Optimising for views
Cheap views look great in reports and do nothing for sales.
Video ads that reach the right people, stop the scroll and turn attention into enquiries and sales. Performance-based, no lock-in contracts, every result tracked.
Example only. A fictional brand’s video ad on desktop and mobile.
Month-to-month agreements. We earn your business every month.
Views are nice. We track through to leads and sales.
See spend, views, leads and cost per lead any time.
Your campaigns run by a Google Partner agency, inside Google Ads.
By John Conigliaro, Director and Lead Consultant, Anahaw Media. Updated September 2026
YouTube is where Australians go to learn, compare and switch off. It is also where plenty of people search for how-tos, reviews and product demos. YouTube advertising puts your business in front of the right people while they watch, on their phone, their laptop or the TV in the lounge room.
Most businesses either skip YouTube because video sounds expensive, or run a few ads that rack up cheap views and nothing else. We do it differently. Every campaign gets a clear job: reach new buyers, bring back people who visited your site, or push ready-to-buy viewers to act. Then we measure it on leads and sales, not views.
YouTube ads run through Google Ads, so they sit neatly alongside your search campaigns. In our PSRBL model, YouTube does two big jobs: Prospect, reaching people before they search, and Retarget, bringing back the ones who didn’t buy.
YouTube is easy to spend on and easy to get wrong. Here is what we see most often, and what we do instead.
Problem 01 of 06
What usually happens
Campaigns set up for views pile up low-quality traffic that never buys.
How we do it
We optimise for conversions and track what viewers do next.
Problem 02 of 06
What usually happens
A 30-second brand spot with the logo at the end gets skipped in five seconds.
How we do it
We script for the first five seconds, so the hook and brand land before the skip button.
Problem 03 of 06
What usually happens
Broad audiences burn budget on people who will never buy.
How we do it
We build audiences from your customer lists, site visitors and people searching for what you sell.
Problem 04 of 06
What usually happens
Viewers who showed interest never see you again.
How we do it
We retarget warm viewers and site visitors with the right next ad.
Problem 05 of 06
What usually happens
YouTube gets no credit, so good campaigns get switched off.
How we do it
We track view-through and engaged-view conversions and watch branded search.
Problem 06 of 06
What usually happens
Creative wears out and results slide.
How we do it
We test new hooks and formats every month and retire tired ads.
The fix is rarely a bigger budget. It is a clear job for every campaign, creative made for the platform, and tracking that shows what YouTube is really doing for your business.
Every YouTube campaign we run is measured on business results. That means leads, sales and cost per acquisition, not how many people watched.
You stay because it works, not because a contract says so. Month-to-month agreements mean we earn your business every single month.
A cheap view is only cheap if it leads somewhere. We track what viewers do after they watch, including site visits, enquiries, sales and searches for your brand.
YouTube often starts the journey rather than finishing it. Someone watches your ad on Tuesday, then searches your name on Friday. We use view-through and engaged-view conversions, plus branded search trends, to show the full picture without over-claiming.
We start with a controlled test budget, prove what works, then scale the winners. If a campaign cannot earn its keep, we cut it and tell you why.
We report YouTube next to your Google Ads and Meta results, so you can see how video lifts every other channel.
How many of the right people saw your ad, and how often.
Whether your hook works and people keep watching.
People who watched at least 10 seconds, then took action.
What viewers did on your website afterwards.
Whether more people search your name once ads are running.
What each lead or sale actually cost you.
Four parts, one goal: turn attention on YouTube into customers you can count.
Good YouTube campaigns start with who you want to reach and what you want them to do next.
We agree what each campaign is for: reaching new buyers, retargeting warm viewers or driving direct sales. Each goal gets its own campaign and targets.
We use your customer lists, website visitors and YouTube viewers to find people most likely to buy, and to exclude people who already have.
We reach people based on what they have recently searched on Google, so your ad shows to people already looking for what you sell.
We choose or exclude channels, videos and topics so your brand shows up in the right places.
We set up GA4 and Google Ads conversions for leads, calls and sales before a dollar is spent.
We exclude sensitive content, content made for kids and low-quality apps and channels.
The ad is the targeting. Most YouTube results are won or lost in the first five seconds.
We write scripts that grab attention and show your brand in the first five seconds, before the skip button appears.
Horizontal for desktop and TV, vertical for Shorts and square for the feed, planned from the same footage where possible.
Six-second ads that repeat one simple message to build recall at a low cost.
Vertical, fast-paced ads made to feel native in the Shorts feed.
On-screen text, voiceover and buttons that tell viewers exactly what to do next.
We test different hooks, lengths and offers, then put more budget behind the winners.
Google Ads offers several ways to advertise on YouTube. We pick the mix that suits your goal and budget.
Ads that play before, during or after videos. Viewers can skip after five seconds, and with view-based bidding you only pay when someone watches 30 seconds, the whole ad if it is shorter, or clicks.
Short ads, usually 15 seconds or less, that must be watched. Good for simple messages and building recall.
