YouTube Lead Form Ads

Videos are powerful content formats that shape a vehicle's perception and influence buyer aspirations. 

Naturally, when we think of videos, one of the first massive platforms that comes to mind is YouTube.

YouTube is particularly special because it's the second-most popular search engine after Google and the second-most popular social media network.

It's no surprise that YouTube ads are an effective way to attract automotive leads. 

YouTube ads are video ads appearing on the platform (including long-form and Shorts), Google's website, app and partner platforms, and the Google Display Network (GDN). 

Source: Google Ads Library

Some of the key ad inventories available within YouTube ads are 

• Skippable in-stream ads: Played before, during or after a video and skippable after 5 seconds 
• Non-skippable in-stream ads: Played before, during or after a video and can be 30 seconds or shorter. 
• In-feed video ads: Thumbnail image from your video with ad copy. Users click on the ad to view the video on your page.
• Bumper ads: Non-skippable, 6 seconds or shorter ads played before, during or after a video.
• Masthead ads: Featured video on YouTube's Home feed.
• YouTube Shorts ads: Appear between organic Shorts videos.

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YouTube is a part of Google and, therefore, enjoys extensive exposure to Google's audience insights and advertising network. 

Plus, YouTube is already popular among automotive buyers. 

41% of auto buyers use YouTube when they're looking to purchase a vehicle.
– MotorTrader 

Source

Video views of automotive content on YouTube have witnessed a 25% YTD year-on-year growth.
– Google Gearshift 2024 | UK

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The platform’s reach and effectiveness become particularly important when auto adverts aren’t scoring enough to incite emotional responses and influence buyer decisions. 

The average automotive advert score for emotional response is only 2.5/5 stars in the UK (Source: Google Gearshift 2024, UK). 

YouTube can potentially flip this narrative because videos are more captivating than still images. They ramp up interest with visuals, motion and audio, showing the vehicles in action. 

YouTube also supports long- and short-form content that is useful for auto buyers. Short videos provide quick overviews, whereas long videos are helpful for in-depth, expert reviews. 

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Users may see your YouTube ad when they type in search queries related to your brand, vehicles, or services. You can choose how to collect leads when they click on your CTA.

Three popular options are:

1. Send to website

You can send leads to your website when they click on your YouTube ad. 

Once they've visited and browsed through your website, there are multiple ways to collect their contact details through lead generation forms. 

You can also place them at different locations on the website. Leads can choose where to share their information based on their user journey. 

A few lead form options could be web form, launcher form, chat assistant, banner lead form, inline lead form, modal form and slide-in form. 

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2. Landing page

If you want to encourage leads to share their data quicker, you could send them to a landing page custom-built for your YouTube ad, campaign or vehicle. 

You can then capture their contact details using a web form within the landing page, typically known as a landing page form. 

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3. Lead form extensions

The quickest and most user-friendly way to collect leads from YouTube ads is using Google Lead Form Extensions. 

When users click on your ad, it opens up a native lead form that loads instantly. 

Leads can fill out the form without getting redirected or disrupting user experience. 

Source: Google

In the above example, Jeep uses Google's lead form extension to capture lead data from its YouTube ad. The form can also be pre-populated from the user's profile for quicker form fill. 

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