YouTube ads are video ads shown on YouTube to people in a business's service area, run through Google Ads. At Riley Summers, we use them to make a home services business familiar to homeowners before they need the work, so it's a name they recognize when they're ready to search. We manage the targeting, campaign setup, format-matched placement and reporting, on a flat monthly management fee.
Your Google Ads account
YouTube ads run in the business's own account, alongside any paid search.
Ad spend on your card
Google bills the business directly. We charge only our management fee.
One flat fee
Our fee doesn't rise with your ad spend.
60-day out
No initial term and no long-term contract.
On this page
- Familiar Before the Search
- What We Usually Find
- Who YouTube Ads Are For
- One Shoot, Made for Each Format
- What's Included
- Video Production
- How Results Are Measured
- How It Starts
- What's Separate
- Related Resources
Familiar Before the Search
Most homeowners don't think about their roof, their AC or their plumbing until something prompts them. YouTube ads reach them before that moment, while they're watching videos at home. When the need arrives and they search, a business they've already seen has an advantage: it's the name they recognize among the ads and map results.
YouTube works much like local TV advertising, reaching homeowners where they live. The difference is that we can limit it to the business's service area and report exactly how often the ads were seen.
Because YouTube runs in the same Google Ads account as paid search, the two work together. YouTube builds familiarity, and paid search is there when the homeowner is ready to call. That's also how we evaluate it: we watch whether more people search for the business by name while it runs.
What We Usually Find
When we review a home services business's existing YouTube ads, these are the problems we see most often.
Ads shown outside the service area
Ads reaching viewers well beyond where the business actually works, so part of the budget goes to people it can't serve.
What we do instead
We set location targeting to the area the business serves, so every view is a potential customer.
Creative that’s never updated
The same video running month after month, long after viewers have stopped paying attention to it.
What we do instead
We refresh the videos on a regular schedule, matched to the production behind them.
Videos not made for the platform
TV spots and other videos reused as they are, or shown in the wrong format, such as landscape videos in Shorts, where viewers hold their phones upright.
What we do instead
We match each video to where it runs: landscape for standard YouTube ads, vertical for Shorts.
Who YouTube Ads Are For
YouTube ads are for businesses that want to be known across their service area, not only found when someone searches. They work best for businesses ready to commit to real video. The video is the hard part: viewers can skip most YouTube ads after a few seconds, so it has to be worth watching, and it should feature the business's own people. If a business isn't ready to invest in that, we'd rather say so than run video that doesn't earn attention.
YouTube is usually not where a business starts. When a business needs leads now, we recommend paid search first. YouTube earns its place once the core channels are in place and the business wants to build familiarity on top of them. We see the best results with businesses that have made a commitment to marketing.
One Shoot, Made for Each Format
Filming takes the most effort, so we plan each shoot to serve more than one place. As part of video production, we edit the footage into a version for each format:
The business invests in filming once, and the videos work across the channels it runs, each in the format viewers expect there.
What's Included
Location targeting
Ads shown only to people in the area the business serves.
Campaign setup
YouTube campaigns built in the business's own Google Ads account.
Format-matched placement
Landscape videos in standard YouTube ads, vertical videos in Shorts.
Creative refresh
New videos on a regular schedule, matched to the production behind them.
Ongoing management
We set the agreed budget in Google Ads, keep the campaigns running within it, and review results with each monthly report.
Reporting
Impressions and views, and can include how much of each video people watch.
Video Production
Video of the business's own people shows homeowners who will turn up at their door. The business's team needs to be available to be filmed, and if the business isn't local to us, we can send someone to shoot it. We provide the script outline and edit the footage into each format, and video production is quoted separately. The same videos can also serve the business's Facebook and Instagram ads.
Thinking about video for your business?
Riley Summers will review the work you want more of, your service area and the channels you already run, and tell you honestly whether YouTube would earn its place. If you're already running YouTube ads, we'll review those too. There's no cost and no obligation.
Request a free YouTube ads assessmentHow Results Are Measured
YouTube's job is to make the business familiar, so we don't evaluate it on clicks or leads alone. We report impressions and views, and can include how much of each video people watch, which shows whether the video is holding attention.
We also watch the business's analytics for more people searching for it by name, and for more leads coming from those searches. When YouTube is doing its job, the business becomes a name more homeowners look for. We don't credit YouTube with every one of those searches, because other marketing and word of mouth play a part too.
How It Starts
- Assessment. We review the work the business wants more of, its service area and the channels it already runs, and confirm that YouTube has a useful job to do.
- Video. If the business already has videos, we review how recently they were filmed and whether they're strong enough for YouTube, then advise whether to use them or produce new ones. When new video is needed, we arrange production: filming its team, the script outline, and editing for each format.
- Campaign setup. We build the campaigns in the business's own Google Ads account, with location targeting set to the area it serves.
- Launch and ongoing management. The ads run within the agreed budget. We review results with each monthly report and refresh the videos on a regular schedule.
A one-time setup fee covers the build. After that, we charge a flat monthly management fee, with no initial term and a 60-day out.
What's Separate
YouTube ads management covers the video campaigns in Google Ads. These sit outside it:
Video production. Filming, editing and the script outline are quoted separately.
YouTube channel management. We don't manage the business's YouTube channel. We can upload the ad videos to it when needed, and further channel work is billed separately.
Paid search. Search campaigns are a separate service, even though they run in the same Google Ads account. See Paid Search (PPC).
Other platforms. Facebook and Instagram, TikTok and Reddit ads are separate services.
Related Resources
Find out whether video would earn its place.
Riley Summers will review your business, your service area and any videos you already have, and tell you honestly whether YouTube is worth the investment. If you're already running YouTube ads, we'll review those too.
Request a free YouTube ads assessment