The ONE hurdle to getting sales from YouTube Ads (and how to overcome it)

The other day, I came across a conversation where people were sharing their thoughts on YouTube ads.

The comments were brutal.

Words like “simply unwatchable,” “unbearable,” and “insufferable” came up again and again.

And when you look at all those remarks together...

They paint a pretty grim narrative of the state of YouTube Ads:

Many viewers are fed up as they’ve been bombarded with low-effort, low-quality ads for years now.

So they’ve become less open to watching them, let alone enjoying them or buying from them.

At least, that’s what they’re saying online.

Which might lead you to the conclusion that “YouTube Ads are dead!!!”

My take?

I don’t think that’s the case.

I agree that many ads are not enjoyable. And in many cases, “simply unwatchable.”

People aren’t excited to see them. They skip as soon as they can. I probably would too if I saw one of those boring, annoying ads pop up.

But I also know that doesn’t tell the full story.

The reason is that I know a very specific counterexample:

Our clients.

The thing is, each time a brand tells me how bad their YouTube Ads are performing…

I nod my head sympathetically…

But in the back of my mind, I know their experience doesn’t reflect what we’re seeing.

Because the truth is:

In the past few years, YouTube Ads have been a core part of our scaling stack.

They’ve driven hundreds of thousands — sometimes even millions — in direct revenue for our clients.

We’re seeing serious returns from the same platform where people constantly complain about how much they hate ads.

And this isn’t just something we’re seeing from massive brands with unlimited budgets.

This is coming from smart, mid-sized brands that are willing to do things differently.

Case in point:

A brand came to us with a strong library of videos they’d made for social ads.

But their previous agency never thought to use those videos for cold traffic on YouTube.

So we stepped in with a new approach.

We built a YouTube strategy focused entirely on conversions.

We leaned into organic-style content that educates, entertains, and soft-sells at the same time.

Each video shows:

1. The core benefits of the product and the problem it solves

2. Who it’s for

3. What makes it different from everything else on the market

All of that is packaged in a video that’s actually fun to watch.

The audience loves those videos, and it showed in the dashboard…

So far, these YouTube campaigns have pulled in over $1.2M in revenue at a 4.35X ROAS.

And while that topline number is impressive…

What stood out to me was the ripple effect across the funnel.

People who saw a YouTube ad before purchasing converted 34% more often in Shopping campaigns.

They also spent 28% more than the average customer.

All of this happened for one reason:

We have a specific way of running YouTube Ads that makes sure the viewers enjoy watching them…  feel drawn to the product… and become high-value customers.

Sometimes, they don’t buy right away.

But the ad sticks in their mind and they remember our brand and come back later.

And I believe that going forward…

It’s going to be mandatory to start making your videos this way, if you want to have any sort of success on YouTube.

All that to say:

YouTube still gives you one of the most effective ways to pull new customers into Google’s ecosystem.

One that can scale your brand far beyond what’s possible without it.

The best part is, very few brands have cracked it.

That leaves a massive edge for those who do.

Jackson

Founder and CEO of Echelonn

How we can help:

• Get a free Google ads audit: For brands spending more than $20k/mo. or making over 1 million annually, we’ll identify the key bottlenecks in your account, and turn it into a free 90-day scaling plan. Click here.

• Get our E-commerce Growth Toolkit: Get access to our free resources and tools including the Product Feed & GMC Optimization Checklist, YouTube Shorts Ads Playbook, and 12 Plug-and-Play Dashboards. Click here.

P.S. Got a friend interested in Google ads? Share the love and send them our way.

If you’re that awesome friend, you can subscribe here.