YouTube Bumper Ads Explained.

Bumper Ads are bite sized ads which are six seconds in length. They are shown before a YouTube video and re not  be skippable. Six seconds may seem like a short time, but its perfect length for companies to become creative.  YouTube wants bumper ads to complement the broader messaging and help extend the reach of a campaign.

Guidelines for Bumper Ads that should be followed:

1.  Keep It Simple!

You must maximise your 6 seconds. You have to make sure the ad isn’t to complex or confusing for the viewer. Normally an ad is 30 seconds so a story can be told. Companies have to be innovative and clever. One message should be portrayed. Keep everything simple the idea, the narrative and the visuals. The green tea below is the main focus of the ad. We get the idea the tea is tasty and fast to make. The monkey is adds a humorous aspect.

2. Catch the views instantly.

Begin with a striking visual and surround your ad around that. It has to be eye catching which catches the viewers attention fast. The video below uses swift video cuts and a roaring engine to engage their viewers’ senses. The short fast snippets engages the viewer mirroring how fast the car goes. This way, its audience can actually see and hear the intensity of reaching 60 MPH in only 3.8 seconds.

3. Visuals and Noises

Using short snappy noises can appeal to the viewers senses. Bacardi shows all the parts of making the perfect drink. Visuals we can see all the fresh ingredients used.  Hearing the mixture of sounds by the listener triggers an anticipation.

4. Build in series, rather than singles

Finally, keep in mind that bumpers can be powerful little touches that add up to something bigger. Most memorable campaigns go beyond the 6 second bumper ad. Jason Bourne’s ad is snippets from the movie. Since the ad is chock full of non-stop action, it piqued viewers’ interest gathering 16 million views.  Tremendous hype was built around its trailer release. Viewers could go on to watch longer trailers.

 5. Structure your ad effectively

Anything you do needs to have a structure to it to make sense. With these four elements in your ad it will be successful.

• Attract – 6 seconds fly by very quickly so it’s essential to grab the user’s attention immediately. I explained this element above.
• Brand – instead of showing a logo on its own, it’s far more effective to integrate the brand meaningfully and naturally within the content, for example as part of the product or service offering
• Connect – creating an emotional connection through the use of humour, horror or suspense is associated with higher brand awareness and viewership.
• Direct – even within a short space of time it’s important to be clear about what you want the user to do via a call to action, e.g. search, buy or enter a competition.

Cost:

YouTube ads have an average cost-per-view of €0.10– €0.30, and the views that you generate will count towards your overall YouTube viewer count. The average cost of reaching 100,000 viewers is around €20.000.