YouTube Advertising Part 2: Don’t Just Aim Blindly, Hit the Bullseye

In part one of this blog series, I gave you a quick intro on YouTube advertising with some informative stats and where you can place an ad. Now that you have some background knowledge on advertising capabilities with YouTube, it’s time to dig into the fun stuff that will keep that business phone ringing all day!

My favorite thing about YouTube advertising is how precisely I can target a certain audience. Whether I’m trying to reach an outdoor enthusiast: male in his 30s who’s interested in camping and hiking OR an expectant mother looking to purchase baby products online – you name it and we’ll reach it. YouTube has recently rolled out some new targeting capabilities that have opened the doors for all niche and mass markets.

Here are four targeting capabilities available to precisely reach a target audience that is unique to your business.

1) Demographic & Geographic

This type of targeting is fundamental and should always be at the core of your campaign objective. This answers the who, what, and where of your audience. Ask yourself who is your audience and what are some of their demographics? Some demographic attributes to consider are gender, age, household income and education. Most importantly, consider the geographic limitations of your campaign and target audience. If your business services to a certain city, then set that geographic location. But if you run an e-commerce store, then consider what markets to prioritize.

2) In-Market

In-Market targeting is an effective tool to use as it targets users who are actively researching a product or service online. Just think about your latest purchase – product or service. It’s likely you went online and did some research before buying and you’re not alone – 81% of shoppers do their research online before making a purchase. You should tap into that readily available existing database of in-market audiences, select the in-market applicable to your business and watch your business boom.

3) Behavioral & Interest

Ever wondered if you can serve your video ad to someone who is an animal lover or perhaps a travel enthusiast? YouTube targeting makes it that simple and exact…kind of eerie I know, but nonetheless valuable for your business. You can use behavioral targeting to reach users who fall under certain patterns favorable to your business. For example, you’re a restaurant owner looking to drive more traffic so you might want to select “frequent restaurant goers” as a behavioral tactic. Additionally, if you have first-hand knowledge of what your audiences’ interest is, then you’ll want to target specific YouTube video channels and topics. Google Analytics can give you great insight to search information from users who’ve engaged with your website.

4) Life Events

Life events is a new targeting tool that allows you to reach people in various stages of their life that result in purchase behavior changes. These life stages or life milestones can include having a baby, graduating college, recently engaged and more. All the life events mentioned above include major purchases like buying a home for a recently married couple or a change in purchasing behaviors. What a great time to drive consideration for your product or service and establish brand loyalty. 

Video advertising is new and buzzing – everyone wants to jump on it! With YouTube advertising, you too can jump on in. Having better-equipped knowledge of its targeting capabilities, you can make sure to hit your target market the first time instead of aiming blindly and hoping it sticks.

YouTube is owned by Google and we’re Google certified experts that can help you set up your own YouTube video campaigns. Please contact us with any questions!

Nidia Verdugo, Media Buyer