The first five seconds carry the campaign
Skippable inventory means the hook is the whole creative brief. Front-load the problem, the offer and the brand; everything after second five is for the minority who chose to stay.
PPC Management
YouTube Advertising
YouTube campaigns where the creative is built for the skip button and the reporting does not credit the channel for conversions it did not cause.
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- Where the entire creative decision lives
- 5sWhere the entire creative decision lives
- Measurement standard, not view-through attribution
- HoldoutMeasurement standard, not view-through attribution
- Creative variants per campaign at launch
- 3+Creative variants per campaign at launch
The problem
Two problems, and both are expensive. The creative is a repurposed TV spot that spends five seconds on a logo animation nobody watches, and the reporting counts every view-through conversion as YouTube’s — which makes an ineffective campaign look profitable indefinitely.
How we do it
What the work actually involves
Measured against a holdout
View-through attribution is generous to the point of being misleading. Where budget allows we run geo or audience holdouts, which is the only way to know what YouTube added rather than what it observed.
Targeting on intent, not demographics
Custom intent audiences built from search behaviour, plus placements on the channels your buyers actually watch. Age and gender targeting is the weakest option available here.
Included
What you actually receive
- Creative strategy and scripting for skippable formats
- Custom intent and placement audience build
- Campaign build across in-stream, in-feed and Shorts
- Conversion tracking with view-through separated out
- Incrementality test design where budget supports it
Tools we use
- Google Ads
- YouTube Studio
- GA4
- Looker Studio
Still deciding
- Google Ads vs Facebook Ads
Google captures demand that already exists. Meta creates demand that does not. Start with whichever describes your product.
Common failures
Where this usually goes wrong
The three we are called in to fix most often. If any of these describe your current setup, that is the first thing we would change.
Opening with a logo animation
The skip button arrives at five seconds. Anything spent on branding before the hook is spent on people who are already gone.
Taking view-through credit at face value
Attribution here is generous enough to make an ineffective campaign look profitable indefinitely. A geo or audience holdout is the only way to know what the channel added.
Targeting by age and gender
The weakest option available on this platform. Custom intent audiences built from search behaviour consistently outperform demographics.
Measurement
How you will know it is working
Agreed before we start, so progress is visible in the months before it shows up in revenue.
- View rate past 5 seconds
- A direct measure of whether the hook works. It is the fastest signal on any video campaign.
- Week 1
- Holdout lift
- Conversion difference between exposed and held-back groups. The honest number, and usually lower than the platform reports.
- Weeks 6–10
- Cost per completed view
- Useful for comparing creative against creative, once the hook is doing its job.
- Weeks 2–4
Questions
Any question in your mind?
The questions we get asked most, answered without the sales gloss. If yours is not here, ask us directly — you will get a straight answer either way.
Still have questions?
Book 30 minutes with a strategist. No deck, no pitch — just answers about your situation.
Book a callNo, and polished video frequently loses to plainly shot, direct footage on this platform. What matters is the hook and the clarity of the offer. We would rather you spend the budget on three rough concepts than one expensive one.
Looking for pricing, contract terms or timelines?
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More ppc management work
- Google Ads ManagementSearch campaigns managed against cost per acquisition, with the account in your name and the search terms report open.Read
- Google Shopping AdsFeed-first shopping management — because in Shopping the product feed is the campaign.Read
- Meta Ads ManagementFacebook and Instagram campaigns built around creative volume and clean measurement after iOS tracking loss.Read
- Microsoft Ads (Bing)Lower competition, older and wealthier audience, and often a materially lower cost per lead than Google.Read
- Remarketing & RetargetingAudience segmentation by behaviour and recency, with frequency caps — so you persuade rather than pursue.Read
- Social Content ProductionPhoto and short-form video shot in batches, cut for vertical, and built to feed both organic and paid.Read
Ready when you are
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