Avoiding Common Pitfalls in YouTube Advertising: Channels to Exclude

YouTube advertising has enormous potential in terms of reaching a large audience, but the thing you need to keep in mind to run an effective campaign is not only the groups you target, but the groups you also exclude. The strategic process of exclusion will go a long way in keeping your budget protected, and the message will also be delivered to the right people because the understanding of proper ad placement strategies is an essential tool for everyone in the advertising business.

This guide will take you through the typical problems associated with YouTube adverts and show you how to target and engage a more precise audience with the application of channel exclusions.

Why Getting YouTube Ads Wrong is Costly

If the ads performed poorly on YouTube, the problems are well beyond a low click-through rate. Running the ads on the wrong channels means advertisers will receive wasteful advertisement costs, facilitate negative reputation for the brand, and experience low engagement. All these problems can bring the entire campaign crashing down, making it crucial to be proactive regarding the ads and their placement.

Most Common Mistakes in YouTube Advertising

Wasting Budget on Irrelevant Channels

One of the most common mistakes is to allow the running of ads in those channels that don’t relate to the targeted audience. Your ad for business software for the corporate sector airing in a kids cartoon channel would hardly produce leads for you.

Brand Safety Issues

Running your ads side by side with controversial and unrelated content has a negative effect on the image of your brand. For instance, an advertisement for a family product next to a video containing lewd language and/or radical ideas will forever hamper the image of your brand with the consumers.

Lack of Effective Audience Engagement

People watching channels that do not relate to the offering of the product and services available in the market are less likely to interact with the ad placements. They simply skip the ads entirely and, worse, may form a negative impression of the brand for interrupting their programming.

The Power of Exclusion Lists

Exclusion lists are the best tools you can use to avoid the above challenges. This is because a list of specific channels, videos, and topics where you don’t want to place the advert will be created, giving you full control of where the advert is placed. This means that the budget will be spent where the audience has an interest in what you are offering, thus making the campaign more effective.

Identifying and Excluding Channels

Using Placement Exclusions

To access the placements in Google Ads settings, you need to navigate to the “Content” section and find the “Placements” section there. It is possible to add URLs of YouTube channels in the exclusion list in order to not show the ads in the respective channels.

Channel Performance Analysis

Make it a point to check your “Where ads showed” report in Google Ads from time to time. The “Where ads showed” report allows Google Ad advertisers to know the channels where the ads run and the associated metrics, such as the number of views, clicks, and impression shares. You should exclude channels in the “Where ads showed” report if those channels are irrelevant, unengaging, or unsafe for your brand.

Using Third-Party Tools

Besides, there are a number of third-party solutions available with pre-created excluded lists depending on the category, such as kids and politics. While doing this, you save a number of hours and also receive a complete solution to start optimizing the campaign to save advertising costs. Want to exclude kid channels from YouTube ads, for example? It’s easier than ever. 

Maximize Your Ad Spend with Exclusions

Strategic exclusions are more than a way to defend against negative advertising. Strategic exclusions are a critical element of a well-executed YouTube ad campaign. Be thoughtful about creating and maintaining your strategic exclusions to make sure that your marketing dollars are working as hard for you as possible.