One of the most exciting aspects of digital video advertising is the number of ways that you can target your ideal customer. Targeting allows advertisers to have more control over who sees their ad and is one of the key advantages that digital video has over live TV. However, it can be overwhelming to figure out which targeting option is best and which should be used in different scenarios.
WHAT TARGETING OPTION DELIVERS THE BEST RESULTS?
Unfortunately, the answer to this question isn’t so black and white. Netsertive has extensively tested YouTube’s audience targeting options and found that different targeting methods will help you reach different goals. For example, if your ultimate goal is to reach as many people as possible at the lowest cost, affinity targeting would drive the best results. In our test, affinity audience targeting delivered the highest view rate at a significantly lower cost-per-view. If you are looking to drive more users to your website and have those people take action, In-Market targeting should be your primary focus.
WHICH TARGETING OPTION SHOULD YOU USE AT EACH STAGE OF THE MARKETING FUNNEL?
The marketing funnel consists of three main stages: awareness, consideration, and decision.
Awareness stage: The Awareness stage is about reaching as many people as possible to spread brand recognition and give them a high-level understanding of your products and services. Affinity audiences drive the most views at the lowest cost, this is a natural fit for the awareness stage. This targeting method will deliver the largest reach and be the most impactful in driving brand recognition.
Consideration stage: During the Consideration stage you are attempting to remind people that are considering making a purchase how your product or service fits their immediate need.
Decision stage (sometimes referred to as the Action stage): In the Decision stage you want to influence a consumer’s final decision and drive them to action. In-Market Audiences and Remarketing (retargeting) work together to drive conversions and push consumers from consideration to decision. These targeting methods deliver high conversion rate (whether traditional or view-through) and both audience types are familiarized with your brand.
WHICH TARGETING OPTION IS BEST FOR ME?
It really depends on your campaign goals, but Netsertive’s testing indicates that using a combination of audiences can help you reach customers during each stage of the funnel. Ideally, you would run at least one affinity audience, one remarketing audience, and one in-market audience to drive the high-performance metrics at each stage of the marketing funnel. However, if you have a small budget then you should run the audience that delivers the best results for your main goal.
Mary Clayton Shearer
Mary Clayton Shearer is a Product Marketing Specialist at Netsertive. Previously, she was on our Operations team, performance tuning all your campaigns for over a year and a half. A graduate of NC State, you can find her at local restaurants and parks or cheering on the Wolfpack outside of work.
