come to YouTube to be entertained. Resist the urge to regale them with every single sales point about your product.‍
• Show ads on the Google Display Network. Don’t overlook the power of Google’s vast Display Network, a selection of sites that reach over 90% of worldwide users. Choose sites using contexts, audiences, and locations.

Ad targeting options on YouTube

One of the biggest perks of using Google Ads for your YouTube video campaign is how remarkably specific you can get when targeting your audience. The two main methods for doing so include audience targeting and content targeting.

Audience targeting

The audience targeting method involves selecting as specific an audience as possible for your ads. We provide some of the options you’ll have when zeroing in on the best viewers for your video ads.

Content targeting

The content targeting method can be used either on its own or in addition to audience targeting. It’s important to note, however, that content targeting was disabled for conversion video campaigns in 2023. That said, content targeting can still be useful for spreading brand awareness without going straight for the sale.

• Placement. Placement targeting, which we discussed above, falls under the broader content targeting umbrella.
• Topics. Topic targeting involves gearing your ad toward sites and channels that share a certain topic, such as healthcare, travel, or gaming.
• Keywords. Some video ad formats can be targeted to channels, sites, and videos that appear when your audience searches for certain keywords.‍
• Devices. You can even choose whether to target customers watching on certain devices like smartphones, TVs, or laptops.

5 YouTube ad targeting strategies to improve your reach

Using best practices can help take your YouTube ad campaign to the next level. We offer some tips and strategies that can help you get your video ads in front of the right audiences.

1. Targeting with Video action campaigns

In mid-2022, Google Ads phased out YouTube’s old TrueView features in favor of Video action campaigns. Video action campaigns allow you to use a single automated campaign to drive conversions both on and off YouTube.

Available for skippable in-stream ads and in-feed video ads, Video action campaigns allow you to use copy like a headline, description, and call to action (CTA) to help encourage conversions. You also have the option to use other assets like lead forms, site links, or a product feed.

2. Competitor channel targeting

It’s possible to use placement targeting to foster a little healthy competition. If your competitors have enabled monetized videos, then consider using placement targeting to have your own video campaigns target their YouTube channels.

By strategically placing your advertisements on competitor channels, you can tap into an audience that has already shown interest in your market niche. This method can be particularly effective as viewers are presented with an alternative while they are already engaged in a related topic. It's a smart way to introduce your brand to potential customers who may be looking for additional options or who may not be entirely satisfied with what they're currently viewing.

3. Target with YouTube Select

YouTube Select is a type of reserved ad-targeting option that allows advertisers access to the top 5% of YouTube’s most popular channels. YouTube Select can be a useful option for increasing brand awareness by getting your ads placed alongside high-visibility, premier content.

You’ll be able to choose from a variety of content categories like Entertainment, Food, Music, and more. You can also work with a Google specialist who will help you design a customized plan that’s best suited for your brand.

4. Explore Instant Reserve on the Display Network

If you have a managed Display & Video 360 account, Instant Reserve is a handy way to get a set number of impressions at a fixed cost on chosen dates. Instant Reserve allows you to forgo the bidding process by specifying how many impressions you hope to achieve and when.

Simply specify the CPM rate you’re willing to pay to make it happen, and Google will present you with a list of available deals. Once you reach a deal, your ads will begin running on the desired dates.

5. Utilize Google’s AI: Performance Max

While a YouTube campaign can be a valuable asset, few marketers focus on one platform alone. With Google AI’s Performance Max campaigns, you can manage a single campaign across multiple platforms.

From YouTube video ads to search, Gmail, and Maps campaigns, Performance Max enables cross-channel smart bidding. Specify your goal for a given campaign, and Google’s AI algorithms will formulate the optimal ad strategy for you.

Use YouTube ad strategies to optimize your campaign

A well-executed YouTube ad campaign can be a powerful way to reach nearly any target audience. As you can see, however, ensuring that your video ads get the best possible ROI takes a great deal of planning and expertise.

Fortunately, Upwork is home to plenty of top YouTube marketers who would be happy to help you take your next YouTube campaign to the next level.

Or perhaps you’re an independent YouTube marketer looking for your next client? Look no further than the Upwork job board to connect with top clients in search of your skillset.