YouTube’s TrueView for Action (now evolving into “Video Action”) campaigns are known for helping to drive down funnel action. YouTube audiences are uniquely engaged and attentive. According to Google, consumers are 2X more likely to pay attention to ads on YouTube vs. on other social media platforms,1 and users are 3X more likely to pay attention to online ads vs. ads on TV.2
What’s even more interesting, YouTube can drives purchase decisions for consumers. Over 40% of global shoppers say they’ve purchased products they discovered on YouTube or from YouTube creators.3 And it all happens at scale, with over 2 billion monthly logged-in users on YouTube.
What does Youtube Trueview for Action do?
YouTube released its TrueView for Action tool to help brands reach customers in the lower segment of the marketing funnel. It includes audiences, extensions, measurements, and smart bidding machine learning which helps drive ad conversions.
86% of consumers use Google to search for ideas about what product to buy. YouTube’s TrueView for Action tool helps you grow your business by allowing you to reach audiences who have been searching Google for what you offer.4 Viewers see ads that promote your business with a way for them to take immediate action, and when compared with standard TrueView the results are significant. In some case studies, we’ve seen a 200% increase in conversions and reduced CPA cost vs standard TrueView.5
86% of people use Google to search for ideas about what product to buy. YouTube’s TrueView for Action helps you grow your business by allowing you to reach audiences who have been searching Google for what you offer.4 Viewers see ads which promote your business with a way for them to take immediate action, and when compared with standard TrueView the results are significant. In some case studies, we’ve seen a 200% increase in conversions and reduced CPA cost vs standard TrueView.5
How Does True View for ActionIt Work?
Advertisers can use a variety of different Google property audience types to reach customers based on action, intent, and interest. This is made possible by tracking and consulting the digital marketing ecosystem as well as the goals for brand perception.
High Intent Audiences
- Custom Intent: audiences created from your already-existing Google Search Keywords]
- Remarketing: go after audiences who have already interacted with your brand ads across Google properties
- Customer Match: audiences similar to customer contact information imported from your brand CRM.
Mid-Funnel Audiences
- Similar Audience: reach new audiences who are similar to your users in your remarketing list and showcase similar buying behavior.
- Life Events: audiences on the cusp of major life events like getting married, graduating college, or moving
- In-Market: reach people who are actively researching and intending to buy products or services you offer – including those thinking of buying from your competitors
- Affinities: reach people based on a holistic picture of their lifestyles, interests, and needs.
- It’s smart because even the strongest search campaigns miss undecided shoppers
It’s smart because even the strongest search campaigns miss undecided shoppers
Pairing these audience approaches can drive effective lower funnel results. Google’s own research shows that TrueView for action campaigns using Custom intent generates 30% higher conversion rates.
How to Use Trueview?
A few top tips on how to use trueview for a for creative approaches that workworks best for TrueView for Action ad campaigns:
- Introduce the brand/product early and as a solution to a problem
- Show & tell how the brand works and what makes it great
- Include a clear call to actioncall-to-action or offer
- Use both sight and sound because YouTube ads are 95% viewable & 95% audible.
- Build for small screens by using close framing, big text, and bright footage to stand out
Company Examples
Airbnb wanted to get people thinking about and booking their 5 million listings in 81,000 cities around the world, especially in markets where they face stiff competition.
They used YouTube for action to drive a 14% increase in bookings, proving a brand campaign can impact sales, as well as a 142% increase in branded search terms.
- Their creative approach: Airbnb developed highly tailored creative using Affinity Audiences to align with video content people were likely to watch. For example, if someone was about to watch a video related to water sports, they would see the ad featuring a host with a passion for surfing.
- Their Targeting approach: Airbnb used TrueView for Action’s Smart Bidding and Google’s Consumer Patterns targeting to under-stand where to find audiences most likely to consider their hosts’ properties. They also tested different consumer engagements along the way to understand and optimize their customer’s journey.
What this really means
TrueView for Action enables brands to convert intent into action. In conjunction with a strong brand image and plan it can help you meet your goals for reach and conversion. To learn more about YouTube, check out our Ultimate Guide to YouTube and schedule a consultation to learn more about the services from Channel Factory to get your brand in front of the right people. .
Sources
1: Google/Ipsos, Video Mobile Diary, US, 2017, n of 4,381 (saw ads occasions). Online video includes video platforms such as YouTube & Hulu, social platforms such as Facebook & Snapchat and TV Full Episode Players like NBC.com.
2: Nielsen Consumer Neuroscience, Video Ad Cross-Platform Biometrics Research commissioned by Google. Conducted in the US using 8 advertisements, 4 platforms and 400 participants, 18-35 year olds, Nielsen CNS Lab, Boston, US 2016
3: Google/Ipsos, Global (U.S., CA, BR, U.K., DE, FR, JP, IN, KR, AU), “How People Shop with YouTube” Study, 18–64-year-olds who go online at least monthly and have purchased something in the last year, n=24,017, July 2018.
4: Google Internal Data, 2020
5: Google Internal Data, 2020