It’s no surprise that YouTube Shorts are becoming increasingly popular.
As digital marketers continue to experiment with short-form content to attract, nurture, and convert their target audiences, YouTube Shorts advertising campaigns provide an incredible opportunity to boost sales and increase brand awareness.
But what exactly are YouTube Shorts? And how can you run ads on them? This article examines both questions in-depth to help you understand one of the more powerful advertising trends taking YouTube by storm in 2023.
What Are YouTube Shorts?
YouTube Shorts are short-form, vertical videos created with a smartphone that upload directly to the YouTube app. Since their global release in 2021, they have become one of the platform’s most innovative phenomenons. As of June 2022, YouTube Shorts have reached 1.5 billion monthly-logged users.
What makes them valuable is that advertisers can customize, edit, and present content as they see fit. Within a few seconds, you can present your brand to your desired audience. The platform’s built-in creation tools allow you to:
- Add and customize music
- Shorten or increase video length
- Record videos at different speeds
- Experiment with distinct filters
- Do a voiceover
- Upload previous videos or record with your camera
Regarding length, they can run up to 60 seconds. You can also combine several videos into a one-minute clip. Advertisers utilize Shorts to grab an audience’s attention, provide valuable content, and promote a regular channel.
What Are YouTube Short Ads?
YouTube Short ads are 15- to 60-second advertisements that air between YouTube Shorts. Announced by Google last year, Short ads allow advertisers to reach new audiences through bite-sized content that is engaging, relevant, and straight to the point. When users stream content, the ads appear between one YouTube Short transitioning to another.
Some see YouTube Short ads as a response to TikTok’s success with short-form content, which allows users to view product offers incredibly easily. With this change, advertisers can use YouTube to drive product awareness and increase company revenues.
Unlike long-form videos—which is what users are typically accustomed to—ads on YouTube Shorts are designed with simplicity. It shouldn’t surprise any advertiser how successful short-form content can be when it comes to facilitating brand recognition and increasing customer loyalty.
If you operate an e-commerce company that runs shoppable ads and don’t have a strong presence on TikTok, YouTube Shorts ads can be a great alternative for increasing conversion rates and product sales.
3 Key Benefits of YouTube Shorts Advertising
It can be difficult to gauge measurable success with YouTube Shorts advertising campaigns, given this is a relatively new phenomenon. However, since Shorts get 50 billion daily views, there’s a massive marketing opportunity here.
Plus, because most people spend time researching products and offers before making a final purchasing decision, high-quality video content can influence buying decisions and increase brand recognition.
Here are some additional benefits of running ads on YouTube Shorts:
1. You Can Use Audience Targeting Features
In the world of advertising, it pays to have a detailed customer persona when launching targeted campaigns. With YouTube Shorts, you can leverage audience targeting features to ensure your target customers view your ads. Furthermore, you can use filters and tags to target viewers by age, gender, and location.
But the features don’t stop there. You can also examine your audience’s search queries and the topics they are invested in. Not only does this mean YouTube is a valuable social media engine, but you can deliver your brand message to a specific audience.
2. They Are Cost-Effective
The average YouTube ad can cost anywhere between $0.10 and $0.30 per view. The exact cost depends on these factors:
- Bidding amount
- Targeting
- Ad formats
Shorts often provide advertisers with a better return on investment compared to other forms of advertising. By creating ad content with a clear call-to-action that resonates with your audience, you’ll maximize conversion rates and sales.
3. Shorts Do Not Expire
Unlike Instagram stories, Shorts don’t expire, making it easier for advertisers to establish long-term brand awareness with their ads. If you have a user browsing through your videos, they can see all your uploaded Shorts and gain a solid understanding of your products and services.
Not only does this facilitate audience reach, but over time you’ll ramp up engagement rates on your channel.
Is Advertising on YouTube Shorts Worth It?
It’s easy to remain dismissive of a digital trend that is still in its infancy, especially when it involves video marketing. However, marketers who advertise on Shorts can harness short-form content and the popularity of YouTube to tap into a new market by reaching online users who tend to convert into long-term customers.
By creating and customizing interactive ads that are engaging and relevant, you facilitate audience interaction and present the authentic side of your brand. Finally, because Shorts are eligible for monetization, content creators can keep up to 45% of their allocated revenue from viewership rates.
This means the demand for Shorts will continue to grow—making it a vital marketing tool for advertisers competing for audience acquisition and company growth.
Expand Your YouTube Reach with Channel Factory
The digital world is buzzing with YouTube Shorts advertising campaigns. Now is the time to leverage this new phenomenon and find ways to expand your audience reach and increase brand recognition. Channel Factory puts you in the driver’s seat of your marketing campaign.
We can help you align your ads to the right content and consumers.
Get in touch with us to see how we can maximize your specific marketing campaign.