Chances are, you’re already flexing your marketing skills with PPC. But if you really want to give customers the ultimate touch treatment, YouTube advertising is the answer.
It’s an amazing way to build brand awareness—and the numbers back this up. YouTube is one of the largest search engines and most trafficked websites, second only to Google. Plus, over 74 percent of adults use YouTube, making up a significant portion of your target audience. Pretty convincing, right?
But that’s not all. With YouTube ads, you can stay top of mind by reminding leads that your landscaping business is here and ready to help. When you target homeowners across different platforms with different media types, you’ll have the best chance of converting them into qualified leads—and, ultimately, into paying customers.
Ready to take your marketing strategy to the next level? Here’s everything you need to know to win landscaping leads with YouTube advertising.
Before you start brainstorming your strategy, you’ll need to choose the right ad format. You have a few different ad types to choose from, including:
If you’ve ever browsed YouTube, you’ve probably already seen in-feed ads (formerly known as discovery ads). They promote video content on the YouTube home page, search results pages, and under Related Videos when you’re watching a video.
In-feed video ads consist of a thumbnail image from your video with some text. When a viewer clicks on your ad, it’ll play on the watch page or channel home page.
Skippable in-stream ads are your traditional YouTube video ads. When you run skippable ads, you’ll only pay when viewers watch or interact with your ad (by clicking on your CTA). Plus, you can easily customize in-stream ads to share different types of content.
The only catch? After five seconds, viewers can skip your ad. You want to give your audience a reason to keep watching, and hard sales pitches usually aren’t the answer.
Instead, use skippable ads to tell a story. People love case studies, so appeal to your audience’s pain points to strike the right emotional chord. When done right, storytelling can keep your audience hooked and make your brand more memorable.
Just like skippable ads, non-skippable ads can play before, during, or after videos. They’re 15 seconds (or shorter). As the name suggests, viewers can’t skip your ad.
What’s the best way to optimize non-skippable ads? Top off your video with an irresistible CTA. You want to encourage viewers to click your ad so they can receive something in return, whether that’s a discount, downloadable content with DIY landscaping tips, or a free quote on their next gardening project.
Think of bumper ads as the shorter version of non-skippable ads. They’re six seconds or shorter. They can play before, after, or during a video, and viewers can’t skip them.
Of course, it’s not easy to tell an impactful story in just six seconds. That said, bumpers are great compliments to larger video campaigns for landscaping promotions. Make sure to use your six seconds wisely, and only include components of your brand (think: your business name and website) that you want viewers to remember.
Overlay ads are banner ads that hover at the bottom of YouTube videos. They pop up after videos start playing, and they can be as simple as text or image ads.
With the right strategy, overlay ads can be the perfect tool to supplement your in-stream video ads. The best part? They only cover the bottom of the video window, so they’re not as intrusive as other pop-up ads. When viewers click your ad, you can bring them to a destination URL off YouTube, like a dedicated landing page.
Once you’ve created a video, it’s time to kickstart your campaign. And if you haven’t made a video yet, we’ve got you covered. Learn more about setting a video budget and hiring a professional video agency to get started.
When you’re ready to share your video, head over to your Google Ads account. Next, navigate to your dashboard. Here, you want to click +New Campaign to create your newest YouTube ad campaign. Then, set your campaign settings:
Choose whatever goal matches your objectives. Then, select Video as your campaign type.
Under campaign subtype, choose Video reach campaign. This way, you’ll be able to maximize your reach with bumpers and in-stream ads. On the next screen, choose the right ad types to reach your goal.
Enter a name for your campaign. If you’re just getting started with YouTube advertising, we recommend leaving your bidding strategy as is.
Next, set your advertising budget per day or for the entire video campaign. A daily budget can keep your costs low, while a total budget can help you establish a fixed amount to spend across the duration of your campaign. Then, choose a start and end date for the campaign.
Choose what networks you want to serve ads on. You have a few options, including:
Be sure to create separate campaigns for search results and videos. These options serve ads to viewers performing different activities, and each option requires a different level of commitment from viewers.
When you create separate campaigns, you’ll be able to distinguish results from each campaign. This way, you can finetune campaigns as needed to make the most of your hard-earned advertising dollars.
Next, set up geotargeting to serve ads to the right people. When you’re finished, choose the language that your target audience speaks.
If you don’t want to advertise your landscaping business on videos with profanity or explicit content, you can set content exclusions. Under Excluded types and labels, you can also prevent ads from showing up in embedded YouTube videos and livestreams.
Here, you can choose related videos to appear below your ad. You can add up to five videos to boost engagement.
Under the advanced options, you can choose specific operating systems, devices, and carriers for more granular targeting. You can also increase or decrease your bid for video ads served to mobile users.
Next, set your audiences depending on their gender, age, household income, and other factors.
For the best results, divide your audience into segments. When you run multiple campaigns for different audience segments, you can create hyper-personalized ad experiences for every customer—all while maximizing engagement and ROI. Not sure where to start? Check out our guide to Google Ads audiences here.
You can also target viewers by specific keywords, topics, and placements where you want your video ads to appear. Make sure to do your homework, test different keyword groups, and track your results to maximize conversions.
Enter the maximum price you’ll pay for each view. Remember: You can adjust this price to increase the number of projected video views you’ll receive.
Paste the YouTube link for the video you want to run the ad for. You can choose whether you want to serve your ad as an in-stream or in-display ad.
If you choose in-display, you’ll need to include a video title (>25 characters) and a short description (>35 characters). If you choose in-stream, you can enter a display URL to drive viewers to a destination page on your website.
Congratulations! You know how to start your own YouTube video campaign, but don’t grab the camera just yet. If you want to fill your appointment book with more landscaping clients, you’re going to need a standout creative strategy to bring your video to life.
Trust us—it’s easier than it sounds. Here’s how to turn your vision into a reality with optimized video ads.
Content is king—and you need professionally produced videos to dominate the competition. That’s where Company 119 can take the marketing tasks off your plate so you can focus on what really matters: running your landscaping business.
When you’re ready to ignite your ad strategy, give us a call. Our award-winning video production team can help you set your brand apart, engage your audience, and build trust in your brand.
