You’re thinking about running ads on YouTube, but you need the answer to one crucial question before you make a decision: how much do YouTube Ads cost?
This is a complicated question to answer and just like how beginner marketers wonder how much Facebook Ads cost, this is a question that’ll bother you until answered. So, without further ado, let’s jump into YouTube costs.
Key Factors of YouTube Ads Costs
The first thing to consider are the factors that contribute to your YouTube Ads costs. This isn’t a cut-and-dry question to answer – everyone is going to be paying different amounts depending on several factors. 3 of the most important factors at play are:
- How much you bid. Bid management is a skill that needs to be learnt by anyone who plans on running ads on any platform. YouTube is no different. Obviously you could constantly outbid your competitors and get the spot, but this will drive up your costs. Knowing your limits and how much you can afford to bid is an important part of managing your budget.
- Who (and where) you’re targeting. Some countries tend to have more competitors and therefore higher costs. If you’re battling a lot of competition for the same audience, costs will be higher.
- The type of YouTube ad. This is something we’ll get into more later in this blog post, but the type of YouTube ads you run also contribute to the costs. For instance, a non-skippable video ad will cost you more than a display ad.
In addition to these, other factors such as when you run YouTube Ads and even your industry will contribute to your YouTube Ads costs.
How Much Do YouTube Ads Cost?
While we can’t give you an exact number because of the factors we detailed above, a rough estimate of how much you can expect to spend is $0.10 – $0.30 per click. Again, this is extremely variable, and you could find your own costs outside of this, but that’s where most people land.
If you find that you’re spending more than this per click then you might want to take a look at your campaign. Perhaps your target audience isn’t working out or the type of YouTube ad you’ve chosen doesn’t appeal to your audience. This is why AB testing is important. It helps you to find the best variation of your ads so that you can get better results while spending less.
Types of YouTube Ads
As a key player in determining your YouTube Ads costs, taking the time to learn about the different types of YouTube Ads is worthwhile. Below we’ve listed some of the most popular options.
Display Ads
YouTube Display Ads are the ads which appear above the related videos list. They aren’t featured before a video but instead are shown above the list the entire time the user is on that page. You can only run this type of ad on desktop computers, so if you’re trying to reach mobile users specifically then you’ll need to look at your other options.
The big advantage of display ads are that they don’t interfere with your audience’s viewing experience. Some people think that video ads are disruptive and annoying so right off the bat, they’ll disregard your ad. However, given that over 70% of YouTube users are on a mobile device, the reach is much smaller.
Skippable Ads
YouTube Skippable Video Ads are the ads which appear before a video starts, and that you can skip after the first 5 seconds of the ad plays. For that reason, if you run this type of ad, those first 5 seconds are unbelievably important. Ask yourself, “What can I do to stop the viewer from skipping my ad?”.
Unlike display ads, skippable ads appear on both desktop and mobile devices. On top of that, they’ll appear on smart TVs and pretty much any other platform where YouTube is accessible. The main disadvantage is that you’ll have to produce a high-quality video ad which can keep the viewer engaged for as long as possible.
Non-Skippable Ads
Like skippable ads, YouTube Non-Skippable Ads appear before a video with the distinct difference that the viewer is unable to press “Skip”. Aside from that, these are virtually identical to skippable ads.
A benefit to these is that you have more time to make your sales pitch and engage with viewers, as they last between 15-20 seconds. On the other hand, this does mean you’ll have to invest more time into creating a video which does a great job of retaining attention. The longer the video, the higher the production costs.
Other Types of YouTube Ads
As well as those YouTube Ads types, there are a few other notable options but which aren’t as common.
Overlay Ads
Overlay Ads are as simple as it gets. They’re not videos and they are barely intrusive. They appear as banner ads at the bottom of YouTube videos as they play and can be hidden by the user simply clicking the “X”. These are basically image ads and are relatively good at keeping YouTube Ads costs on the lower end.
Sponsored Cards
A Sponsored Card Ad appears while the YouTube video is playing but doesn’t disrupt the video. As the video plays, at relevant moments your sponsored card ad will appear. If you’re running a campaign for your eCommerce store and someone is reviewing a product that you sell, then the ad will appear on the side of that video.
Bumper Ads
Similar to non-skippable video ads, a Bumper Ad can’t be skipped. Typically, these are found in the middle of YouTube videos although they can be before and after too. What makes these unique? A bumper ad can only run for up to 6 seconds. This hammers in the importance of making the most of the time you have to convince the viewer to engage.
Are YouTube Ads for You?
What you’re advertising is key to this question but most of the time the answer is yes. Maybe if you discover that your YouTube Ads costs are too high to work with your budget then holding off until you’ve got a sizeable budget is a good idea. Otherwise, YouTube Ads are worth consideration.
Consider these statistics for a moment:
- YouTube has almost 1.9 billion users.
- 85% of internet users are watching YouTube content each week.
- 29% of advertisers on YouTube determined that skippable YouTube Ads get the best results.
- YouTube generates over $5 billion per year in ad revenue.
- 82% of YouTube users use the platform for entertainment.
- YouTube retains over 90% of the users of all video platforms.
It’s clear from these stats that YouTube Ads have a lot of potential. An absurd number of people use YouTube and if you aren’t taking advantage of this reach, you’re missing out.
When it comes to actually creating ads for YouTube, most people will use some form of video ad. Understandably, if you don’t have video editing skills to create an ad yourself, hiring a video editor is an added expense. That said, in terms of ROI, once you figure out your audience and which ads perform well, it’s undoubtedly worthwhile.
Conclusion
Like any ad platform, knowing what to expect in terms of YouTube Ads cost will make running a campaign easier. You’ll have a rough idea of how much is going to be spent, and you can start working on a strategy before moving on to a campaign.
For those working with a smaller budget, making sure none of that is wasted will be of the utmost importance. But, if you’ve never run a YouTube Ads campaign before, making budget mistakes is almost a guarantee. With KonvertLab’s help, you don’t have to worry about this. We know what mistakes to avoid and are professionals at managing any size of budget. Just book a call below and we’ll get started on growing your business with paid ads.