Ads that appear in YouTube search results, next to related videos and on the home feed. People choose to click and watch.
Google’s campaign type for driving action across YouTube, Shorts, Discover and Gmail, using video and image ads together.
Built to reach as many of the right people as possible at a low cost per thousand impressions, mixing formats automatically.
An all-in-one Google Ads campaign that can also serve on YouTube. We use it with care and clear exclusions.
| Your goal | Best fit | How you usually pay |
|---|---|---|
| Reach new buyers cheaply | Video reach, bumper ads | Per 1,000 impressions |
| Get people to watch your story | Skippable in-stream, in-feed | Per view |
| Drive leads and sales | Demand Gen | Per click |
| Bring back site visitors | Demand Gen or skippable ads with remarketing lists | Per click or per view |
YouTube campaigns improve with steady testing, not set-and-forget.
We check where your ads ran and exclude the channels and apps that waste budget.
We cap how often people see your ads, so you stay memorable without annoying anyone.
We move budget towards the audiences, formats and ads that bring in leads and sales.
We rotate in new hooks and versions before results start to fade.
We watch how YouTube lifts your SEO and search ads, and adjust both.
A plain-English chat about what worked, what didn’t and what we are doing next.
YouTube builds momentum over weeks, not days. Here is what the first three months look like.
We review your account, audiences and existing video, then set up tracking for leads, calls and sales.
You will see: a clear plan and working tracking before any spend.
We script or re-plan your ads, build audiences and launch test campaigns with controlled budgets.
You will see: your first ads live, with early view and click data.
We cut weak placements and ads, and shift budget to the audiences and hooks that work.
You will see: lower cost per result and cleaner traffic.
We increase budget on proven campaigns, add retargeting and test new creative.
You will see: steadier leads and a clearer view of what YouTube is doing for you.
We keep refreshing creative and link YouTube with your search and social campaigns.
You will see: a channel that keeps feeding new buyers into your funnel.
A clear, compelling offer beats a bigger budget every time.
The first five seconds decide most of your results.
Enough spend to learn quickly. We recommend a starting budget based on your goals.
Bigger, considered purchases take longer to show up as sales.
We will always give you honest expectations up front. If YouTube is not the right fit yet, we will tell you, and point you to the channel that is.
We pull your YouTube, Google Ads and Google Analytics data into one live AgencyAnalytics dashboard, so you can see what your video spend is really doing.
We follow the path from ad view to site visit, enquiry and sale, so YouTube gets fair credit for the work it does.
No jargon and no vanity metrics dressed up as results. You see spend, leads and cost per lead, with a short note on what changed and why.
Your dashboard updates daily. Log in whenever you like and see exactly where things stand.
It is one of the questions we get asked most. The honest answer: they do different jobs, and they work best together.
Great for longer stories, product demos and explaining why you are different. People often watch on big screens, with the sound on.
Best for: considered purchases, services that need explaining and building a brand people remember.
Great for fast, thumb-stopping creative in Facebook and Instagram feeds and Stories, with strong targeting and quick feedback.
Best for: online stores, offers, events and quickly testing messages.
Most growing businesses benefit from both. YouTube builds demand and trust; Meta ads and Google search ads capture it. We will recommend the right split for your goals and budget.
YouTube works best when your product or service is worth explaining, and your buyers take a little time to decide.
Product demos and reviews that drive sales, then retarget viewers who visit your store. See our eCommerce marketing.
Explain what your product does and why it matters, then follow up with trials and demos. See SaaS marketing.
Build trust before the first call with short explainer videos and client stories.
Educational videos that answer patient questions, run within advertising rules. See healthcare marketing.
Property walkthroughs and agent profiles that win attention and listings. See real estate marketing.
Show the experience, not just the price, and drive more direct bookings. See tourism marketing.
Before-and-after videos that build trust with customers in your local area.
Reach engineers and decision-makers with demos and case studies. See B2B marketing.
New to YouTube ads, or never quite sure what your agency is doing? Here is how it all works, without the jargon.
YouTube ads are bought through Google Ads. You choose who to reach, set a budget and a goal, and upload your video to YouTube. Your video can be unlisted, so it only shows as an ad and not on your public channel.
When someone in your audience opens YouTube, Google runs a quick auction to decide which ad to show. The better your ad matches the viewer, and the more you are willing to pay, the more often you win. What you pay depends on the campaign type: per view, per thousand impressions or per click.
Each format does a different job. Most good campaigns use two or three together.
There is no fixed price. Costs depend on your audience, competition, format and how good your ad is. Many campaigns pay cents per view rather than dollars per click, which is why YouTube can reach a lot of people on a modest budget.
The more useful number is cost per lead or sale. A campaign with cheap views and no customers is expensive. We set a starting budget big enough to learn quickly, then scale what works.
YouTube targeting is powerful because it can use what people search for on Google, not just what they watch.
Great YouTube ads follow a few simple rules.
Shorts are vertical videos that people swipe through quickly. Shorts ads need to feel native: fast, authentic and made for a phone screen. Polished TV ads often look out of place here.
