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Introducing GenAI Contextual Segments for YouTube advertising

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4 Tips to Help Financial Services Advertisers Maximize their YouTube Investments

April 5, 2023

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Let’s face it, just like managing our own personal finances, managing an advertising budget is challenging. But, the good news is that many consumers turn to YouTube for tips and tricks on personal finance, also making YouTube an excellent investment for Financial Services advertisers. 

Here is a quick look at the Financial Services space on YouTube: 

  • 65B views in 2022, with 12M videos and 329K channels
  • 2.2B engagements with an average favorability of 98%
  • Financial ads make up 31% of top Finance content views despite making up only 14% of video share

We analyzed the performance of Pixability-run Financial Services campaigns, along with Google’s trend data and public YouTube data, to uncover tips and tricks for driving interest and action for your brand on YouTube. Read on for our top insights. 

  1. Think outside the box when it comes to contextual targeting

    As a Financial Services advertiser, you may think targeting content in the Business & Finance category will drive the most views and engagement. However, while Business & Finance should be a part of your contextual targeting strategy, you must also target beyond categories you typically align with your brand to reach your audiences while watching the content they love. 

    According to our research, when it comes to driving the highest click-through rate, Business & Finance doesn’t top the list. In fact, it’s tied at the bottom with Pets. Instead, Technology & Computing, Video Gaming, Healthy Living, and Food & Drink are the top categories for increasing clicks.

  2. Switch up your device targeting and ad formats depending on your goals

    When VCR is your goal, use Bumper and Non-Skip 
    If your main goal is video completion rate, our research shows that both Bumper and Non-Skip ads tend to outperform for Finance ads. However, the device matters too. To drive the highest VCR, we also recommend testing YouTube on TV screens as a placement targeting tactic, as TV screen ads drive a 5% higher VCR than the device average. 

    When CTR is your goal, go mobile
    When you want to drive action, our research shows that leveraging mobile as a placement targeting tactic can drive 1.8X greater CTR than other devices. In addition to mobile, TrueView for Reach ad formats drive the highest number of clicks when compared to other formats such as Bumper, In-Stream, or Non-Skip.

  3.  Invest in Personal Finance content to increase engagement

    The Finance category on YouTube has several subcategories across Current Events, Investing, and Cryptocurrency. However, if you want to drive the highest engagement rate on your content, try tapping into Personal Finance, which includes money management tips, personal stories about finances, and more. Viewers react positively to this type of content, with a 98% favorability rating and 5% engagement rate. 

    Finance videos surrounding student loans and college expenses were among the highest-performing Personal Finance videos in 2022. For example, the top student loan video, “How to avoid student loans 101,” earned an engagement rate 3.8X greater than the Finance video average, 34x more total engagements, and 9x more views than the top Finance video benchmark. 

    Unsurprisingly, content around Investing or Stocks also drives high engagement, as they both tie into Personal Finance and money management. In the last year, Investing videos have earned 463M views, while Stocks videos have earned 614M views.

  4. Test YouTube Shorts

    As a bonus for driving engagement, try tapping into YouTube Shorts. Historically, longer-form content has earned significantly higher engagement rates than videos under 1 minute. This is because the longer time allows for more interesting content and gives the viewer more time to interact with the video. YouTube Shorts, which allow viewers to scroll through numerous videos quickly, have given rise to higher engaging content that is only 30-60 seconds.

Want to learn more best practices for Financial Services advertisers on YouTube? Get in touch to learn how Pixability can drive suitable reach for your brand.