Kyle Sulerud - March 17, 2021Let’s look at some tactics that you can consider when recording your YouTube Ads. These are just small tactics and not big strategies, but they can help give your ads a boost. You don’t need to use these tactics all the time, but if you are getting stuck while recording or editing your ads, you’ll have some more things to work with.
Add Background Music
This can help if your ad is low background energy or if you just want to achieve a certain mood with your ad that you can’t do just with your words. Adding background music is always an option and it’s even something that you can test by adding different types of music over the same ad.
Add Sound Effects
Sounds effects in YouTube Ads are usually just used for humorous purposes. They are used to get the viewer’s attention. Maybe not right at the beginning of an ad, but maybe later in the ad right before you’re about to say something important. Adding sound effects in your ad can help keep the viewer’s attention with something other than visuals or the words you’re saying.
Add Subtitles to Your Video
I would not recommend trying to do this by adding an SRT file to the video. Much better in a YouTube ad to actually edit the captions right onto the video. Subtitles can help the viewer follow your message better because not only are they hearing it, but they’re also reading it.
I will say that I’ve tested this quite a lot and for the most part, haven’t found big differences in ads that have subtitles vs ads that don’t have subtitles. Yet, this isn’t a tactic that you need to employ.
One reason to use subtitles though (and a very good reason) is if the person speaking in the ad has an accent or if there is background noise that makes it hard to hear. I have found that adding subtitles to an ad like that makes the ad perform better.
Add On-Screen Text
This is different from subtitles because you don’t put everything that is being said in the text. The on-screen text is just going to be specific highlights of what is being said. Maybe it’s not even anything that is being said but accompanies what is being said.
This is a great way to add some visual elements to your ad and draw people in to the most important things you are saying. This can be done professionally or you could just slap up some basic text in a basic video editing program. Either way, it could have a positive effect on the results of your ads.
Edit Some Basic Images into the Ad
Just like with on-screen text, this will add some visual elements to the ad to keep it more interesting. You can use pictures related to what you are talking about, funny pictures, pictures of testimonials or results, anything that you think will add to what you are saying. When I say basic image editing, I mean you are just putting basic static images up on the screen while you are talking.
Use B-Roll
This is one step further than just using images in the ad. B-roll is actually videos that you would play while you are talking. Instead of the camera showing you talking the whole time, you would edit in some other videos.
This b-roll could be clips of you doing other things, it could be clips of other people – maybe actors. There are websites where you can go get b-roll clips for this purpose. The idea is that it keeps things more interesting rather than just showing you the whole time.
Use Professional Filming and Editing
It could also be argued that a tactic is to use super amateur filming and editing or just film something on your phone. But really, the tactic here is to consider the professionalism of the video you want to put out. It can absolutely work great to put out an amateur video that you filmed on your phone with subpar audio. It can also work great to hire a professional film crew and get your videos professionally edited.
My recommendation is to start at the more amateur end of the spectrum and get a lot of ads out. This is where you can test what type of messaging is going to work best. Then you take the messaging that is working best with your amateur videos, hire a film crew, and now you have a better template to record some professional-looking videos.
Here are some tactics for what you would say usually at the beginning of an ad.
Identify Your Target Customer Right Away
This can be done in a couple of ways. You could say, “If you are a _, then _.” or “Hey! Target customer!”
Of course, there are lots of other ways you can do this and you usually want to do this at the beginning of an ad even though it is just a simple tactic. It lets your target customer know you are speaking to them and then everyone else can skip it.
Tell People to Skip the Ad
“If you don’t want this benefit, then skip this ad right now!” or “If you are not a _, then skip this ad right now.”
You are literally telling people to skip your ad. Don’t overuse this – this is not a tactic to use in every video, but it is something you can definitely try out.
Give the Viewer a Time Frame
This tactic is somewhat overused but it is because it works pretty well. Saying something like, “In the next 30 seconds, I’m going to show you _.” or “In the next 45 seconds, let me show you _.”
The reason this can work well is that you’re making a promise to show somebody something within a small amount of time. They might see that your ad is six minutes long, but you just told them you’re going to share something within the next 60 seconds. Six minutes might be too long, but they might stick around for 60 seconds.
Share Your Screen
If there is something you’re talking about and it would be easy to show people on your computer screen what that is, then you can just do a screen share video. Maybe you are just smaller in the corner of the screen and then the screen itself is explaining things better than you could just with your words.
Screen Share Call-to-Action
One type of screen share that deserves its own tactic is to do a screen share of a call-to-action. This is where you would actually show people the landing page they are going to be landing on so they know what to do when they get there.
This may sound silly, but if you actually show people the website that they’re about to go to and you show them where they will be filling in their information and what they’ll be clicking on, this can actually have a positive effect on the results.
Tactics Related to Your Call-to-Action
Visual Call-to-Action
Not only are you telling the viewer to click on the ad, but you’re actually showing them where to click within the ad. You can do this with graphics pointing down where the button would be next to the ad or by actually pointing where the button would be in the ad.
End Screen Call-to-Action
This is a graphic that is on the screen after the ad is done and you have finished talking. Now, for 10-15 seconds, there is a graphic on the screen that is a call-to-action. Maybe it is the title of the offer that you’re sending people to. It’s telling them to click now. This is a way to help capture the final few stragglers who have watched your whole ad and haven’t taken action yet.
Use Multiple Call-to-Actions
Of course, in every ad, you need a call-to-action. You need to tell people what you want them to do. Having multiple call-to-actions can really help, especially if your ad is a little longer so people don’t need to wait till the end to really know what you want them to do. You can have some content and then a call-to-action, some more content, and then another call-to-action, and so on.
If they have made it all the way to the end, then they know exactly what you want them to do. If they only made it to the first call-to-action, then maybe that was enough for them to click and then take the next step. If your ad is longer than two or three minutes, you’ll probably want to use multiple call-to-actions within the ad.