Setting Up Your YouTube Channel
YouTube Ads are actually run through your Google Ads account. But before we get there, you will need to set up a YouTube channel if you haven't already. There are timestamps in the description below in case you need to skip ahead.
Once you log in to your Google account and navigate to YouTube, you're simply going to click on the profile picture on the top right-hand side, and the first option will be Create a channel. Once you click there, add a name, click Next, and your YouTube channel is created.
You will need to upload the video you plan on running as a YouTube ad to this channel, but we'll get there as we move through this process.
Creating Your Google Ads Account
You'll now need to create your Google Ads account. You can visit ads.google.com to get started. Simply click on Sign in. I do recommend that you use the same Gmail login for your YouTube channel, as well as your Google Ads account.
You'll then click on the button that says New Google Ads Account, and it will start to create your account for you. On the next screen, your Google Ads account will give you a few options. You do have the option to connect your Google My Business account. If you already have the YouTube video that you want to run as a YouTube ad uploaded to your new YouTube account, you can select Your video and it will ask you for the video URL.
If you do not yet have the video you'd like to run, select Your website and go through the prompts one by one about your business information. The prompts may ask you about budgets and different ad copy for your new Google Ads account. You do not have to use these options for the YouTube ad you plan to run, but select whatever you want on these prompts to simply move through the setup process and then we'll be able to create the ad that you intentionally want to run on YouTube.
Linking Your YouTube Channel to Google Ads
Now that you've set up your Google Ads account, you need to link the YouTube channel that you created to the account. You'll do this by simply navigating to the Tools and Settings button at the top-right and clicking on the Linked accounts option. You'll then see YouTube channel, and I'm simply going to click Manage and Link.
Click on the blue plus button and either find your channel name or paste your YouTube channel URL. If you're signed in with the same Gmail account used to create your YouTube channel, it should auto-populate.
Preparing Your Video for the Ad
Now, you're going to navigate to your YouTube channel. At the top-right, you're going to click on YouTube Studio. We are then going to click on Content. You'll either upload your video there or you'll navigate to the video that you'd like to run as your YouTube ad. It's important to note that you are able to have this video as public, but I prefer to have my ads unlisted so they don't show up on my channel.
We'll now need the URL of that specific YouTube video to paste into our Google Ads account. You can simply click here to get the shareable link.
Creating Your Campaign
Now, we're navigating back to our Google Ads account and we are going to select the Create New Campaign option. I'm now on a screen that's asking me to select the goal I'd like to use for this campaign. I'm simply going to click on Create a campaign without guidance.
The next option is the type of ad that you'd like to run. Video is the type of ad we'll be running for a YouTube ad. The next option is to create a campaign sub-type. On this screen, we will get to decide where these video ads are actually shown. I'm going to select Custom video campaign and then click Continue.
Setting Ad Parameters
Now, we're going to be selecting our ad settings, walking through the prompts one by one, and selecting the options that work for you. The campaign name should be related to the goal of the campaign or the specific YouTube ad you're trying to run. The name of your ad will only be visible to you.
Under these campaign settings, I have two options for my bid strategy: my cost per view or my CPM, which is cost per thousand. I'm going to select Maximum Cost Per View. Under Budget and dates, we'll have the option to select either a daily budget or an overall campaign budget.
If you select an overall campaign budget, you will need to add the start date and the end date. If you select a daily budget, you will not need to select dates for that. I'll be selecting the daily budget.
Choosing Ad Networks and Locations
The next option is the networks. You'll have three different options to select from. YouTube search results will allow your ad to be shown in the YouTube search results. For YouTube videos, your ad will be shown inside of YouTube videos. And for the Display Network, your video will be shown on platforms other than YouTube. I am only going to select YouTube videos for this specific ad.
I'm now going to select the country and location that I would like to show my ads in. I'll also select the language that I would like my ads to be shown to. The next option is the inventory type. I recommend leaving this as the Standard inventory option.
These options relate to the type of content and mainly sensitive content that your ads may be shown inside or next to. The next option is about excluding your ads from certain types of content, such as games, live streaming videos, or embedded YouTube videos. If you do not care to exclude your ads from any of these content types, you can simply skip to the next prompt.
