9 Best YouTube Ads Targeting Options: You Should Use In 2023

YouTube ads targeting options can help you reach your target audience and achieve your marketing goals. By using the right targeting options and optimizing your campaigns, you can get the most out of your YouTube ad spend.

By targeting your ads to specific demographics, interests, and behaviors, you can ensure that your ads are seen by people who are more likely to be interested in what you have to offer.

In this article, we’ll take a look at the different targeting options available for YouTube ads in 2023. I’ll also discuss some tips for optimizing your targeting for maximum results.

YouTube ads Targeting (Options) Audiences

The following are the different YouTube ad targeting options available in 2023:

1. YouTube Ads Keyword Targeting
2. YouTube Ads Demographic Targeting
3. YouTube Ads Interest-Based Targeting
4. YouTube Ads Behavioral Targeting
5. YouTube Ads Remarketing and Retargeting
6. YouTube Ads Custom Segment
7. Device and Platform Targeting
8. Location and Geographical Targeting
9. YouTube Ads Targeting In-Market Audiences

Let’s explain each target one by one.

1. YouTube Ads Keyword Targeting

Keyword audiences are still working quite well. Keyword targeting enables ads to appear alongside videos that contain specific keywords.

This approach ensures that your ads are displayed in relevant contexts, increasing the likelihood of attracting viewers who are interested in your offerings.

2. YouTube Ads Demographic Targeting

Demographic targeting enables advertisers to tailor their ads based on specific characteristics of the audience, such as age, gender, and parental status.

This ensures that your content is shown to users who are most likely to resonate with your product or service.

3. YouTube Ads Interest-Based Targeting

Interest-based targeting focuses on users’ hobbies, passions, and preferences. By analyzing users’ online behavior, YouTube categorizes them into various interest groups, allowing advertisers to display ads that align with those interests.

4. YouTube Ads Behavioral Targeting

Behavioral targeting involves considering users’ past actions and habits, such as the types of videos they watch and the interactions they have on the platform.

This information helps advertisers target users who exhibit behaviors that suggest an affinity for their offerings.

5. YouTube Ads Remarketing and Retargeting

Retargeting your website visitors, your email list, as well as engaging with your YouTube channel, Obviously, this goes without saying retargeting often is the easiest place to start.

This technique is particularly powerful for reminding potential customers about your products and encouraging them to complete desired actions.

6. YouTube Ads Custom Segment

There are two types of custom Audiences.

1. Custom Affinity Audiences
2. Custom Intent Audiences

i. Custom Affinity Audiences

It is custom audiences based on website URLs (Affinity Audiences). So, Affinity Audiences have gotten a little bit worse because of the fact that Google’s not as accurate in these audiences.

So it’s a little bit broader. Now however they can still work well in many cases.

Affinity audiences are groups of users who have demonstrated a strong interest in specific topics over time.

ii. Custom Intent Audiences

Custom audiences based on search terms. We’ve been having great results for these in 2023. Custom audiences allow advertisers to create tailored audiences based on specific keywords and topics.

This approach ensures that your ads reach users who are actively searching for related products or services.

These are very high-quality audiences because you’re targeting people who are searching on Google for certain search terms and then targeting them on YouTube.

7. Device and Platform Targeting

Given the variety of devices and platforms, people use to access YouTube, this targeting option enables advertisers to optimize their ads for specific devices (mobile, desktop, smart TVs) and platforms (YouTube app, YouTube website).

8. Location and Geographical Targeting

For businesses with a specific geographical focus, location targeting is essential. Advertisers can define regions, countries, or even specific cities where they want their ads to be shown.

9. YouTube Ads Targeting In-Market Audiences

In-market audiences also have been working very well for us. This is basically Google going out and saying hey these people are interested in this type of product and they have these categories for in-market audiences.

Now I do like placements but I do put them in the same category as topics affinity audiences and similar audiences. I will test them but it’s not a top priority for me right now.

So usually what I’ll do is once I start scaling I’ll start testing topics and affinity audiences and that’s usually at a thousand-a-day mark but those are audiences that don’t really work super well.

When you’re just starting out with an account with placements, you can do well starting off in an account. Usually, it’s better to test them earlier than later. But I’m just giving you guys perspective which is that they’re not really at the top of my list in terms of my audiences.

Conclusion

In the dynamic world of digital advertising, YouTube’s targeting options provide advertisers with the tools they need to connect with their desired audience effectively.

By utilizing the various targeting methods available in 2023, businesses can create impactful ads that resonate with viewers, driving engagement and conversions.