How to Use YouTube's Call-to-Action Overlay Ads

Almost 5 billion videos are watched on Youtube every single day, and with that much traffic, it’s no wonder why marketers are extending their strategies to include YouTube ads.

Brands have the opportunity to link commercials back to the products they're selling and potentially increase their conversion rate. In this post, we’ll help you achieve those goals by teaching you how to share YouTube overlay ads and give you tips on how to run them successfully.

YouTube Overlay Ads

Youtube overlay ads are narrow and wide banners that appear at the bottom quarter of YouTube videos to promote businesses without completely obstructing content. They can include text, imagery, and color to entice viewers to click or be turned off without disrupting the video player.

Not all YouTube ads are short videos; overlay ads are a type of imagery that pops up on the video player as viewers watch their chosen content.

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They’re relatively small and inoffensive to the viewing experience and leave enough space to garner the attention of various potential customers. And making them isn’t a challenge, let’s get into it.

How to Create YouTube Overlay Ads

1. Create a banner that fits the dimensions of overlay ad specs.

You can easily create a banner on graphic design platforms like Canva or Photoshop, choose from pre-existing templates, and customize it to reflect your brand identity. And for ideal sizing of the banner, make sure it follows these dimensions:

• Image dimensions: 480×70
• File type: Static .GIF, .PNG, .JPG
• File size: 150 Kb

2. Begin a new campaign in Google Ads.

YouTube ads are created and managed through Google Ads.

3. Select “Display” campaign type.

You’re looking to advertise your overlay banner ad, meaning an image you want to be displayed on YouTube.

4. Choose the type of audience you want to reach.

When advertising on YouTube, you want to pay to reach the people who are most likely going to be interested in your offering. This means you need to choose your target audience or demographic carefully.

Along with plugging in those specifics, you can set up your ad:

• Budget:Cost-per-click (CPC or PPC)
• Duration: Start and end date
• Content Exclusions: Type of devices to run on

5. Add in your overlay ad banner and run your campaign.

When you’ve finished adding specs to your overlay add, it’s time to run the campaign.

In the case that you want to edit the ad, you can use Google Ads Manager to make adjustments where seen fit.

Youtube Overlay Ads Best Practices

1. Keep your overlay simple and clear to read.

When using Google Ads, you need to adhere to image quality requirements to avoid the risk of having your campaign ended abruptly.

Policies aside, you only have so much space in your overlay ad to show prospects. If it's hard to read and comprehend at first glance, viewers most likely will press X instead of wanting to learn more about your brand, product, or service.

2. Don’t over-promise in your overlay ad.

When you get your prospects' attention and get them to your landing page, the last thing you want to do is underdeliver or mislead them, as it makes your brand look untrustworthy.

Use your YouTube overlay ad to familiarize your target audience with the type of solution you can meet, and they’ll have a much more pleasant experience and introduction to your company.

3. Use a compelling call to action.

A strong call-to-action can distinguish between a campaigning budget is well-spent or not.

Overlay ads have already been successful for non-profit organizations because, as blogger Ramya Raghavan reported, they "drive traffic to an off-YouTube web page, where they can collect signatures, email addresses or even donations."Charity: water best demonstrates the success potential of the new YouTube feature. This non-profit raised $10,000 daily by using the Call-to-Action overlay ads.

4. Send viewers to a dedicated landing page.

Landing pages are uniquely powerful components of a business's digital marketing strategy.

It's your business’ opportunity to ask visitors for their contact information in exchange for something of value, otherwise known as an offer.

Make your landing page rich in:

• Benefit-focused H2s
• Compelling copy
• Lead forms or relevant offers

You want prospects to feel like they're gaining something of value made just for them, so make sure it’s a page worth visiting.

5. Experiment with different in-video overlay ad formats.

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You can run more than one campaign at the same time on YouTube. Google Ads lets users create multiple different ads for YouTube, so feel free to get creative. Alongside your overlay ad campaign, you can make other using formats like:

• Skippable or non-skippable video ads
• Bumper ads
• Sponsored cards

Catch Your Audience’s Attention with Overlay Ads

With YouTube overlay ads, you can meet your prospects where they are by targeting and gaining their interest in YouTube. We hope you found this post helpful and implemented some of these tactics into your marketing strategy.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published July 2009 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.