It’s not a secret that YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world and it has over one billion active users. In fact, 79% of internet users say they have a YouTube account.
These are staggering numbers for any marketer to ignore but what about attorneys and law firms? Are YouTube Ads something they should be using? In this blog post, we’re going to explore why attorneys and law firms should use YouTube Ads, as well as provide actionable advice on how to do so effectively.
What are YouTube ads?
YouTube ads are video advertisements that can be placed on the site by law firms and attorneys. There are a number of different types of YouTube Ads, including:
- In Stream Videos: These adverts play before or during videos that people have chosen to watch. They’re skippable after five seconds but they don’t show up in the suggested content bar as regular pre-rolls do. (This is how we recommend most law firms use YouTube Ads.)
- Non-skippable Pre-Rolls: These ads appear at the start of videos and cannot be skipped until they’ve played for 30 seconds
- In Video Bumper Ads: This type of advert contains 20 second full screen commercials.
Learn more about paid ads for lawyers in our online training.
Why should law firms use YouTube Ads?
These are several reasons that YouTube Ads are worth investing in as a law firm or attorney.
Leverage the second largest search engine
Google owns YouTube. As you may already know, Google is the world’s largest search engine. They apply a similar algorithm to YouTube and it is now the second most popular search engine. There are approximately 2.3 billion active users.
People use it to learn about their legal situations, the law firms they’re researching, and similar topics. Naturally, this makes YouTube very appealing to law firms and attorneys as you can place your practice in front of a large audience. That brings us to our next point.
Reach targeted audiences
With YouTube Ads, attorneys can be very specific and selective about the audiences they deliver their advertisements to. You can choose from the following six options:
- Search: Search-based video ads allow you to strategically place your ad on videos based on a user’s YouTube search history.
- TrueView affinities: Choose between 130 different affinity audiences (interests or habits that a group of people share) to deliver 20-30 second non-skippable ads.
- Competitor channels: Place advertisements on the channels of competitors if you know that you share similar audiences.
- Customer match: Upload a file of customer emails to directly target existing leads.
- Demographics: Deliver ads to users based on gender, age, parental status, household income, and location.
- Interests: Select audiences with specific attitudes, lifestyle, values, and interests.
Generate leads
With the right marketing funnel, YouTube Ads can be used to generate a law firm leads on a regular basis. This is mainly achieved by understanding the buyer journey and marketing funnel.
It begins at the top of the funnel. This is where an individual realizes they have a problem that needs to be solved through working with an attorney. They then conduct their research to find legal practices they can work with during the consideration stage. Finally, they enter the decision stage where they choose a service provider.
With this in mind, YouTube Ads can be leveraged to generate leads by:
- Offering a free consultation or another resource that educates potential clients on a topic that matters to them.
- Performing a case study on successful clients and the results they were able to achieve by working with your firm.
- Give a free assessment depending on the exact legal services you provide. For example, some immigration attorneys offer an assessment to find the best course of action for potential clients.
How to get started with YouTube Ads
To get started with YouTube Ads, visit this page and click “Start Advertising.”
On the next page, click “Get Started.”
Choose the Google Ads account you would like to use to pay for the ads and manage campaigns. Select “New Campaign” on the Google Ads dashboard.
Choose from one of the available campaign objectives:
- Sales
- Leads
- Website traffic
- Product and brand consideration
- Brand awareness and reach
- App promotion
- Local store visits and promotions
In most cases, lead generation will be your focus. Select “Video” from the campaign type afterward.
Choose a bid strategy such as “Maximise conversions” and set a budget.
Assign the users you would like to target via demographics and the audience options.
The keywords you target should be related to law and your particular practice areas. Consider what clients would be searching for on YouTube so you generate the highest quality leads when your video ads are placed in front of them. You should also select relevant topics.
To finish the campaign, you will have to enter the URL of the video you would like to promote. You can then measure the performance of your YouTube Ads from the Google Ads dashboard.
Final thoughts on law firm YouTube Ads
YouTube is the second largest search engine behind Google. Odds are your ideal client searches YouTube for legal topics and content. This is why it’s an effective channel for attorneys and law firms interested in generating leads and increasing brand awareness.
You can use YouTube Ads in several different ways. Firstly, law firms can leverage them to promote existing videos they have such as case studies, team videos, etc. This is ideal if you wish to increase traffic to your YouTube channel.
Secondly, there are skippable in-stream video ads. These play for a minimum of 5 seconds and can then be skipped. The video ad needs to be at least 12 seconds long and it’s recommended to not exceed 3 minutes.
Thirdly, there are non-skippable in-stream video ads. These play right before a video or during but do not include a skip button.
Bumper ads are 6-second non-skippable video ads that play before a video begins. They are ideally used when you have a quick message to get across that doesn’t require extensive content.
Fourthly, there are discovery ads. These are similar to Google search ads, appearing in areas like the YouTube homepage, video watch page, and search results page.
Lastly, there are non-video ads. With these, law firms can serve display ads on the right side of results while a video is playing or a banner ad that overlays the video.
If you need help with video marketing, YouTube Ads, or other digital marketing practices, schedule a free consultation with WiseMedia’s legal marketing experts today.
