YouTube Video Builder

YouTube Video Builder – Is it any good?

Author Jade Austin 3 min read time

Back in April, I saw this article on the Google Blog about Google’s new YouTube Video Builder. Claiming to be a “fast, easy and free” way to create video ads, I was instantly hooked on the idea and signed up to access the beta version straight away. 

Although Overdrive Digital is not a creative/design agency, I have a background in Photography & Illustration and I’m always excited by a new creative project, so this was right up my street.

When I read about the new launch, I instantly thought of a few clients that would love the idea of the option to create a video ad from existing assets, avoiding production costs and in a fraction of the time.

Even when you have the luxury of creating professional videos, there’s a clear benefit from the speed that this video builder boasts, especially when it comes to testing ideas. 

As soon as I got access to the creator, I was straight on there testing all the features. To use the video creator, you need a YouTube channel for the ads to be uploaded to, then once you’re set up it’s pretty smooth sailing. 

It seems there are around 10 templates to choose from, with suggested templates to fit specific marketing goals. Then once you choose a template you simply just upload your images & logo, add your headlines and short descriptions, choose a song from the library, and you’re done creating. 

Building videos in youtube

Then you’re taken to a preview page that allows you to check your video and gives you the chance to edit before uploading. 

Et voila. Your video is ready to be uploaded and a preview link is provided which is great for sharing with the team/clients. Easy peasy. 

Some of the initial drawbacks I came across when testing were, the first headline character count is very short – less than 10 I think, there aren’t that many songs to choose from in the library, although there may be the option to upload one (if not now, maybe once it’s out of beta), and you have to make sure your images are the exact dimensions/orientation as there’s no ability to edit once they’ve been uploaded.

I’m really excited by the opportunities this has tool has enabled and can’t wait to try it properly for an ad campaign. I’m also really interested to see where Google takes this, as there is so much potential here. If they introduced the ability to add video clips, that would take it to the next level, so we’ll see how it progress’.

Have any of you tried it yet, or have you thought about running video ads on YouTube but not sure where to start? Get in touch and see how we can help.

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