• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, May 1, 2023

YouTube today announced that this wee, at the IAB NewFronts, it will demonstrate three new strategies that incorporate Shorts into awareness campaigns to reach viewers.

The three include expanding Shorts into video reach campaigns -- placing Shorts alongside trending content, and positioning Shorts first.

With the new First Position on Shorts, piloting across YouTube Select, advertisers can connect with viewers at the start of a session. When the site viewer opens YouTube Shorts and starts watching, the ad is the first one they will see.

Shorts also will now be integrated into video reach campaigns that use Google AI to present the most effective combination of ads.

Paramount+ was among the early adopters to test the updated version of video reach campaigns.

In-feed video ads also are being added to video reach campaigns to increase opportunities for audience engagement across the platform.

With this update to Video reach campaigns, marketers only need to upload a 60-second video, or shorter, along with other assets.

For those who prefer to use an existing horizontal creative, YouTube’s campaign setup tools include artificial intelligence (AI)-powered features that automatically adapt and optimize your videos for the vertical screen. 

To appear next to trending content, YouTube Select allows advertisers to place ads alongside the most popular content on the platform.

The same technology is being applied to Shorts, allowing brands to reach 1.5 billion logged-in monthly Shorts users.

YouTube today also introduced the YouTube Select Run of Shorts lineup to ensure that ads appear alongside the most popular and relevant videos in viewers’ Shorts feed, to help brands stay top-of-mind as users scroll through their latest videos.

The company says it applied the same technology to Shorts, allowing brands to reach 1.5 billion logged-in monthly Shorts users.