Finalizing Your Ad Group
You also have the option to add a related video. This video will be shown below your video ad and is designed to give your ad a little bit more context. Under the Conversions tab, we have two different options. If you already have conversions set up, you can select the option to choose a conversion action for this campaign or you can just leave it as the default.
If this is your first ad, I suggest leaving several of these additional options to default. If you want to run your ads on specific days of the week or times of the day to reach your audience at the best time for them or to save your budget, you can play around with these options. But for now, we're just going to leave them as is and move forward.
Setting Up Your Audience Targeting
The next step is to create a name for your ad group. Now, we're going to move on to the audiences and placements for our video ad. The first option that we'll see is the demographic option. You can check off any specific ages, genders, or household income levels that you would like to target or you can leave them all selected and we can continue to segment those audiences at the next tab.
I'm now under the Audience segments tab. Under this tab, we're able to select the type of people that we would like to see this specific video ad. Affinity audiences are going to be related to things that people are interested in. Keep in mind that YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world next to Google. That means that they have a high level of data on what people are interested in.
These affinity audiences are often very accurate. However, if I click on the Browse tab, I'll be able to see some of those additional audience segments you can choose from, some of which are going to be based on your own personal business data. We're not going to be going through that in this video, but I highly encourage you to check that out.
Choosing Content Targeting Options
For the sake of this video, we are not going to be selecting any of these audiences as we're going to be targeting based on placements. The next tab is listed as Content. This still relates to the audiences that your ad will be targeting. You'll have options to target based on keyword, topic, or placements.
Placements can be a little bit misleading. This relates to who is going to see your video ad, not just where the ad shows up on the screen. You can select specific YouTube videos, specific YouTube channels, or even websites that these people may have visited.
Bidding and Final Ad Creation
Now we've come to the bidding section. Earlier on, I selected maximum CPV. This is where I'm going to input the most amount of money I'm willing to pay for a view of this video ad. I'm going to select $1. That is a good starting point for most businesses. You typically are not going to pay a dollar per view, but that is giving the algorithm enough wiggle room to be able to show your video ad to a larger number of people without limiting your reach.
Finally, we've come to this step where we're actually going to create the video ad itself. I'm simply going to select New Video Ad. For this video ad, I'm going to do a skippable in-stream video. I'll have the ability to paste that URL from the specific video ad that I would like to run.
There are only two or three additional options here such as entering the destination where you want someone to be directed to when they click on your video ad. You also have about 10 characters for a call to action. We only have 15 characters for our headline, so we really need to be concise. And then you also have URL or UTM parameters that you can add to this specific ad.
Conclusion
Finally, I'm going to give my ad a name and then click Done. Now that we've gone through all the options, I can click on the Create Campaign button, and my first YouTube video ad has been created. Now, I'm simply going to click Continue to Campaign.
Setting Up Your YouTube Channel
YouTube Ads are actually run through your Google Ads account. But before we get there, you will need to set up a YouTube channel if you haven't already. There are timestamps in the description below in case you need to skip ahead.
Once you log in to your Google account and navigate to YouTube, you're simply going to click on the profile picture on the top right-hand side, and the first option will be Create a channel. Once you click there, add a name, click Next, and your YouTube channel is created.
You will need to upload the video you plan on running as a YouTube ad to this channel, but we'll get there as we move through this process.
Creating Your Google Ads Account
You'll now need to create your Google Ads account. You can visit ads.google.com to get started. Simply click on Sign in. I do recommend that you use the same Gmail login for your YouTube channel, as well as your Google Ads account.
You'll then click on the button that says New Google Ads Account, and it will start to create your account for you. On the next screen, your Google Ads account will give you a few options. You do have the option to connect your Google My Business account. If you already have the YouTube video that you want to run as a YouTube ad uploaded to your new YouTube account, you can select Your video and it will ask you for the video URL.
If you do not yet have the video you'd like to run, select Your website and go through the prompts one by one about your business information. The prompts may ask you about budgets and different ad copy for your new Google Ads account. You do not have to use these options for the YouTube ad you plan to run, but select whatever you want on these prompts to simply move through the setup process and then we'll be able to create the ad that you intentionally want to run on YouTube.
