Bolstered Advertising From Google On YouTube Shorts

Google has announced that it will be enhancing advertising on YouTube Shorts, introducing some exciting new features that will improve brand visibility while encouraging platform growth in a climate of wider revenue challenges and greater platform growth. These new features include expanding YouTube Shorts video reach campaigns as well as the launch of a new feature called “First Position On Shorts”. 

What Is YouTube Shorts And Why Does It Matter?

The YouTube Shorts platform is rapidly growing, with around 50 billion views every day. Yet, despite the many opportunities that YouTube Shorts presents, the advertising revenue that Google has been bringing in has declined over recent years, which indicates that there are some significant challenges within the marketing sector. One of the issues that YouTube Shorts is facing as a platform is that it has a direct competitor in the shape of Tik-Tok which specialises in short-form format videos. 

Although Tik-Tok is growing in popularity, it’s worth remembering that there has still been significant growth in the number of channels that upload to YouTube Shorts. In 2022 alone, growth of more than 80% was seen. Furthermore, YouTube has ensured the Shorts are monetizable for creators thanks to revenue sharing, which has probably contributed to the growth.

Yet, despite Shorts’ positive trajectory of growth, it’s still worth recognising that YouTube advertising revenue has dropped twice in a row, which indicates that something needs to change within the sector. The initial quarter of 2023 saw ad revenue from YouTube fall by 2.6% when compared with that period in 2022. 

With this in mind, Google has realised that steps need to be taken to implement changes and has now introduced some exciting new YouTube Shorts advertising capabilities that pave the way of the integration of brands with the latest trend of short-form video in a more seamless way. 

It’s fair to say that short-form video content is booming right now. This rich canvas can be used to attract all kinds of consumers by presenting a huge variety of interesting and engaging content ranging from gaming and music to food, learning, and sports. In fact, people are so pleased by the idea of short-form video that they’re now even watching more content in this format than films and TV produced in studios. 

Since ads were launched on Shorts, brands have been able to find a number of ways of driving performance by using direct-response campaigns. By using app and video action campaigns, these immersive vertical video adverts appear in between Shorts organic content. 

How Can Shorts Improve Reach?

It has been demonstrated that YouTube shorts bring  together self-expression and today’s popular culture. Viewers look at Shorts because they’re keen to discover new things, and this environment is ripe for advertisers to make use of in order to reach brand-new audiences. 

For this reason, Shorts are now being expanded into Video reach campaigns that utilise Google AI in order to serve users with the very best ads combinations, thus improving efficiency and reach on YouTube. Furthermore, In-Feed video adverts are also being added alongside Shorts to Video reach campaigns which introduce even more chances to connect effectively with an audience via YouTube. 

Thanks to this new update, it is now possible for brands to upload a vertical short video lasting a maximum of 60 seconds alongside their other assets. For those that would prefer using a horizontal creative that already exists, YouTube has setup tools in its campaign that include features powered by AI that can adapt and optimise the videos automatically for a vertical screen. 

Appearing Next To Top Trending Content

Advertisers can effectively surround YouTube’s most popular trending content thanks to YouTube Select. Now, Shorts is going to benefit from the same technology already powering YouTube Select. As a result, brands will be able to reach an impressive 1.5 billion monthly logged-in Shorts users. The technology will ensure that your adverts appear next to the most relevant and popular videos in users’ Shorts feeds, ensuring that your brand will remain at the forefront of viewers’ minds as they scroll through videos. 

First Position on Shorts is another concept that is being piloted on YouTube Select which allows advertisers to break through when viewing sessions begin. As soon as the viewer begins to watch YouTube Shorts, your ad will appear first. That ensures you make the strongest possible initial impression in the most immersive environment. 

The Benefits Of A YouTube Awareness Campaign 

It goes without saying that YouTube brings a wide variety of content to users, ensuring that they can tap into everything they enjoy in a single convenient and easy to access location. It is this very benefit that has made it so popular since its introduction. Both long and short-form videos can fuel user engagement and encourage greater discovery, so it comes as no surprise that viewers now move seamlessly between both. 

It’s also no surprise to find that viewers report that YouTube remains their favourite place for watching both short-form and creator content. If you tap into YouTube when carrying out brand awareness campaigns, you’ll find that more people are able to see your brand’s creative messaging. Your message will be delivered while they’re watching the content and creators they enjoy. With tools and products that make it easy to include short-form video ads in your campaigns, YouTube is assisting brands of every type to remain relevant with a strong connection to modern viewers. 

In brief, then, integrating more short-form video ads into your brand’s campaigns can make a significant difference when it comes to attracting more consumers to your brand and appealing to existing ones. For this reason, Google has made it a top focus while continuing to introduce new innovations within the advertising space. If you leverage the power of YouTube Shorts for your brand awareness campaigns, you can more effectively establish strong and meaningful connections with YouTube’s increasingly dynamic and diverse viewership, something that can only benefit your brand in the long run.