The Impact of Adding Video Advertising to Your Strategy

Looking for a competitive advantage in 2024? Incorporating additional video marketing channels can be a game changer for increasing visibility and conversions in your next campaign.

Often, property marketers prefer to stick with the basics of digital advertising — Google Ads, Meta Ads, Instagram Ads, and Display Retargeting. This foundational campaign structure has proven effective at building awareness and conversions for our clients. However, we’ve proven that adding video-focused advertising channels to this media mix can have a multiplier effect on campaigns.

What We Studied

We gathered campaign performance data from a sample of over 200 clients with multifamily properties across the U.S. to compare the difference between those running a traditional marketing mix versus those who included YouTube and CLTV (our connected TV advertising service) in their mix. 

In the sample, we considered clients with our most common media mix, “Paid Search, Display Retargeting, Paid Social,” as our baseline and aggregated their performance data. We then looked at a sample of clients that were running YouTube Ad campaigns and a sample of clients running CLTV campaigns. 

We analyzed the difference in website traffic and website conversions clients experienced when running campaigns with these specific video strategies. Here’s what we found.

Results of Adding YouTube to Your Strategy

Clients who incorporated YouTube advertising in their strategy received significantly higher volumes of new website visitors than overall sessions.

In addition to traffic volume, they also experienced a rise in traffic quality, as evidenced by the 12% higher conversion rate. Conversions, in this case, represent high-quality brand engagements on the website tracked by Google Analytics, such as scheduling a tour, calling the property, or asking a live chatbot or agent a question, among other interactions.

Why It Works

One of the unique characteristics of YouTube as an advertising channel is how broadly it appeals to different audiences. According to Pew Research’s most recent 2024 study on social media use in the U.S., YouTube is the most widely used social media platform across all age groups, outranking Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. This has been the case each year since YouTube was added to the study in 2018. A whopping 93% of those ages 18-29, 92% of those ages 30-49, 83% of those ages 50-64, and 60% of those ages 65 say they use the platform.

In addition to the volume and variety of users on the platform, one of the biggest advantages advertisers receive when running campaigns on YouTube is access to sophisticated ad targeting and management. YouTube ads are managed on the same platform as Google Ads, providing advertisers with the ability to leverage:

• Keyword targeting
• Geographic targeting
• Interest and behavior targeting 
• AI bidding 

All of these features enable brands to reach users with the highest intent based on data collected in a property’s Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts.

Results of Adding Connected TV to Your Strategy

Similar to YouTube, clients who added CLTV to their campaigns experience a higher volume of website sessions and users as well as an increase in conversions.

When we analyzed conversions by traffic type, we saw an interesting trend for CLTV. With the addition of CLTV, one in every three Organic Search sessions resulted in a conversion. This reveals the impact that subliminal marketing channels like connected TV have on organic search traffic and future engagement in the prospect journey.

Why It Works

eMarketer reports that connected TV advertising is the fastest-growing ad channel among companies in the U.S., with ad spending projected to grow to over $30B this year. What’s driving this? Advertisers have observed a rise in time spent watching connected TV. U.S. adults, on average, spend 123.4 minutes per day watching connected TV. The format and targeting capabilities are also favorable among data-driven marketers.

Connected TV advertising allows marketers to reach highly targeted audiences based on interests, behaviors, and location. This precision targeting ensures ads are delivered to potential renters who are most likely to be interested in your properties, thereby maximizing the impact of your marketing efforts.

Unlike other channels, connected TV ads aren’t skippable, which means these campaigns have higher video watch-through times. 

Additionally, these ads are typically viewed on larger screens, such as smart TVs, laptops, or tablets, providing a more immersive and engaging viewing experience. This increased viewability leads to higher ad recall and better brand recognition among viewers.

Amplifying Awareness & Conversions With Video Advertising

Whether you need an awareness or retargeting strategy, YouTube and connected TV offer highly visual storytelling opportunities, making these strategies best suited for building brand awareness and driving direct and organic website activity. Properties in the lease-up stage, going through a rebrand, or positioned in a competitive market can all benefit from the increase in awareness and subsequent website engagement that these strategies deliver.

Get Started With Conversion Logix

Interested in launching an advertising campaign on YouTube and connected TV channels? Schedule a call with a Conversion Logix account manager to get started.

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