Shorts can reach huge numbers of people at a low cost. They work especially well for eCommerce, apps and anything that looks good in action.
YouTube often starts a customer journey rather than finishing it, so last-click reporting undersells it. We use a mix of measures to see the real impact.
For larger budgets, Google can also run Brand Lift studies that survey viewers to measure changes in awareness and consideration.
Our PSRBL model gives every channel a job: Prospect, Search, Retarget, Brand and Loyalty. YouTube is one of the strongest channels for Prospect, putting you in front of new buyers before they search, and for Retarget, bringing back people who visited but did not buy.
It also builds Brand. People who have seen your video are more likely to recognise your name in search results, which can lift the performance of your Google Ads and SEO.
Video is a big part of how people research online. Helpful videos can appear in Google results, and YouTube content can surface in AI answers too. Ads build awareness and branded searches, which help your wider visibility.
If AI search matters to your business, see how we help brands get named in AI answers with AI search optimisation.
Cost per view. What you pay each time someone watches your ad.
Cost per thousand impressions. What you pay for 1,000 ad showings.
The share of people who watched your ad after it started.
An ad viewers can skip after five seconds.
A six-second ad that cannot be skipped.
A conversion from someone who watched at least 10 seconds of your ad.
A conversion from someone who saw your ad without clicking.
A limit on how often one person sees your ads.
An audience built from search terms or websites you choose.
People who visited your site or watched your videos before.
On a skippable ad, viewers decide in about five seconds whether to keep watching. That is where most YouTube budgets are won or lost.
So we start with the hook: a bold claim, a real problem or a moment of proof, with your brand on screen early. Then we test several versions and let the numbers pick the winner.
We see the same problems in most YouTube accounts we audit, and most of them are quick to fix. Flip a card to see how we fix it, and tick any that sound like you.
Cheap views look great in reports and do nothing for sales.
Logos, music and a long intro before the point, so most people skip.
Many people watch on phones with the sound off and miss the message.
Ads showing on kids channels, mobile games and low-quality apps.
Warm viewers and site visitors never see a follow-up.
Nobody knows if YouTube brings in leads or sales.
A horizontal TV ad squeezed into Shorts and phone feeds.
Whether you work with us or someone else, ask these questions first.
If an agency cannot answer these clearly, that tells you something. We are happy to answer every one of them on a strategy call.
Straight answers to the questions business owners and marketing managers ask us most.
It depends on your goal and your market. We recommend a starting budget big enough to test a few audiences and ads properly, then scale what works. You will get a clear number after the audit.
Not always. Clear, authentic videos can work well, especially for Shorts. What matters most is a strong hook, a clear message and one call to action.
You will see early data within days. Most campaigns need four to eight weeks of testing to find what works, and longer for bigger purchases.
Yes, if you have a clear offer. Location targeting and remarketing let smaller budgets work hard. See our small business marketing.
Yes. You can target by country, state, city, postcode or a radius around your business.
It varies by format and audience, so we benchmark against your own results over time. We care more about whether viewers go on to visit, enquire or buy.
Many people watch, then search your name later. We track view-through and engaged-view conversions and watch branded search, so YouTube gets fair credit.
Search captures people who are already looking. YouTube reaches people before they search. Most businesses do best with both. See our Google Ads management.
Often, yes, but it usually needs re-planning. We move the hook and your brand into the first five seconds and add captions.
We write the scripts and plan the edits, working with your existing footage or your videographer. If you need help with production, we can talk through options.
Short, vertical ads that play between Shorts. They need to feel native: fast, authentic and made for a phone.
We exclude sensitive content, content made for kids and low-quality placements, and review where your ads run every week.
We need your videos on a YouTube channel, and they can be unlisted, plus access to your Google Ads account. Your channel and account stay in your name.
No. Our agreements are month-to-month. We earn your business by getting results.
Through a live AgencyAnalytics dashboard that shows spend, views, leads and cost per lead, next to your other channels.
Indirectly, yes. Ads build awareness and branded searches, and helpful videos can appear in Google results and AI answers. See our AI search optimisation.
Access to Google Ads and GA4, your videos or footage, your goals and a rough budget. We handle the rest.
About the author
Director and Lead Consultant, Anahaw Media
John Conigliaro is the Director and Lead Consultant at Anahaw Media, a Perth digital marketing agency focused on performance. A Filipino-Australian digital marketer now based in Perth, WA, with more than 15 years’ experience across Singapore and Australia, he has led agencies in Australia on technical execution and growth strategy, founded a globally recognised eCommerce brand, and managed almost 300 campaigns, from small businesses to multinational brands, including Canon, Uniqlo, Benefit Cosmetics, Asiana Airlines, Changi Recommends, APM and Golfbox. He completed an MBA and a dissertation on Digital Transformation, holds a specialisation in Computer Applications from De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLSU-CSB), and is also a consumer tech critic and publisher. His mission is to use his talent and passion for digital marketing to change businesses for the better, in how they win customers and how they build their brand.
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