With a huge active daily userbase, YouTube is a go-to place when it comes to reaching massive audiences through video content.
YouTube ad sequences provide an excellent opportunity to move users through a multi-step journey that educates and shows the benefit of your services. Adding video to your digital marketing campaigns has become crucial for telling a rich brand story and creating deeper engagement, consideration, and awareness.
Read on to learn more about using series of videos in a tease-amplify-echo sequence to tell your story and engage your ideal audience on YouTube.
Making use of video ad sequencing on YouTube can be very beneficial to SaaS businesses looking to tell their story in new and engaging ways.
Simply put, your sequence should show a series of ads specially tailored for the buyer’s journey and the “Messy Middle” loop. You can use a flat sequence or vary the content viewers see depending on how they interact with each video in your sequence.Once the YouTube ad campaign is live, the target audience will see the first step in the sequence. When the user has seen the first ad, the sequence starts and the follow-up videos begin to show up.
The progress of each step in the video ad sequencing is based on impressions. You can use various bidding strategies and video ad formats, including bumper ads, TrueView in-stream ads, or a combination of both.
Tease-amplify-echo is an efficient video ad sequencing model for SaaS marketers to try out and experiment with when building their digital marketing campaigns.
In this model, each sequence starts with a teaser video – a short, six-second bumper ad. The goal of the teaser is to attract the right audience, hook them in, and ignite their curiosity, without necessarily asking them for anything in return.
Once you have your specific number of views per user, the sequence continues to the amplify phase. The amplifying video is 30 to 60 seconds long and is a crucial part of creating a seamless ad experience. It should aim to increase engagement, provide extra information, and deliver on the promise of the teaser video. To nail your in-stream YouTube ad, remember that your video should evoke emotion, keep it simple, and steer clear from being too promotional.
The final video ad in the sequence is designed to echo the story and, ideally, use remarketing to accelerate the buyer’s journey and encourage viewers to take action.
The follow-up model is fairly similar to the tease-amplify-echo. The main difference here, however, is that there is no teaser and viewers see the longer (amplify phase) video first. The 30-60 second in-stream video serves as an introduction to the concept and story.The follow-up sequence ends with a short bumper ad resolving the story, emphasizing the key brand message, and providing a strong call-to-action.
Which model will work best for your business is highly dependant on your goals, target group, and the industry you’re in. If you are just getting started with YouTube ad series, don’t be afraid to test different sequences and videos. Using short but engaging video content – such as animated explainer videos – can be a wonderful way to spark emotions, simplify complex ideas, and take your storytelling to the next level.
When executed properly, video ad sequencing can be a powerful storytelling tool. It allows you to take control of the narrative and provide a grand reveal when users are most likely to convert.
The key to successful sequential video advertising is building a relationship with your audience and establishing a clear connection between the stories in your sequence.
Ready to build successful video ad sequences? Don’t forget to check out our post on how to avoid common mistakes in remarketing for SaaS first.