Case study: Using video advertising to engage your customers

Last week, we posted about an opportunity to get started with video advertising with the help of an ad creation specialist from the Google Ad Creation Marketplace. If this post left you wondering about how video ads can work for you, we'd like to share with you the experience of Evan Shofron, who has been using AdWords video ads to sell his product through his company's website, Actiontuners.com.

Evan wanted to increase sales of his product the String Master, a robotic guitar tuner that uses computer technology and a gear motor to tune a guitar to perfect pitch. Because it was difficult to convey the features and benefits of the String Master through text ads, Evan decided to experiment with video ads, which allowed him to demonstrate how the product works.

You can watch the String Master video ad here:


After creating his video ad, Evan distributed it to potential customers by selecting sites across the Google content network. He chose sites that were most related to his business, such as those offering online guitar lessons and music. Since Evan believed that potential customers would be more likely to buy his product if they spent time learning about it, he focused on number of plays his video ads received and the time viewers spent watching his ads, rather than on clickthrough rates. He then optimized his campaign by focusing his ads heavily on sites and placements that were performing well on these metrics, and removing them from sites and placements that were not.

Evan had been running AdWords text ads in both keyword and site-targeted campaigns, and saw a 15% increase in sales as a result. However, when he launched a video ad campaign and optimized the sites he was running on, Evan saw increased sales by 40% in just a couple of months. He also had a significant increase in requests from potential distributors. Evan concludes, "AdWords video ads are a great tool for small advertisers who can't do expensive ads. It was the least expensive and among the most effective commercials I've ever made."

If you're interested in running video ads, you can read about how to get started here. And if you're concerned that you don't have video ad creation expertise and would like professional help, sign-up for the Ad Creation Marketplace to find a specialist who can create your ad.

Posted by Feng & Vivian, Inside AdWords crew