Linking Your YouTube Channel to Google Ads
Now that you've set up your Google Ads account, you need to link the YouTube channel that you created to the account. You'll do this by simply navigating to the Tools and Settings button at the top-right and clicking on the Linked accounts option. You'll then see YouTube channel, and I'm simply going to click Manage and Link.
Click on the blue plus button and either find your channel name or paste your YouTube channel URL. If you're signed in with the same Gmail account used to create your YouTube channel, it should auto-populate.
Preparing Your Video for the Ad
Now, you're going to navigate to your YouTube channel. At the top-right, you're going to click on YouTube Studio. We are then going to click on Content. You'll either upload your video there or you'll navigate to the video that you'd like to run as your YouTube ad. It's important to note that you are able to have this video as public, but I prefer to have my ads unlisted so they don't show up on my channel.
We'll now need the URL of that specific YouTube video to paste into our Google Ads account. You can simply click here to get the shareable link.
Creating Your Campaign
Now, we're navigating back to our Google Ads account and we are going to select the Create New Campaign option. I'm now on a screen that's asking me to select the goal I'd like to use for this campaign. I'm simply going to click on Create a campaign without guidance.
The next option is the type of ad that you'd like to run. Video is the type of ad we'll be running for a YouTube ad. The next option is to create a campaign sub-type. On this screen, we will get to decide where these video ads are actually shown. I'm going to select Custom video campaign and then click Continue.
Setting Ad Parameters
Now, we're going to be selecting our ad settings, walking through the prompts one by one, and selecting the options that work for you. The campaign name should be related to the goal of the campaign or the specific YouTube ad you're trying to run. The name of your ad will only be visible to you.
Under these campaign settings, I have two options for my bid strategy: my cost per view or my CPM, which is cost per thousand. I'm going to select Maximum Cost Per View. Under Budget and dates, we'll have the option to select either a daily budget or an overall campaign budget.
If you select an overall campaign budget, you will need to add the start date and the end date. If you select a daily budget, you will not need to select dates for that. I'll be selecting the daily budget.
Choosing Ad Networks and Locations
The next option is the networks. You'll have three different options to select from. YouTube search results will allow your ad to be shown in the YouTube search results. For YouTube videos, your ad will be shown inside of YouTube videos. And for the Display Network, your video will be shown on platforms other than YouTube. I am only going to select YouTube videos for this specific ad.
I'm now going to select the country and location that I would like to show my ads in. I'll also select the language that I would like my ads to be shown to. The next option is the inventory type. I recommend leaving this as the Standard inventory option.
These options relate to the type of content and mainly sensitive content that your ads may be shown inside or next to. The next option is about excluding your ads from certain types of content, such as games, live streaming videos, or embedded YouTube videos. If you do not care to exclude your ads from any of these content types, you can simply skip to the next prompt.
Finalizing Your Ad Group
You also have the option to add a related video. This video will be shown below your video ad and is designed to give your ad a little bit more context. Under the Conversions tab, we have two different options. If you already have conversions set up, you can select the option to choose a conversion action for this campaign or you can just leave it as the default.
If this is your first ad, I suggest leaving several of these additional options to default. If you want to run your ads on specific days of the week or times of the day to reach your audience at the best time for them or to save your budget, you can play around with these options. But for now, we're just going to leave them as is and move forward.
Setting Up Your Audience Targeting
The next step is to create a name for your ad group. Now, we're going to move on to the audiences and placements for our video ad. The first option that we'll see is the demographic option. You can check off any specific ages, genders, or household income levels that you would like to target or you can leave them all selected and we can continue to segment those audiences at the next tab.
I'm now under the Audience segments tab. Under this tab, we're able to select the type of people that we would like to see this specific video ad. Affinity audiences are going to be related to things that people are interested in. Keep in mind that YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world next to Google. That means that they have a high level of data on what people are interested in.
These affinity audiences are often very accurate. However, if I click on the Browse tab, I'll be able to see some of those additional audience segments you can choose from, some of which are going to be based on your own personal business data. We're not going to be going through that in this video, but I highly encourage you to check that out.
Choosing Content Targeting Options
For the sake of this video, we are not going to be selecting any of these audiences as we're going to be targeting based on placements. The next tab is listed as Content. This still relates to the audiences that your ad will be targeting. You'll have options to target based on keyword, topic, or placements.
