Ways to Advertise and Market through YouTube!

 Did you know YouTube is the second most popular social media platform?

This makes sense, considering how many people use the app. I love YouTube—it's the platform I use the most. I don’t post videos or anything, but I love watching others share content. I spent 19 hours on the app last week, but hear me out: the amount of time I spend on YouTube isn’t always because I’m actively watching. A lot of the time, I put on a video I don’t care about while doing homework. I know that’s not ideal since it can be distracting, but honestly, I’m more distracted when I don’t have a video playing.

It really depends on my environment. When I’m studying alone, I always need a video running. But when I’m studying with other people, I can just put on classical music and still get a good amount of work done. I think the need for background noise comes from growing up in a big family—I had to learn how to study with noise around me. So now, even when I’m by myself, I need to recreate that kind of environment to stay focused.

That’s why I use YouTube so much. But for others, the platform is all about marketing themselves or their brand. If you have a business and want to increase your reach through YouTube’s massive user base, keep reading. I’ll share tips to grow your audience and better market yourself on the platform. According to Essentials of Social Media Marketing, “According to YouTube’s advertising audience overview, marketers have the potential to reach over 2.49 billion individuals age 18 and older, comprising 30.8% of the global population and 46.6% of total population users.” That quote highlights how valuable YouTube is to marketers—it’s a direct line to a huge global audience. Another major benefit is the platform’s ability to target specific demographics, interests, and search terms. YouTube ads are also cost-effective—companies only pay when someone interacts with an ad. On top of that, the analytics tools are incredibly detailed, helping businesses track ad performance in terms of reach, engagement, and conversion rates.

There are many ways to promote yourself or your brand on YouTube, but I want to focus on one of the most important aspects: ad formats.

YouTube offers a range of ad formats that companies can use depending on their goals and target audience. Here’s a breakdown, adapted from Essentials of Social Media Marketing by Michelle Charello:

• Skippable in-stream ads
  These play before, during or after a video. Viewers can skip after five seconds, so it’s important to hook them quickly.

• Non-skippable in-stream ads
  These must be 15 seconds or less and also play before, during or after videos. Viewers can’t skip these, so make sure every second counts.

• In-feed video ads
  These appear in places like YouTube search results, the homepage, or the “Up Next” sidebar. They include a thumbnail and short text to entice viewers to click.

• Video action campaigns
  These skippable ads aim to reach as many people as possible and typically run before, during or after videos.

• Bumper ads
  Short and snappy—six seconds or less. These non-skippable ads are designed for brief, memorable messages.

• Outstream ads
  Mobile-only ads that play on partner websites and apps. They start without sound, and advertisers only pay if more than half the screen is in view for at least two seconds. Personally, I think this one’s a little ridiculous—but it’s still a legit format.

• Discovery ads
  These use images to reach users as they scroll through the YouTube homepage, “Watch Next” feed, the Discover feed, and even Gmail tabs like “Promotions.”

• Masthead ads
  These autoplay (without sound) for up to 30 seconds at the top of the YouTube homepage. Perfect for launching a product or creating widespread brand awareness.

• Sponsored cards
  These small rectangular ads appear on the right-hand side of the video while it plays.

• In-video overlay ads
  Overlay ads are 480x70 image banners that pop up across the bottom of videos on the watch page.

• Display ads
  Only available on desktop, these ads appear to the right of the video player.

• Spotlight Moments
  An AI-powered ad format that helps advertisers target trending, culturally relevant videos during big events. These show up on a branded YouTube hub and are great for maximizing engagement during peak moments.

As I mentioned, this information was taken from Essentials of Social Media Marketing by Michelle Charello. I didn’t know about most of these formats before reading the chapter, but now I have a much better understanding of which to use based on the audience, goals and budget. I hope this helped you learn something new, and I wish you the best of luck on your YouTube marketing journey!