The consumption of online videos has grown exponentially during the last years both in Hong Kong and worldwide. Consumers spend more and more time watching videos in YouTube of products or services they want to purchase. They need the validation that what they are about to buy meets their expectations and effectively fullfills their needs. A video talks more than thousand words and usually provides much more information than a simple text or an image.

YouTube Ads: From Viewers to Customers

YouTube is no longer just a branding platform; it is a full-funnel performance engine. While video remains unmatched for building awareness, the platform’s evolution now heavily favors direct response and lead generation efforts.

At Digital Nomads Hong Kong, we don’t simply focus on driving views; our goal is to deliver tangible results.

The Evolution: Enter Demand Gen Campaigns

YouTube advertising has evolved significantly from the early days of simple pre-roll ads. The most critical recent shift is the sunsetting of traditional “Video Action Campaigns” in favor of Demand Gen campaigns.

Demand Gen is Google’s next-generation, AI-powered solution designed to find converting customers across Google‘s most visually engaging platforms: YouTube (In-Stream, Shorts, and Feed), Discover, and Gmail.

Unlike older formats that required advertisers to pay just for views, Demand Gen is optimised specifically for actions—whether that’s driving traffic to your website, generating leads, or securing sales. It utilises AI to place your best video and image assets in front of people likely to convert, making it highly cost-effective for businesses focused on ROI.

The “Power Pair”: Synergising Search and Video

YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world, and its relationship with Google Search is vital to a modern strategy.

Research consistently shows that consumers hop between Google Search and YouTube during their purchase journey. Someone might search broadly on Google, then turn to YouTube for product reviews or unboxing videos.

We utilise what Google calls the “Power Pair” strategy. By combining robust Google Search campaigns with AI-driven YouTube campaigns (like Demand Gen or Performance Max), we capture intent at every stage. We help you extend the reach of your search campaigns into YouTube, retargeting searchers with engaging visual narratives and capturing demand you didn’t even know existed.

Mastering the Formats: Shorts, Feeds, and In-Stream

Today’s consumers watch video everywhere, on the MTR in Hong Kong on their morning commute, or at home on a tablet. To be effective, your advertisement should naturally align with both the viewing device and the user’s current context.

• The Dominance of Shorts: YouTube Shorts has exploded. These vertical, 10–60 second videos are essential for connecting with modern audiences on mobile. We ensure your creative strategy includes snappy, vertical-first assets tailored for the Shorts feed.
• In-Feed and In-Stream: We analyse how your target audience communicates on YouTube—the language, humor, and cultural references—to craft video assets that feel authentic, whether they appear before a long-form video or in the user’s home feed.

AI-Driven Targeting and Audiences

Having a great video is useless if the wrong people see it. In the past, we relied heavily on manual audience selection. Today, we leverage Google’s AI to identify high-intent audiences.

By feeding your first-party data (like customer lists or website visitors) into the platform, we train Google’s AI to find “lookalike” audiences, people with similar behaviors and interests to your best existing customers.

We also still leverage YouTube’s unique ability to target based on “Life Events.” We can reach people who are proactively researching or planning major shifts, such as starting a business, moving to a new apartment in Kowloon, or recently graduating. These signals represent unique opportunities that only the Google ecosystem can provide.

Beyond View-Rate: Metrics That Matter

Historically, “view-rate” was a primary quality metric. While still important for branding, performance campaigns require a different focus.

We optimise for metrics that impact your bottom line: conversion rate, cost-per-acquisition (CPA), and return on ad spend (ROAS). We work to ensure that your video is engaging enough to stop scrolling, and that your Call-to-Action (CTA) is clear enough to drive a click.

We optimise your videos for the organic search as well so if someone clicks away from your ad but wants to find it again, they can do that easily. The title of your video plays a big role, if your video ad title isn’t relevant to the user’s search terms, it won’t appear on YouTube’s search pages. Giving the right description, title and also pairing your video with the right keywords is essential for the impressions in the organic results of the video platform. All our efforts are focused on the creation of a viral video campaign.

Through a continuous analysis of data coming from Google Analytics and Ads reporting we make sure to make the appropriate changes to always be able to reach your campaign goals. Whether you are aiming to showcase your brand through a video or generate more leads in the video platform, we are always on top of the game to bring you the best possible results.

We adopt a test-and-scale approach which allows us to grow the results gradually with the passing of the time and guarantee that your YouTube advertising budget is spent in the most efficient way. We think that not every view or click brings results to your video campaign, that’s the reason why we strive to bring you only the views or clicks beneficial to your advertising objectives.

We have handled video campaigns at Google for top brands, NGOs and worldwide known agencies, we have knowledge and a market expertise that few digital marketing agencies have in Hong Kong. We are qualified professionals in managing Google and YouTube advertising with a proven track record.

Included in the YouTube Ads management we offer you a FREE Google Analytics and Google Business Profile set-up and optimisation. We fine tune your Google Analytics to get the most out of your YouTube Ads campaign. We collect the data and use them to optimise your online exposure and make sure to target the right audience.

Last but not least, we are a Google Partner, qualified professionals officially recognised and with a proven success track. Clients have given us their trust and we’ve paid them back with results which have turned into long lasting business relationships. We always want to establish a profitable and durable collaboration with all the companies we work with.

Get in touch with us for a free consultation about your online presence and the opportunity to start a YouTube ads campaign focused on results.