The document discusses video marketing and analytics on YouTube. It provides tips for optimizing video content for YouTube through metadata like titles, tags and descriptions. It also discusses using YouTube analytics and advertising to improve video performance and engagement. Specifically, it recommends focusing on audience retention, custom thumbnails, regular video releases and using paid advertising to promote content if a large existing audience is not present.

1. Video Advertising, Marketing
and Analytics
Greg Jarboe
President and co-founder of SEO-PR
SEMrush webinar, July 14, 2016

2. I’ve written two books and hundreds of blog
posts about YouTube and video marketing
• The first edition of YouTube and
Video Marketing: An Hour a Day
was published in August 2009.
• It included a chapter on how to
optimize video for YouTube, the
world’s second-largest search engine.
• At that time, 20 hours of video were
being uploaded to YouTube a minute.
• The second edition of YouTube and
Video Marketing: An Hour a Day
was published in November 2011.
• It included a fully updated chapter on
how to optimize video for YouTube.
• At that time, 48 hours of video were
being uploaded to YouTube a minute.

3. Voyage TV video that was optimized 6 years
ago for renaissance aruba resort still ranks #1
• YouTube uses metadata – your
video’s title, tags and description –
to index a video correctly in search,
suggested videos, and promotion.
• Title – up to 100 characters.
• Description – up to 5,000 characters.
• Tags – up to 120 characters.
• But, the YouTube Ads Keyword Tool
was disabled in September 2014.
• So, it’s gotten harder to find keywords
that people are using while searching
on YouTube.com.

4. When you need a YouTube keyword tool now,
use a combination of the options listed below
• AdWords Display Planner.
• Google Trends.
• In March 2013, Google Trends added
YouTube search data going back to
January 2008.
• Autocomplete function of YouTube.
• YouTube Trends.
• YouTube is turning off The Trends
Map and Trends Dashboard tools in
“the coming days.”
• KeywordTool.io for YouTube.
• SEMrush Keyword Research Tool.

5. In October 2012, YouTube’s search ranking
algorithm replaced ‘views’ with ‘watch time’
• YouTube’s algorithm for suggesting
videos includes prioritizing videos
that lead to a longer overall
viewing session.
• Viewers benefit from more
enjoyable content being suggested
to them, and creators benefit from
more focused, engaged audiences.
• So, you need to make videos that
people watch well beyond the first
click to get them a high ranking.

6. Audience Retention Report in YouTube
Analytics shows average view duration
• You can use the YouTube Analytics
Views Report to identify which
videos have the greatest view
times and view-through rates.
• The Audience Retention Report
shows which videos are successful
at keeping viewers watching.
• The audience engagement reports
in YouTube Analytics let you see
which of your videos drive actions
like comments, favorites, and likes.

7. These days, 90% of the best-performing
videos on YouTube have custom thumbnails
• Your video thumbnail and title are
the first things a viewer will see
when your video is suggested.
• Create descriptive and poignant
thumbnails as well as compelling
titles for your videos that
accurately represent the content.
• If your account is verified and in
good standing, you may have the
ability to upload custom
thumbnails for your video uploads.

8. Hook viewers right from the start and keep
them engaged for the full length of the video
• Create a compelling opening and
then maintain and build interest
throughout the video.
• For example, video featuring John
Cena keeps the audience riveted
for entire 3 minutes, 34 seconds.
• Build your base of subscribers, who
will be notified of new videos and
playlists to watch.
• Encourage comments and interact
with your viewers.

9. Create a cohesive viewing experience across
your videos, playlists, and YouTube channel
• Use links in your description as well
as video or playlist cards – an
evolution of annotations – to direct
viewers to watch more content.
• Build long watch-time sessions for
your content by organizing and
featuring content on your channel.
• Create a regular release schedule
for your videos when uploading to
encourage viewers to watch sets of
videos over single videos.

