by John Eberhard

I have been managing Google AdWords accounts for about 10 years, and recently I became a Google Partner and Google AdWords Certified.

Google has been fairly aggressive over the last two years in adding new features. One of the newer features and one that I think people should jump on right now is Google Video Ads.

Basically you can run a Google AdWords campaign that gets someone to click on the ad and then go to a video for your company on YouTube. And the cost per click for this type of ad is ranging in the 15 to 17 cents per click range, compared to most Google AdWords regular pay per click campaigns where the cost per click can range from $1.00 on up to over $20.00 in some cases.

Here’s how it works:

1. Your video can be shown as a “pre-roll,” i.e. it is shown on YouTube before another video that someone went to see. You pay if they watch your video past 30 seconds.
2. When someone does a search on YouTube and what they are searching for matches what your video is about, your video will show up near the top of the listings. You pay if they click on the listing and go to your video.
3. Your video can show up in the suggested videos area on YouTube.
4. The video can show up on other sites through the Google Display Network.

Of course whether this works for you or not depends on whether you have a video for your company. And video has to be compelling and do a good job of selling your company, and have a good call to action at the end (i.e. call us now at ____), and a good offer. Also it helps to optimize your video, with the proper information in the description and in other ways.

My Google rep told me that this is a unique opportunity in that the cost for these types of ads are very low at the moment. This is because not many people know about them and the competition for them is not very high. But the cost per click will go up as more and more people start doing these ads.

If you have a video that sells your company I would recommend considering these video ads. If you do not have a video, consider having one made. Contact me to see if this is a good fit for your company.