See how this self-storage company cut acquisition costs by 50% with YouTube advertising.

The Goal

Generate interest and drive brand awareness

SmartStop Self Storage is a storage facility with locations throughout the United States and Canada. In October 2017, the business rebranded its US stores, changing the name of 94 stores from Extra Space to SmartStop Self Storage and expanding its US profile.

During the rebranding process, SmartStop wanted to familiarize consumers with their brand and services. To do that, they needed an effective brand awareness campaign that would let them reach a broad audience within a reasonable budget. The business consulted their Google representative—an account manager from a past search ad campaign—to find the best way to reach and convert their audience. Their Google account managers suggested that they try YouTube video ads.

The Solution

A varied and targeted video ad campaign that drives conversion

SmartStop understood that it can take multiple touchpoints before a customer is ready to engage with a brand. With Animoto, SmartStop was able to easily create a comprehensive video ad campaign for YouTube, including a series of 3 video ads.

Using Animoto, the business saved time and money they would have spent in outsourcing their video campaign. The varied video ads allowed SmartStop Self Storage to share bite-size content with viewers while keeping interruptions to a minimum. And multiple ad formats made it easy for SmartStop to engage their audience, and remind them of their service, before reaching out with a call to action.

To learn how you can create video ads for YouTube, check out our guide on Getting Started with TrueView for YouTube Ads.

The Results

Boost views, awareness, and interest with video ads on YouTube

SmartStop wanted to generate interest from potential customers, and the Animoto video ads allowed them to do just that. Over the course of the campaign, SmartStop’s video ads got 496,000 views and 4,000 clicks on YouTube. In fact, the Animoto videos helped SmartStop reach an impressive 36% view-through rate—the number of viewers that saw the ad and didn't skip through it.

Ultimately, YouTube’s Trueview ads were a money-saving decision for the business, since the cost-per-click was 50 percent cheaper than search advertising. Not only was this approach more affordable than traditional search network pay per click, but it also helped during the company’s transition and rebranding process.

Using Animoto, the storage facility was able to share a memorable message that amplified brand awareness and effectively reached their target audience while cutting costs in half.

Learn how to create your own comprehensive video campaign with Animoto's YouTube Marketing Guide.

Key Takeaways

• Effectively reach your target audience with video
• Cut costs with YouTube Trueview advertising
• Amplify brand awareness with YouTube video templates