10. Today, it’s estimated that 600 hours of video
are being uploaded to YouTube every minute
• A year ago at VidCon, YouTube CEO
Susan Wojcicki announced that
more than 400 hours of video were
uploaded to YouTube every minute.
• Today, it’s estimated that more
than 600 hours of video are being
uploaded to YouTube every minute.
• Given the abundance of videos on
the web, it’s risky to assume that
your content will be organically
discovered by a large audience.

11. Unless you’re PewDiePie, who has 46 million
subscribers, you’ll need to seed your content
• That’s why it’s key to promote your
content and ensure it’s discovered
by your target audience.
• Unless you already have millions of
subscribers, you’ll need to seed
your content when it launches.
• Indeed, when they don’t have an
existing subscriber base or engaged
social following, many brands use
paid advertising on YouTube to
ignite sharing and accelerate
audience building.

12. If you already have a video that fits your
needs, simply use that to create your ad
• On Google, buying text ads doesn’t
affect your site’s performance in
organic search results.
• But, the YouTube platform lets you
optimize your investment in paid
media by activating the virtuous
circle that links Owned Media (your
video content), Paid Media (paid
video advertising) and Earned
Media (“free” views obtained when
people share the video ads).

13. One benefit of YouTube advertising is getting
about 1 earned view for every 2 paid views
• It is not uncommon to see
campaigns generate at least one
earned view as a result of every
two paid views.
• Indeed hundreds of campaigns get
more than two earned views per paid
view.
• And we know the YouTube
audience isn’t shy about sharing
brand content:
• Three in four YouTube users agree
that “If there is a brand I love, I tend
to tell everyone about it.”

14. Orapup tested a series of videos and target
audiences until it found a successful formula

15. In September 2015, TrueView joined Search,
Display, and Shopping campaigns in AdWords
• To unlock key campaign
performance metrics in AdWords
for video, link your AdWords and
YouTube accounts.
• Then, in AdWords for video, enable
the “audience” columns to see the
number of:
• Earned views – The number of videos
a user watched after having seen your
ad.
• Follow-on subscribers – The number
of users who subscribed after having
seen your video ad.

16. Google’s Brand Lift solution uses surveys and
organic searches to measure your ad’s impact
• Finally, Google’s Brand Lift solution
provides metrics that matter,
including lifts in brand awareness,
ad recall, consideration,
favorability, purchase intent, and
brand interest, as measured by
organic search activity.
• You’ll glean insights within a matter
of a few days, so you can adjust
your YouTube campaigns according
to what’s working in near real time.

17. The Warehouse in New Zealand drove an
averaged 82% lift in brand search interest
• The Warehouse advertised on
YouTube with TrueView and ran a
series of Brand Lift studies to
measure impact of the YouTube
ads on their target audience.
• Averaged results for all 6 studies
showed increases in ad recall
(+35%), consideration (+16%), and
brand interest (+82%).
• Campaigns also helped drive 32%
YoY growth in e-commerce sales.

18. Video ads can help you drive visits to your
website, product purchases, or app installs
• Other success metrics are available
in AdWords for video, including
conversion, reach, frequency and
website clicks.
• You can also add interactive
elements, including cards, call-to-
action overlays, shopping cards,
and auto end screens.
• This can help you drive visits to
your website, product purchases,
or app installs.

19. YouTube campaign for Gillette BODY Razor
delivered more than 500,000 clicks-to-buy
• “100 Years of Hair” garnered more
than 14 million views.
• 84% of viewers watched at least
85% of the ad.
• Gillette searches grew by 211% and
clicks grew by 111% (biggest
increase ever for the brand).
• Campaign delivered more than
500,000 clicks-to-buy and
surpassed sales expectations by up
to 4X across seven markets.

20. Global search interest for virtual reality on
Google has grown by nearly 4X in the last year
• But is it worth pursuing?
• Here are some questions that you
should answer before investing in
VR technology:
• Will VR give viewers an experience
that they otherwise couldn’t have?
• Could you give shoppers a better feel
for your product?
• Will your recording environment be
rich with things to see?
• Will viewers want to continue
watching beyond the initial “That's
cool” moment?