Summary:
In an online landscape that demands solid and action-packed attention-grabbers to garner engagement, marketing in the financial realm can feel impossible. After all, how is your bank supposed to compete for views with skateboarding tricks and adorable pets?
However, you may not yet be using all of the tools at your disposal. Below, we go over the value of advertising on YouTube and how to create an ad that makes an impact.
The Value of a YouTube Ad
Though not commonly considered among primary advertisement platforms, YouTube ads have some of the highest conversion rates across social media. However, not all ads are made equal. Your most memorable and valuable ad is a video that provides genuine value and incites specific action in the viewer.
How you may ask? The most successful ads have three major components:
- 🪝 Hook: Your attention-grab should be strong enough to make viewers avoid hitting the “skip ad” button in the corner of their screen.
- 💡 Education: The advertisement should provide some “gold nugget” of information about your bank, your services, or what makes you unique in the financial industry. This is the part that makes your ad stand out and boosts your overall message.
- 🚨 Call to Action: Eliciting a decisive action from the viewer (i.e., “call now,” “schedule an appointment,” etc.) encourages them to act on whatever information your ad just provided. Here’s where your ad dollars get a real return on investment.
It’s Not About the Fancy Equipment
If the previous list just made you begin to sweat about your bank’s marketing budget, you can put your fears to rest. Rather than amplifying your message, over-produced advertisements can feel inauthentic and detract from your point. In an era where consumers often don’t find banks genuine, you want your ads to feel like they are coming from real people, not some distant corporate meeting room.
It should be noted that “authentic” does not mean “perfect.” If your true goal is to be a trusted banking authority in your area, that will shine through any minor technical errors you may encounter.
3D YouTube Dimension
When considering the audience for your bank’s YouTube ad, consider that YouTube has only three dimensions to viewership:
- 👥 Demographics: This aspect has to do with whether or not your audience has the ability to spend time and money on your service.
- 🎯 Intent: This dimension, also called Video Targeting, relates to whether an ad reaches a viewer at a time when they’re searching for a service like one your bank offers.
- 💰 Interests & Affinities: Finally, this aspect describes the process of finding the right person who has an interest in your industry.
YouTube audiences exist in all three dimensions at once. Therefore, to take advantage of YouTube’s 3D conversions, you need to get your bank’s ad in front of the right interested individual with the capacity to invest at the right moment when they are looking for your services, with precisely the right message.
How to Put 3D in Place
While it’s helpful to have a formula, how is a bank supposed to check all of these boxes simultaneously with one ad campaign? Let’s break it down.
Right Person
You’ll want to create audience segments in your YouTube settings to reach people interested in banking and finance. You can create these segments by specifying audience parameters, including interests, purchase intentions, and affinities. You can narrow it down to viewers who also visit specific websites, Google choice keywords, or have selected apps downloaded. You can even get so thorough as to look for viewers experiencing relevant life events or going through detailed demographic stages of life. Your options are endless!
Interests and Purchase Intentions/Behaviors:
Lookalike Segments:
In-Market Audiences/Segments:
Life Events:
Detailed Demographics:
Affinities:
Google Search Intent:
URL Audience:
App Audience:
Ability to Invest
Of course, your conversion rate is only as high as the portion of your audience capable of soliciting services from your bank. To target adults in America, you’ll first want to set your YouTube location to the United States.
Once that’s complete, take some time to tell YouTube precisely what demographics you appeal to. This can include the intended ages of customers, as well as predicted household income.
Locations:
Demographics:
Right Time
When attempting to reach viewers who would appreciate your services now, select the right types of videos that your ads will play before and during. Consider choosing content and creators relevant to the financial industry, or your community.
Placements:
Channel Placements:
Keyword Targeting (KeywordSearch.com):
Keyword Targeting:
Topics:
Right Message
As previously mentioned, your YouTube ad should be equally eye-catching and informative. Choose material for your advertisements that will appeal to any number of consumers looking for banking options while remaining authentic to your locale.
Right Message = YouTube Ads!
If you're interested in upping your video ad game or getting started all together, Contact us today!
*Information from this blog was provided by Social Media Marketing World, and presented by Aleric Heck from AdOutreach.