Wavo Blog: This series shares information that’s most relevant to music marketers around the globe.

Context

YouTube recently launched a pilot video campaign type called VVC or Video Views Consideration that enables advertisers to buy inventory on YouTube Shorts for the first time ever. YouTube describes this as a format “designed to drive interactions and engagements” that should enable advertisers to get more views on their short-form video content. How does it work? VVC campaigns serve across YouTube’s video network, on Skippable In-Stream, sidebar In-Feed, and vertical Shorts ads. 

So, do Shorts-enabled VVC campaigns actually get more views? 

We put this new Shorts-enabled format to the test against standard YouTube In-Stream campaigns to determine which creates views most efficiently and to discover appropriate use cases for each buying type.

Strategy

In comparing the two formats, we first looked at respective cost-efficiency. To do this, we compared the data from 11 ‘matched’ pairs of YouTube VVC and In-Stream campaigns. Each pair comprises one VVC campaign and one In-Stream campaign run for the same artist in the same time-frame promoting the same release. The major difference between the two campaigns is the creative format; Shorts-enabled VVC campaigns use a vertical creative at or below 60 seconds in length, while In-Stream campaigns use a full-length YouTube video, generally an official music video or visualizer.

For our test, we wanted to answer the following questions: 

• Do Shorts-enabled video campaigns drive more views than standard video campaigns?

• If they do, what drives that extra efficiency?

• What is the ‘value’ of a Shorts view versus an In-Stream view?

• How do our Shorts results compare to other vertical-scrolling video platforms?

The results toward the first point were extremely clear. 82% of VVC campaigns outpaced their ‘matched’ TrueView campaign in Cost Per View efficiency. Our average Cost Per View for a VVC campaign was around 25% lower compared to the average In-Stream Cost Per View, meaning that they delivered 25% more views per dollar than their matched In-Stream campaigns. 

Across platforms, the efficiency of VVC/Shorts-enabled video campaigns is staggering. Our average Cost Per View rivals only TikTok spark posts, and bear in mind: a view on a TikTok post is only counted at 6-seconds, rather than the 15s view window for YouTube video. The capability for Shorts-enabled video campaigns to drive efficient views for awareness is up there with the absolute most efficient vertical scrolling video formats on any platform.

What does this mean? In brief, Shorts-enabled VVC video campaigns drive more views than In-Stream or In-Feed campaigns.

Why is this? Shorts-enabled VVC campaigns carry lower CPMs than In-Stream campaigns, meaning that they can serve more impressions and deliver more results in turn. While VVC campaigns carry a lower View Rate than In-Stream campaigns, the difference is more than offset by the low CPMs of a VVC campaign. In a few words, more impressions equals more views here.

What this also means is that a Shorts/VVC campaign will drive views on a vertical creative as or more efficiently than on any social platform. With equal budgets, one should expect to drive about twice as many views on a vertical creative run through Shorts than through Instagram Reels.

That said, there are a few other points to consider. What is the value of a YouTube Shorts view versus an In-Stream view on an official music video? The latter view will increment the total views on the official music video in question, but a Shorts view will only increase the view count on the Short itself. It’s often a priority in music marketing to drive views on an artist’s YouTube video, and we’re not quite accomplishing that with a Shorts/VVC view. 

But, we are accomplishing something else! With such cost-per-view efficiency, the capability for YouTube Shorts ads to efficiently push sales & streaming consideration of an artist’s music is second only to TikTok Spark posts. With this in mind, we’d categorize YouTube Shorts as a highly efficient campaign format extremely well-suited to awareness and new-fan prospecting.

Key Takeaways

When awareness is a top priority, we recommend using YouTube VVC to advertise on Shorts. We’ve observed that Costs Per View are not only highly competitive, but even potentially underpriced.  

For clients looking to drive views on an official music video, we recommend they stick with In-Stream Video Ads on YouTube, which directly contribute towards public view counts.

Written by Jacob Sailer, Ad Operations.

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