YouTube vs. TV: Advertising in 2021
YouTube - the world’s most popular video hosting platform, with a global audience that has long surpassed one billion users. More and more people are turning away from traditional television in favor of YouTube channels. This massive virtual space has become an excellent way to monetize content — and with each passing year, it attracts thousands of new advertisers.
YouTube vs. TV
You might be skeptical about video advertising on YouTube, but the facts speak for themselves: this platform offers far more advantages for placing video ads than traditional TV.
- High Conversion Rates and Interactivity. Many advertisers report strong conversion rates for YouTube video ads — up to 25%. Unlike TV, YouTube gives viewers the ability to click through directly to the company’s website via a link in the video.
- High Return on Investment (ROI). According to research conducted by Google from 2013 to 2021, advertising on YouTube delivers a higher ROI than TV in 80% of cases.
- Advanced Targeting Capabilities. Unlike TV, YouTube allows you to precisely target your desired audience, helping to minimize unnecessary ad spend.
- lexible Ad Settings. YouTube enables you to quickly and easily adjust ad settings on the go — something that’s nearly impossible to do with traditional TV advertising.
Where to Start?
Despite all the possibilities YouTube offers advertisers, launching a campaign should be taken seriously. The first step is to define your goal. What do you want to achieve?
Sell more products? Announce a new promotion? Or build emotional trust in your brand?
Once you’ve set your goal, you’ll need to work with a video production studio to create a video that best fits the task.
The second step is to create a customer portrait, a target audience profile. Here, it’s important to define not only age, gender, and location, but also interests, and don’t forget about things like remarketing, targeting by channels, topics, keywords, or devices.The more precise the portrait, the more effective your advertising will be.
How and Where Are Ads Shown?
YouTube offers several ways to display video ads. You can choose one or combine multiple options:
- Pre-roll (in-stream). Your video ad plays before the main video the user wants to watch.
- Recommended video (in-display). Your video ad appears in the recommended section, usually to the right of the main video.
- Search ads (in-search). Your video ad shows up in YouTube search results based on targeted keywords.
How Much Does It Cost?
Probably the most important question — and the hardest to answer definitively.
Each campaign is set up individually.
The cost depends on the type of ad, how many views you want per unit of time, and your budget. Pricing is determined after defining your target audience. You decide how much you’re willing to pay to reach that audience.
One of the biggest advantages of YouTube video ads is that you don’t pay for unviewed content.If someone skips your ad or doesn’t watch at least half (or 30 seconds), that view won’t be counted — and you won’t be charged.That’s a major advantage over TV advertising.
In Summary
Advertising on YouTube is more cost-effective and forward-looking than on TV in many ways.It’s a great opportunity to boost brand awareness and attract a stream of potential customers — all at a relatively low cost.Don’t wait until your competitors take advantage of it first.
