YouTube is one of the most popular and effective platforms for video marketing. According to a report by Google, YouTube reaches more 18-49-year-olds than any broadcast or cable TV network. But how do you know if your YouTube video campaigns are actually working?
How do you measure the influence of your videos on your target audience’s awareness, perception, and behavior?
That’s where YouTube Brand Lift Studies come in. Brand Lift Studies are a free tool that allows you to measure the impact of your YouTube video campaigns on key brand metrics, such as:
- Ad recall: How well do people remember seeing your ad?
- Brand awareness: How familiar are people with your brand?
- Consideration: How likely are people to consider your brand when making a purchase decision?
- Favorability: How positively do people feel about your brand?
- Purchase intent: How likely are people to buy your product or service?
- Brand interest: How interested are people in your brand or category?
In this post, we will explain how Brand Lift Studies work, how to set them up, how to view the results, and how to use them to optimize your YouTube video campaigns.
How Brand Lift Studies Work
Brand Lift Studies work by showing surveys to two groups of people: those who have seen your ad (exposed group) and those who have not seen your ad (control group). The difference in responses between the two groups indicates the lift (or change) in the brand metric that your ad has generated.
For example, if 30% of the exposed group say they are likely to buy your product, and 20% of the control group say the same, then your ad has generated a 10% lift in purchase intent.
The surveys are shown to a random sample of people who are eligible to see your ad, based on your targeting criteria. The surveys are short and simple, usually consisting of one question and a few answer options. The surveys are shown either before or after the video, depending on the ad format.
The surveys are designed to measure the incremental impact of your ad, meaning the difference that your ad makes compared to no ad at all. This way, you can isolate the effect of your ad from other factors, such as organic exposure, word-of-mouth, or competitor activity.
How to Set Up a Brand Lift Study
To set up a Brand Lift Study, you need to have a Google Ads account and a YouTube video campaign with a minimum budget requirement. The minimum budget varies depending on the region, the ad format, and the brand metric you want to measure. You can check the minimum budget for your campaign in the Google Ads interface or contact your Google account manager for more details.
You can choose which brand metric you want to measure and which survey question you want to ask. You can also customize the survey language, the survey frequency, and the survey duration. You can set up a Brand Lift Study for any of the following YouTube ad formats:
- TrueView for action
- TrueView in-stream
- TrueView discovery
- Bumper ads
- Outstream ads
- Masthead ads
You can set up a Brand Lift Study either when you create a new campaign or when you edit an existing campaign. You can find the option to set up a Brand Lift Study under the “Additional settings” section in the Google Ads interface. You can follow the steps in this guide to set up a Brand Lift Study for your YouTube video campaign.
How to View the Results of a Brand Lift Study
You can view the results of your Brand Lift Study in the Google Ads interface or in the Brand Lift dashboard. You can access the Brand Lift dashboard from the “Tools and settings” menu in the Google Ads interface. You can also download the results as a CSV file or export them to Google Data Studio.
You can see the lift in the brand metric, the confidence interval, the survey responses, and the cost per lift. The lift is the percentage point difference in the survey responses between the exposed group and the control group. The confidence interval is the range of values that the true lift is likely to fall within, based on statistical significance. The survey responses are the number and percentage of people who answered the survey question in each group. The cost per lift is the amount of money you spent to generate one percentage point of lift.
You can also compare the performance of different campaigns, line items, creatives, or targeting options. You can use the filters and segments in the Brand Lift dashboard to slice and dice the data according to your needs. You can also use the date range selector to see how the results change over time.
How to Use Brand Lift Studies to Optimize Your YouTube Video Campaigns
Brand Lift Studies are a powerful way to measure the effectiveness of your YouTube video campaigns and to optimize them for better results. By using Brand Lift Studies, you can align your video marketing goals with your brand objectives and deliver more value to your audience and your business.
Here are some ways you can use Brand Lift Studies to optimize your YouTube video campaigns:
- Test different creative elements, such as the message, the tone, the music, the visuals, or the call to action. See which ones generate the highest lift in the brand metric that matters most to you.
- Test different targeting options, such as the audience, the keywords, the topics, the placements, or the demographics. See which ones reach the most relevant and responsive people for your brand.
- Test different bidding strategies, such as the bid amount, the bid adjustment, the budget, or the cost per view. See which ones deliver the most efficient and effective results for your campaign.
- Test different frequency and duration settings, such as the impression cap, the view cap, the view rate, or the watch time. See which ones balance the exposure and the impact of your ad.
By testing and optimizing your YouTube video campaigns with Brand Lift Studies, you can improve your brand awareness, consideration, favorability, purchase intent, and interest. You can also increase your return on ad spend, your customer lifetime value, and your brand loyalty.
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