12:19pm
Saint Paul
I write ads.
Some of my copywriting peers love seeing ads “in the wild” because it helps them know what others are doing.
But I’ve blocked ads for a long time, even before I became a copywriter, because they’re often just so bad.
Now, YouTube’s been fighting ad-blockers for a while…
And apparently, YouTube is winning that fight.
So they’ve made some ads unskippable, even when the ad is an hour long!
These are VSLs–video sales letters–and the advertiser has to pay for them after X amount of viewing time.
Make them unskippable, and suddenly…
The cost of that ad spend skyrockets!
Which, sure if the ad converts into promising leads, that’s great (for the advertiser).
But we all know that not every ad targets us or our interests.
So if these unskippable ads become common, I would expect both ad buyers and YouTube users to put up a stink.
On the other hand…
If your ad targets the right audience, with the right hook, a good ad should more than pay for itself.
(Like the 2-minute VSL I wrote for an anti-snoring device, which cost peanuts in comparison to the product’s sales.)
So before you skip that next ad on YouTube, ask yourself who it’s targeting, and what their hook is.
Learn something… even if you learn it’s not a good ad. Because in those 15 seconds, maybe it is a good ad with an idea you can swipe.
Have a wonderful day,
Jeffrey