Many businesses use YouTube because it feels like a modern version of TV advertising. You create a video, run some ads, get a few views and hope it helps.
That approach misses the real value of YouTube. Used properly, skippable video ads don’t just show your message, they build audiences you can reuse across Google, based on how much attention people actually gave your video.
A simple mindset shift
YouTube video ads are not primarily about clicks or instant sales. Their real job is to answer one simple question:
Who actually paid attention to this message?
Once you know that, everything else you do in Google Ads becomes more efficient.
Why skippable videos are so powerful
Skippable in-stream videos (the ones people can skip after a few seconds) give you something most other ad formats don’t: proof of attention.
- Some people skip immediately
- Some watch part of the video
- Some watch most of it
- Some watch all of it
That behaviour tells you far more than a click ever will.
The ideal video length (and why)
For most businesses, the sweet spot is 30 seconds to 1 minute.
This is long enough to make a clear point, show personality and build credibility, but short enough to keep production sensible and hold attention.
These videos are not TV adverts. They are attention filters.
What YouTube actually builds for you
When you run skippable video ads, YouTube allows you to create audiences based on viewing behaviour, such as:
- People who viewed the video
- People who watched 25%
- People who watched 50%
- People who watched 75% or more
These are not vanity metrics. They are usable audiences.
What watch percentages really mean
This isn’t about buying intent. It’s about relevance.
- 25% watched, the topic caught their eye
- 50% watched, the message made sense to them
- 75%+ watched, the brand feels relevant
You’re letting viewers qualify themselves based on interest, rather than forcing them to click.
How people see your video in the first place
Before YouTube can measure attention, it needs a starting point. You “seed” the campaign by targeting likely-relevant people using:
- Custom segments (based on search behaviour, competitor interest or relevant websites)
- In-market audiences (people actively researching related topics)
- Broader interest audiences where scale is needed
This targeting doesn’t need to be perfect. The video itself does the filtering.
Why not start with Display, Demand Gen or Performance Max?
This is a common question. The issue with starting elsewhere is signal quality.
Display
Display ads can generate impressions and clicks, but you don’t really know who noticed the message. It’s a weaker way to qualify interest at the very start.
Performance Max
Performance Max can work brilliantly, but it performs best once you already have strong signals (audiences, engagement and conversions). If you start completely cold, it often has to “guess” too much.
Demand Gen
Demand Gen is often better for follow-up than true first contact. Once you know who paid attention (for example, 50%+ or 75%+ video watchers), Demand Gen can be very effective at reinforcing the message and keeping your brand visible.
Google-engaged audiences (useful, but not the main engine)
Google also creates engaged audiences automatically, people who have interacted with your business across Google surfaces in some way. Note that this audience is not able to be used in the display network but it can be used in the youtube advertising.
These can be helpful for scale and reinforcement, especially in Demand Gen and Performance Max, but they are broad and not easy to control or segment.
A simple way to think about it:
- Video watch audiences tell you who paid attention
- Google-engaged audiences tell you who has crossed paths with you
The simple loop that works
- Show skippable video ads to relevant people
- Let watch behaviour separate interested from uninterested
- Build audiences based on how much was watched
- Reuse those audiences across other Google campaigns
- Feed what you learn back into future videos
At that point, YouTube stops being a one-off campaign and becomes a system.
A critical detail many businesses miss
Video engagement audiences don’t last forever. They have a maximum lifespan (around 18 months). That means:
- Create the audiences early, as soon as video views start coming in
- Refresh campaigns periodically to keep those audiences warm
Old view counts can still look impressive, but expired audiences can’t be reused.
What this means in practice
Instead of asking, “Did this video get clicks?”, ask:
Who stayed, and how long did they stay for?
That’s the difference between advertising that disappears and marketing that compounds.
The takeaway
YouTube skippable video ads aren’t just about exposure. They build attention-based audiences that improve every other part of your marketing and reduce wasted spend over time.
If you’re already investing in video, this is the part that turns it from nice to have into strategic.
