Google is making it easier for advertisers to plan video campaigns with Reach Planner, a new Adwords tool. Available now in beta mode, the tool enables marketers to predict the reach and frequency available on Youtube and across Google’s various video partners, in over 50 countries. The tool provides reach analyses across all devices for all audiences and video formats.
Google is also going beyond reach estimates by offering up a new feature called Product Mixes. With this feature, advertisers can input their marketing objectives, ad preferences and budget and Google will recommend the best Youtube solution or mix of solutions to achieve their marketing goals.
Google states, “For instance, if you want to maximize reach to drive awareness, and have short creative assets, Reach Planner will recommend the right allocation of spend between TrueView in-stream and Bumpers to achieve that goal.”
This year, Google is seriously upping their Youtube ad solution game. Just last month, they announced ‘TrueView for Reach,’ a new ad unit that combines the best of the popular in-stream format built on user choice with the efficiency of CPM buying. In layman’s terms, marketers can still create bumper-like ads for expanded reach but they can now be skipped after 5 seconds like all TrueView ad units.
In the past year, we have experienced a sort of video renaissance. More and more marketers are investing in video and dozens of others have made it a key part of their marketing campaigns. Video is a timeless method of engagement and it shows no signs of slowing down.
According to Hubspot’s The State of Video Marketing in 2018 [New Data], “81% of businesses use video as a marketing tool -- up from 63%, the number reported in our 2017 survey.” Hubspot also reports that, “Where both video and text are available on the same page, 72% of people would rather use video to learn about a product or service.” Most notably, the report also states, “97% of marketers say video has helped increase user understanding of their product or service.”
As video gains momentum, the selection of video optimization, creation, and planning tools has expanded. Youtube continues to be one of the leading platforms for video advertising so it’s only natural that they have increased their solution offerings and made improvements to existing ones.
They understand that more brands are starting to explore video ad options and are doing whatever they can to compete with emerging video ad platforms like LinkedIn and Snapchat.
It’s still too soon to know how marketers will respond to Reach Planner and Product Mixes but Youtube has insisted it will make planners’ lives easier. Youtube’s recent solutions have received favorable reviews, with brands like Samsung and Pepsi reporting high reach rates using TrueView for Reach.
If you’re interested in trying out Reach Planner for yourself, you can contact your Google Sales team today.
Have you tested out Reach Planner or TrueView for Reach? Tell us more about your experiences in the comments below.