Placements can be a little bit misleading. This relates to who is going to see your video ad, not just where the ad shows up on the screen. You can select specific YouTube videos, specific YouTube channels, or even websites that these people may have visited.
Bidding and Final Ad Creation
Now we've come to the bidding section. Earlier on, I selected maximum CPV. This is where I'm going to input the most amount of money I'm willing to pay for a view of this video ad. I'm going to select $1. That is a good starting point for most businesses. You typically are not going to pay a dollar per view, but that is giving the algorithm enough wiggle room to be able to show your video ad to a larger number of people without limiting your reach.
Finally, we've come to this step where we're actually going to create the video ad itself. I'm simply going to select New Video Ad. For this video ad, I'm going to do a skippable in-stream video. I'll have the ability to paste that URL from the specific video ad that I would like to run.
There are only two or three additional options here such as entering the destination where you want someone to be directed to when they click on your video ad. You also have about 10 characters for a call to action. We only have 15 characters for our headline, so we really need to be concise. And then you also have URL or UTM parameters that you can add to this specific ad.
Conclusion
Finally, I'm going to give my ad a name and then click Done. Now that we've gone through all the options, I can click on the Create Campaign button, and my first YouTube video ad has been created. Now, I'm simply going to click Continue to Campaign.
Setting Up Your YouTube Channel
YouTube Ads are actually run through your Google Ads account. But before we get there, you will need to set up a YouTube channel if you haven't already. There are timestamps in the description below in case you need to skip ahead.
Once you log in to your Google account and navigate to YouTube, you're simply going to click on the profile picture on the top right-hand side, and the first option will be Create a channel. Once you click there, add a name, click Next, and your YouTube channel is created.
You will need to upload the video you plan on running as a YouTube ad to this channel, but we'll get there as we move through this process.
Creating Your Google Ads Account
You'll now need to create your Google Ads account. You can visit ads.google.com to get started. Simply click on Sign in. I do recommend that you use the same Gmail login for your YouTube channel, as well as your Google Ads account.
You'll then click on the button that says New Google Ads Account, and it will start to create your account for you. On the next screen, your Google Ads account will give you a few options. You do have the option to connect your Google My Business account. If you already have the YouTube video that you want to run as a YouTube ad uploaded to your new YouTube account, you can select Your video and it will ask you for the video URL.
If you do not yet have the video you'd like to run, select Your website and go through the prompts one by one about your business information. The prompts may ask you about budgets and different ad copy for your new Google Ads account. You do not have to use these options for the YouTube ad you plan to run, but select whatever you want on these prompts to simply move through the setup process and then we'll be able to create the ad that you intentionally want to run on YouTube.
Linking Your YouTube Channel to Google Ads
Now that you've set up your Google Ads account, you need to link the YouTube channel that you created to the account. You'll do this by simply navigating to the Tools and Settings button at the top-right and clicking on the Linked accounts option. You'll then see YouTube channel, and I'm simply going to click Manage and Link.
Click on the blue plus button and either find your channel name or paste your YouTube channel URL. If you're signed in with the same Gmail account used to create your YouTube channel, it should auto-populate.
Preparing Your Video for the Ad
Now, you're going to navigate to your YouTube channel. At the top-right, you're going to click on YouTube Studio. We are then going to click on Content. You'll either upload your video there or you'll navigate to the video that you'd like to run as your YouTube ad. It's important to note that you are able to have this video as public, but I prefer to have my ads unlisted so they don't show up on my channel.
We'll now need the URL of that specific YouTube video to paste into our Google Ads account. You can simply click here to get the shareable link.
Creating Your Campaign
Now, we're navigating back to our Google Ads account and we are going to select the Create New Campaign option. I'm now on a screen that's asking me to select the goal I'd like to use for this campaign. I'm simply going to click on Create a campaign without guidance.
The next option is the type of ad that you'd like to run. Video is the type of ad we'll be running for a YouTube ad. The next option is to create a campaign sub-type. On this screen, we will get to decide where these video ads are actually shown. I'm going to select Custom video campaign and then click Continue.
