How to Use Video Action Campaigns to Attract More Customers?

With about more than 350 million active users per day, YouTube is an untapped goldmine for most marketers. To get the most out of the platform, you’d need a cost-effective and simple way of driving conversions off and on the platform — and that’s where video action campaigns come in.

In this guide, you’d discover the framework behind video action campaigns and the benefit of using the strategy to solve your marketing needs. To get started, you’ve got to understand what video action campaigns are.

What are Video Action Campaigns?

YouTube is a high-traffic ecosystem that comprises of home feed, watch next feed, watch page, and Google video partners. Video action campaigns help you to drive more conversions across the platform — and you get to properly articulate your brand using longer headlines.

According to Google, TrueView generates 20% fewer conversions than video action campaigns. That means marketers who desire a cost-effective solution for their advertising needs should opt for video action campaigns.

When to Use Video Action Campaigns?

Video action campaigns are recommended if:

• You desire to drive conversions for your products, services, or business using videos.
• You want to boost or improve your CPA efficiency and performance.
• You use conversion tracking during your campaigns.

What are The Different Types of Video Campaigns?

If you’re a publisher, there are various types of video ad formats for your business. Your choice is largely dependent on your preference and the kind of result you want to drive. When it comes to video ad formats in Google Ads, here are five main types.

1. Skippable in-stream ads
2. Non-skippable in-stream ads
3. In-feed video ads/Discovery Ads
4. Bumper ads
5. Outstream ads
6. Masthead ads

You can follow the guide on Google Ads format if you are interested to know more about these types.

How do Video Action Campaigns work?

• It uses the in-feed video and skippable in-stream ads format.
• When including a video, the video length should be at least 10 seconds.
• You should consider using call-to-action (CTA), a description, and a headline in your ad creative.
• Not all features are supported in the video action campaign ad formats. For instance, contextual targeting is not supported for in-feed video ads, but it’s supported for skippable in-stream ads.
• You can add product feeds or add extensions to your campaigns. These elements help in influencing conversions. Speaking of ad extensions, they could be lead forms or site links. When extensions or other creative elements are added to a campaign, it has the potential of changing the functionality or appearance of your ads.

How do You Make A Video Action Campaign?

Video action campaigns are primarily used for driving more conversions with a lower CPA. These ad campaigns typically generate several ad combinations that are displayed to the right target audience. Furthermore, these ad combinations use relevant ad formats. If you want to create video action campaigns, you’ve got to follow the easy steps shown below.

• Sign in to a Google Ads account
• On the left-hand corner of the page menu, click on the video campaigns icon
• Click the plus icon, and choose a new campaign
• Choose leads, sales, or website traffic goal
• Select a video campaign type
• When it comes to the campaign subtype, you’d see that the Drive conversion has been chosen automatically
• Click on the Continue button
• Enter the name of the campaign
• In the Bid Strategy section, your bidding strategy has to be set to Max Conversion Value, target ROAS, or the Target CPA Maximize conversions. If you choose the Target CPA, you’ve got to set the amount you’re willing to spend for campaign conversion.

Note: MaxConv Value and tROAS bidding strategy becomes available only when your campaign has generated 30 conversions.

• In the Budget and dates section, you’d have to set your budget amount, budget type, and the start and end date for your campaign.
• For the budget type, choose daily. That’s the average amount you’re willing to spend on the campaign each day. There’s also the option of choosing Campaign Total. That’s the total budget you’re comfortable spending throughout your campaign. You need to enter the amount you’re comfortable with
• If you chose the campaign total budget or you’re running a short-term seasonal campaign, enter an end date. But that’s necessary for users who chose a daily budget
• Choose the locations and languages you want to target your campaign
• Select content exclusion settings. Here is where you define where your ads show during the campaign
• Add Sitelink extensions (Optional)
• If you desire to add a product feed to the campaign, you’ve got to expand your “Product Feed” box and click on the checkbox (optional)
• To target specific devices, click on Additional settings, set your ad schedule, and also set the frequency cap (optional)
• Enter the name of your ad group
• Select the audience types and demographics you want to reach
• If you want your video campaigns to be focused on conversions, you’ve got to keep broad targeting. This way, you’d reach relevant and new viewers that will most likely convert. Furthermore, when you add content targeting (topics, keywords, or placements), it will limit your campaign reach, thereby lowering the number of people who are likely to convert.
• Using the Editor, create your ad
• YouTube Video: Search for any video you’ve published on YouTube. Alternatively, you can paste the video’s URL from YouTube. Provide a final URL and a display URL. The final URL is the landing page where visitors get to interact with the ad, while the display URL is the website URL that shows on the ad.
• Call-to-action: Use a compelling call-to-action that persuades people to click on the ad (it could be up to 10 characters)
• Headline: Use a headline that promotes your product or service offering. The headline could be up to 15 characters. You should use headlines only when you opt for skippable in-stream ads.
• Long headline: Use a longer version of a headline that promotes your product or service offering. It could be up to 90 characters. You only use long headlines for in-feed video ads.
• Description: Come up with a description of your product or service offering — and the description could be up to 70 characters.
• Advanced options like the Click Ad URL options are worth considering. It helps you add a tracking template, custom parameters, or final URL suffix to your final URL. But it’s an optional feature.
• Choose either a manually uploaded image or an automatically generated image from the YouTube channel. The image serves as your companion banner — and it only appears on computers.
• Enter your ad name
• Finally, click on the create campaign option.

