Internet Marketing: How to Use YouTube's Call-to-Action Overlay Ads

Thursday, July 9, 2009

How to Use YouTube's Call-to-Action Overlay Ads

Yesterday YouTube rolled out Call-to-Action overlay ads to its paying advertisers. Until now, only specific partners and non-profit organizations could harness the benefits of this marketing feature.

Now businesses can explore one more aspect of online video marketing. By plugging in customized, semi-transparent pop-ups in their videos, YouTube advertisers can refer viewers back to their product sites. Although such YouTube overlay ads existed before, they were limited to only select partners, specific content and video genre. Today, as TechCrunch reported, "brands can link their commercials back to the products they're selling" and, as a result, increase their conversion rate.

How Do You Do It?

Promote Video
You need to be already promoting a video in order to use Call-to-Action Overlay ads. In order to do that, go to YouTube Promoted Videos and select (or upload) a desired video.

Then, simply follow the YouTube instructions to write a promotion description and enter keywords. Set the cost per click (CPC) rate for the amount of money you are willing to pay each time viewers click on your clip.

Edit Video
Once the clip gains a status of a promoted video, you should go back to your account and choose My Videos. Then, choose to edit your video and you will see a Call-to-Action Overlay option.

Fill Out the Call-to-Action Form
Filling out the Call-to-Action form is straightforward. First, you need to enter a headline and description. In addition, you can plug in a URL for an optional image (e.g. your brand logo) that will appear on the left-hand side of your ad. Lastly, choose the destination URL to which you will be referring interested viewers.

Refer to Landing Pages
Linking your Call-to-Action overlay ad to your existing landing page gives you the highest chance of lead conversion. Your destination URL should be a specific page on your website that requires leads to submit a form to get more information or try a free trial of your product.

Why Should You Use Call-to-Action Overlays?

Call-to-Action overlay ads have already been successful for non-profit organizations because, as blogger Ramya Raghavan reported, they "drive traffic to an off-YouTube web page, where they can collect signatures, email addresses or even donations." Charity: water best demonstrates the success potential of the new YouTube feature. This non-profit raised $10,000 in a single day by using the Call-to-Action overlay ads.

Why Shouldn't You Use Call-to-Action Overlays?

Some YouTube viewers consider overlay ads annoying outbound marketing. They easily get distracted from the video material they are watching and feel bothered by the pop-up URLs. To eliminate such distractions, viewers often close the ads (there is a close option available on the right-hand corner of the ad)."By habit, I always click the 'x,'" commented Spencer Schoeben on the recent news. That is why, many believe, a more successful marketing approach might be placing Call-to-Action ads at the end of featured videos insted of throughout them.