Bryan CarantoYouTube Shorts have been around for a while. Are you making the most of the hottest trend in marketing? We want to update you on the latest.
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Everyone Loves ‘Em
There’s no denying that YouTube Shorts have made a huge dent in marketing, becoming one of the most popular platforms for publishing short-form content.
With YouTube having just under 2 billion users worldwide, you can see how persuasive Shorts can be when it comes to video content—and it’s an excellent opportunity for businesses to advertise their products or services.
Whether you’re just getting started or already know a thing or two about YouTube video advertising, it’s never too late to explore how YouTube Shorts can be used as an effective tool to reach your target audience.
In this blog post, we’ll provide an overview of what YouTube Shorts are, as well as tips on running effective ads on these short-form videos.
What are YouTube Shorts?
YouTube Shorts are a feature on YouTube that allows users to create and share short videos. They are designed to be a creative and fun way for users to express themselves on YouTube.
To create a Short, you probably already know that content must be 60 seconds or under in length. Since viewers watch Shorts on their smartphones, ideally you should film in vertical portrait video with a ratio of 9:16, allowing you to optimize the available space.
Getting started requires absolutely zero experience or tech savvy know-how. Now you can understand why Shorts are popular. They are so popular in fact, that it is estimated 50 billion Shorts are viewed per day. For creators, that’s a big opportunity. Imagine what it means for advertisers. But we’ll get to that in a bit.
Getting Started
With 0 views and 0 subscribers, YouTube can help you get started. There is a dedicated tool on a YouTube mobile app to put you on the right track. Alternatively, you can create your content through your own video editor on your computer. When uploading this video directly from your computer, YouTube automatically detects that it is a Short.
The YouTube App has a ton of handy, creative features which makes creating a breeze. Features include green screens, timers, effects, and filters. Popular music and sound can be added to your Shorts through a button at the top of your screen. Editing is easy enough and allows you to refine your footage.
Your Shorts SEO is probably the most important part of what you want to share on YouTube, starting with a catchy title, and a searchable one at that. Make the title 40 characters or fewer to avoid it being cut off when people view it on YouTube. Your thumbnail is easily selected by pressing the pencil icon and scrubbing the timeline of your Short to choose the best picture that represents everything you want to present to the world.
Don’t forget when you do upload your content, we recommend you tick unlisted or private so YouTube can process it properly and you can check it.
Another pro tip is to use the pinned comments to add your own calls to action.
And from a viewer’s perspective, it’s very simple for them to see your Shorts content. Swiping is second nature by now and the speed with which we scroll means a lot of content can be absorbed in a very ‘short’ amount of time.
Make Money With YouTube Shorts
It is possible to monetize a Short provided you are in the YouTube Partner Program. The requirements for Shorts creators are 1,000 subscribers and 10 million YouTube Shorts views over the last 90 days. It’s not all smooth sailing though. You will need millions of views just to make a few hundred dollars. Long-form content is much more lucrative.
Once your Short is shared on YouTube, creators cross their fingers and hope that it goes viral.
YouTube Shorts is a new way to see short-form ads that don’t fade away. This is how we are going to leverage the format to run our own ad campaign.
How to Create YouTube Shorts
To create a YouTube Short, users can open the YouTube app on their smartphone and swipe up to access the Shorts camera. From there, they can record a video using the various tools and features available, such as music, filters, and speed controls. Once the video is recorded, users can share it on YouTube, where it can be discovered by other users and potentially go viral.
In order for your ad to be qualified and shown in shorts, your video should be:
- targeted for either leads or sales as a goal
- using an automated conversion-based bidding strategy like Maximize Conversions, Target CPA, or Maximize Conversion Value
- set up as an in-stream skippable
- using a valid YouTube Shorts link that has “youtube.com” + “shorts” + “video id” — something like this: https://youtube.com/shorts/JbChDRRHgow
- Only targeting mobile phone users
Create YouTube Shorts Ads With Google Ads
- Sign in to your Google Ads account and go to your dashboard. Then, create a new campaign.
- Choose your campaign objective to get an idea of what you want from running your YouTube Short ad (There are eight choices to choose from: Sales; Leads; Website traffic; App promotion; Reach, awareness, and consideration; Local store visits and promotions; or Create a campaign without goal’s guidance).
- Select your campaign type: Video.
- Select the campaign subtype depending on your business goals. (Custom video campaigns are the most versatile and simple subtype to choose and it gives the most flexibility.)
- Target frequency will reach the same audience more than once.
- Non-skippable in-stream will show your entire ad for 15 seconds without interruption.
- Drive conversions encourages valuable interactions.
- Ad sequence shows your ads in a particular order.
- Audio is for an audience that chooses to listen to your YouTube content.
How To Run Ads On YouTube Shorts
Name your Shorts campaign.
Set a target location and language.
- Set your budget. (Choose a bidding model that pays 3 cents to 30 cents per view that your ad brings in; it’s also a good idea to put in a budget cap such as $30 for the duration of the campaign.)
Note: make sure you upload a YouTube Shorts video.
1. Go to your YouTube profile and click “Shorts.”
2. Select and click the video you want to upload. Then, copy the link of that video.
3. Paste the link inside “Your YouTube video.”
One thing you’ll notice is that it might show stretched. But because it’s a vertical video, it should show up as a YouTube short video.
Next, make sure you set “mobile phone” as the target device.
1. Under Additional Settings, click “Devices.”
2. Under “Devices,” set specific targeting for devices and uncheck all devices except for “Mobile phones.”
- Finish this process by sorting your target demographics and content cluster keywords.
- Take one of your pre-existing YouTube Shorts’ URLs and select it as either skippable in-stream ad or in-feed video ad.
- Add a link to your campaign landing page and a suitable CTA.
- Please don’t forget to add the brightest, boldest cover image for your Shorts ad. It’s got to be so powerful and punchy that it’s going to stop people in their tracks. NO SCROLLING PAST THIS AD! And the hook is going to reel them in, too.
- Bid for your ad group and create your Shorts campaign.
YOU’RE AIMING TO CREATE A NICHE AD CAMPAIGN BUILT FOR YOUTUBE
And that’s it!
With the rise of short-form content, it’s more important than ever to have a strong video marketing strategy. If you want to create a successful YouTube Short ad, make sure you follow these tips and don’t forget to download our complete guide to Google Ads for YouTube.
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