Last modification on July 18, 2021 by Loïc Frissard
Did you know ? YouTube is the 2nd most visited site in the world. The platform, which today belongs to Google, brings together more than 2 billion active users each month. Yes, 2 billion: a godsend from an advertising point of view.
Precisely, YouTube today offers different possibilities to advertisers wishing to promote their products or services on the platform. The most emblematic format? The YouTube pre-roll!
But is it really effective, even today, for a company that wants to boost its notoriety? This is the question we will try to answer together today.
What is YouTube pre-roll?
The pre-roll is a revolutionary new advertising format that has invaded our screens for several years. Became for a real alternative, at lower cost, to what television advertising spots represent.
The initial idea is simple: present a short advertising video, before, during, or after viewing a content video.
Based on this initial principle, YouTube offers different formats:
- Trueview In-Stream, which correspond to skippable pre-roll advertisements. They can be used on Desktop, mobile, or even on game consoles. These advertisements, very frequently used by advertisers, can be ignored after 5 seconds of viewing.
- Bumper ads: videos limited to 6 seconds, systematically placed before the content is broadcast. They cannot be deactivated by the Internet user.
- Trueview Standards, or non-deactivatable pre-roll ads: pre-roll videos limited to 20 seconds, which the Internet user cannot skip. A special format, reserved for large advertisers, directly in conjunction with YouTube’s sales teams or to be configured with a web agency such as Yupik.fr.
Furthermore, it is possible to add, on these different pre-roll video formats, a call-to-action, to refer to a site or an online store.
The benefits of YouTube pre-roll
Pre-roll advertising on YouTube has clear advantages. Indeed, unlike an advertising banner, a Google Ads ad, or even a poster in the subway: on YouTube, the Internet user is directly confronted with your advertising. Even better: for at least 5 seconds, they are tied hand and foot, forced to view your ad if they want to access the content they want to watch.
However, even if it is possible to ignore the ad, once it has started, the chances that the Internet user will watch it until the end are much greater. Particularly if you were able to arouse his curiosity in the first 5 seconds.
What’s more, by targeting the users you want to show your ad to, you can ensure that your audience will understand your message. It then becomes easier to take advantage of these few seconds to attract their attention.
And for good reason: the pre-roll has the advantage and disadvantage of not being a 2-minute spot. The conciseness of the format forces you to get straight to the point, and to be interactive to encourage the Internet user to action.
An effective format to boost your notoriety… if used well!
Statistically, the YouTube pre-roll has it all:
- Ads on YouTube have an average viewability of 95%;
- For two-thirds of the campaigns carried out, brand awareness in France jumped by more than 14%.
It is nevertheless important to note that, to really boost your notoriety, the pre-roll format must be used well. It is therefore a question of adapting your message according to the interests of your target, but also of adapting your advertising to the specificity of the pre-roll format. Particularly for Trueview Instream.
Capture attention in less than five seconds, entertain the Internet user, surprise them, tickle their curiosity to encourage them to want to know more and get involved, while broadcasting your main message from the first second: this is the challenge your pre-roll ads. It is this very particular and innovative format that makes the difference with more “classic” paid social strategies. However, even today, it is the latter which monopolize the majority of advertising investments on the web. If social networks are still popular in terms of advertising, the pre-roll format does everything to make the competition pale… or not: on the contrary, instead of concentrating their investments on one lever or another, companies that really want to perform as part of their online visibility strategy have every interest in playing both sides to cover a wider audience, and touch each customer journey at the right stages.
The challenge is not necessarily easy to meet. However, the game is worth it. A company like Tiktok, which flooded YouTube a few months ago, understood this well, and experienced a lightning takeoff. It’s therefore up to you to make the YouTube pre-roll the best asset for your notoriety.
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