What are the Benefits of Using Video Action Campaigns?

1. Improve Campaign Performance:

Video action campaigns use inventory from Google video partners, YouTube watch pages, YouTube Home Feed, and other sources to improve your campaign performance. It also helps you to reach more customers.

2. Drive more conversions:

Video action campaigns help you manage campaigns on various platforms outside YouTube. This way, you get to drive more conversions and also optimize your campaigns for lower CPA.

3. Scale your campaigns easily:

Video action campaigns help you run campaigns on several devices like desktop, TV, and mobile devices. With such a setup, you won’t have to go through the hassle of setting bids and budgets for every inventory source.

How PPC Signal Can Help You Manage and Optimize Video Action Campaigns?

As a digital marketer, video action campaigns will help you attract more customers to your business. But when you’re running multiple PPC campaigns, keeping a close eye on them will be an issue. And that’s why you need a tool like the PPC Signal tool.

The PPC Signal tool helps you to keep a close eye on your campaign. This way, you get to see what’s working and what’s not.

For instance, if you’re running a campaign and you’re thinking of optimizing factors like the cost per conversion, you’ve got to navigate to the PPC Signal dashboard and select the cost per conversion metrics. After the selection, you’d get an automated signal displayed in real-time on your screen.

These signals show you insights into the cost per conversion, and you also get to know about the trends, anomalies, outliers, and shifts in your data. If you get more insight, you have to click on the Explore button.

A graphical representation of your campaign will be showcased on your screen, and a close look at your screen will reveal details like how your campaign has been performing and whether the cost per conversion is either moving upwards or downwards.

There is also a way of representing your data in a tabular form. This way, you get to view other campaign metrics that are affecting your campaign.

The signal report gives you an overview of what’s happening in your campaign. You get to make informed decisions, and possibly take actions that will help you get the most from your video action campaign. In the long run, you get to save more time and resources.

FAQs:

What is the difference between video action campaigns and TrueView for action campaigns?

Video action campaigns come with a mix of in-feed video ads and skippable in-stream ads within a single campaign, using a responsive ad group. On the other hand, TrueView for action campaigns uses standard ad groups and comes with skippable in-stream ads.

What type of video ads are most effective?

If you desire to boost your brand, your video ad must show the solution of the problem and how your brand solves this.

What is a responsive video ad?

Responsive ads automatically adjust their format, appearance, and size to fit into the available ad space. A responsive ad may take the shape and format of a small text ad on one occasion while taking the format of a large image on another.

What is YouTube video action?

YouTube for action is a series of YouTube features that permits users to focus on driving conversions with the platform. YouTube video action campaigns take the best features of TrueView for action and enhance them to more places on and off YouTube

Wrap Up:

The video action campaign is run by Google’s advanced machine learning capabilities. Its primary objective is to serve your campaign where it will perform well — and that could be while they’re watching a video creator or scrolling through their home feed.

Using video action campaigns, PPC advertisers get a powerful tool that helps them promote their content. This way, drive more conversions and get the most out of their campaign.

Video action campaign uses machine learning and real-time bidding systems to deliver to an audience that will most likely take action. And you only get charged when someone takes action.

Now you know all there is to know about video action campaigns, how will you use the strategy to drive more conversion for your business?