Setting Ad Parameters
Now, we're going to be selecting our ad settings, walking through the prompts one by one, and selecting the options that work for you. The campaign name should be related to the goal of the campaign or the specific YouTube ad you're trying to run. The name of your ad will only be visible to you.
Under these campaign settings, I have two options for my bid strategy: my cost per view or my CPM, which is cost per thousand. I'm going to select Maximum Cost Per View. Under Budget and dates, we'll have the option to select either a daily budget or an overall campaign budget.
If you select an overall campaign budget, you will need to add the start date and the end date. If you select a daily budget, you will not need to select dates for that. I'll be selecting the daily budget.
Choosing Ad Networks and Locations
The next option is the networks. You'll have three different options to select from. YouTube search results will allow your ad to be shown in the YouTube search results. For YouTube videos, your ad will be shown inside of YouTube videos. And for the Display Network, your video will be shown on platforms other than YouTube. I am only going to select YouTube videos for this specific ad.
I'm now going to select the country and location that I would like to show my ads in. I'll also select the language that I would like my ads to be shown to. The next option is the inventory type. I recommend leaving this as the Standard inventory option.
These options relate to the type of content and mainly sensitive content that your ads may be shown inside or next to. The next option is about excluding your ads from certain types of content, such as games, live streaming videos, or embedded YouTube videos. If you do not care to exclude your ads from any of these content types, you can simply skip to the next prompt.
Finalizing Your Ad Group
You also have the option to add a related video. This video will be shown below your video ad and is designed to give your ad a little bit more context. Under the Conversions tab, we have two different options. If you already have conversions set up, you can select the option to choose a conversion action for this campaign or you can just leave it as the default.
If this is your first ad, I suggest leaving several of these additional options to default. If you want to run your ads on specific days of the week or times of the day to reach your audience at the best time for them or to save your budget, you can play around with these options. But for now, we're just going to leave them as is and move forward.
Setting Up Your Audience Targeting
The next step is to create a name for your ad group. Now, we're going to move on to the audiences and placements for our video ad. The first option that we'll see is the demographic option. You can check off any specific ages, genders, or household income levels that you would like to target or you can leave them all selected and we can continue to segment those audiences at the next tab.
I'm now under the Audience segments tab. Under this tab, we're able to select the type of people that we would like to see this specific video ad. Affinity audiences are going to be related to things that people are interested in. Keep in mind that YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world next to Google. That means that they have a high level of data on what people are interested in.
These affinity audiences are often very accurate. However, if I click on the Browse tab, I'll be able to see some of those additional audience segments you can choose from, some of which are going to be based on your own personal business data. We're not going to be going through that in this video, but I highly encourage you to check that out.
Choosing Content Targeting Options
For the sake of this video, we are not going to be selecting any of these audiences as we're going to be targeting based on placements. The next tab is listed as Content. This still relates to the audiences that your ad will be targeting. You'll have options to target based on keyword, topic, or placements.
Placements can be a little bit misleading. This relates to who is going to see your video ad, not just where the ad shows up on the screen. You can select specific YouTube videos, specific YouTube channels, or even websites that these people may have visited.
Bidding and Final Ad Creation
Now we've come to the bidding section. Earlier on, I selected maximum CPV. This is where I'm going to input the most amount of money I'm willing to pay for a view of this video ad. I'm going to select $1. That is a good starting point for most businesses. You typically are not going to pay a dollar per view, but that is giving the algorithm enough wiggle room to be able to show your video ad to a larger number of people without limiting your reach.
Finally, we've come to this step where we're actually going to create the video ad itself. I'm simply going to select New Video Ad. For this video ad, I'm going to do a skippable in-stream video. I'll have the ability to paste that URL from the specific video ad that I would like to run.
There are only two or three additional options here such as entering the destination where you want someone to be directed to when they click on your video ad. You also have about 10 characters for a call to action. We only have 15 characters for our headline, so we really need to be concise. And then you also have URL or UTM parameters that you can add to this specific ad.
Conclusion
Finally, I'm going to give my ad a name and then click Done. Now that we've gone through all the options, I can click on the Create Campaign button, and my first YouTube video ad has been created. Now, I'm simply going to click Continue to Campaign.