Advertising is Redefined by Google AdWords for Video

Here’s how traditional advertising typically works… You pay to blast your message out to a large audience, e.g., airing a television commercial, and hope that it reaches some people that turn into consumers.  It works, but it’s usually pretty expensive.  Let’s say you own a local restaurant and want to run a television ad.  The first step is making the ad, then figuring out who should see it.  Your local cable network would work with you to target a specific demographic then advise running your ad during a certain time of day or program.  All of these variables affect the cost.  Prices range wildly, but from our experience if you are planning on running a local campaign on tv, expect to start at around $20,000.  If you want to run an ad during some prime-time television, like na NFL game, you’re going to need deep pockets.

Again, traditional advertising works, but there might be a cheaper and more affective alternative on the rise.  When you run a television commercial, a lot of the people who see it aren’t going to turn into consumers. Heck, a lot of the people aren’t even going to watch it.  Basically, you’re going to end up spending a lot of money on irrelevant views.  Google’s found a way around this.

Google AdWords for Video allows businesses to advertise on YouTube.  You can opt to only pay for an ad when the viewer actually watches it.  The viewer has the option to skip it, so there’s a good chance that the actual views will come from engaged individuals.  It’s also very possible to run a legitimate campaign with just a couple hundred dollars. Seriously!

Google puts the media buying in your hands.  If you run a campaign with AdWords, you’ll have access to detailed analytics to ensure that every penny is spent in the right place.

I wouldn’t say AdWords for video means the death of traditional advertising is imminent, but things are certainly changing.  I think that online video is a vital part of a successful business and if you have online video, AdWords should definitely be something you consider.  It’s low risk with a potential huge payoff.

Have you tried the new AdWords?