Let me tell you a little marketing secret:
It’s one of the most powerful ways to be able to generate leads or create sales today.
It’s the awesome and amazing commercial before the video that you see on YouTube and other videos that you may be watching. This is called pre-roll.
I use videos for clients all the time. I’ve created over 400 videos and TV commercials, and 134 infomercials.
I love this media.
But, it keeps getting better. Now with the ability to use pre-rolls, it has supercharged your ability to create greater profits.
This is how it works: If you’ve ever watched a video on YouTube, you’ve probably had to wait anywhere from a few seconds to a couple minutes to watch the video you clicked on.
First, you were shown a video ad or commercial. This is called a pre-roll video and it’s one of the growing techniques used to target a specific audience…either your clients or prospects.
Google TrueView places the advertising spots in the pre-roll before a YouTube video. You can target your audience with a growing set of variables, allowing you to accurately target the investors you’re looking for.
Here’s an example of how I am currently using pre-roll videos for my clients…in fact, over 70% are using this strategy.

  1. I use our pre-selected email/postal lists to run the ads only to your target audience when they watch a video on YouTube.
  2. Cable: You can also do pre-rolls on select cable channels or platforms that match your targeted criteria.
  3. Custom list: I’m using pre-rolls to serve my videos to specific audiences- for example, only customers, or only a subset of customers.
  4. Look-a-like: I am using a look-a-like audience of prospects to target the pre-roll video, based on the prospect list provided. Google will use their algorithms to identify prospects just like the list I provided.

With one recent campaign I executed, I attracted 36,589 pre-roll views.
Here are seven things you need to know about pre-roll videos:
#1: They work. Pre-roll commercials have an average click-through rate of 1.84%, higher than any other type of digital ad. In fact, the average online video viewer spends 16 minutes a month watching video ads.
The Nassau Paradise Island Tourist Board has spent over $1 million on Google TrueView. The completion rate of their 30 second pre-video commercial is now 20%. YouTube allows viewers to skip the ad after 5 seconds. But, advertisers are only charged if the entire 30 seconds are viewed. Their price per completed view is $0.08.
pre-roll
 
#2: The first three seconds of your video are the most important, especially for pre-roll videos. If you lose the attention of the viewers, they are going to click “skip ad” if given the option. Immediately catch the interest of the prospect or your opportunity to gain a new lead or client is lost.
#3: The call-to-action (CTA) is the second most important element in your pre-roll video. The prospect should be able to respond immediately.
#4: Pre-rolls can be specifically targeted to your audience. Want investors? Done. Want alternative health customers? Done. Want conservatives? Done.
#5: Pre-roll gives you the advantage of better Search Engine Optimization (SEO)… on YouTube and Google.
#6: Pre-roll videos can have multiple uses … on your landing page, in banner/Facebook ads and in emails.
#7: YouTube is now providing special buttons for pre-roll videos that say, “Shop Now”, which can easily be converted to “Subscribe Now”, “Donate Now”, “attend this event”, etc.
Pre-roll videos should be one of the most powerful, effective components of your advertising campaign. A pre-roll video can increase response from current prospects, and expand leads when used with look-a-like audiences.
It can also increase sales to your customers—upselling or cross-selling.
To learn more about how to create powerful video you can use for pre-roll commercials, give me a call at (310) 212-5727 or email Caleb at [email protected].
 
Here are the rest of this week’s articles: