Video advertising has become an essential component of digital marketing strategies today. While YouTube is the most dominant video platform, relying solely on YouTube ads can limit your ability to reach new audiences and fully capitalize on the power of video. In 2023, brands and marketers should diversify their video advertising efforts to include a range of platforms, placements and ad formats beyond YouTube alone. 

In this post, we’ll explore ten of the most powerful video advertising options beyond YouTube that you should consider as part of your 2023 video marketing mix. Whether you want to reach specific demographics on social media, promote your videos on streaming TV, or leverage programmatic video ads, there are many impactful advertising avenues to drive video views, brand awareness and sales.

Facebook and Instagram Video Ads

With billions of active users between Facebook and Instagram, these platforms offer massive reach potential. You can run in-feed video ads in the Facebook news feed or Instagram feed, which look just like organic user posts. Instagram Stories and Reels ads let you use vertical full-screen videos up to 15 or 60 seconds long respectively.

Retargeting across the Facebook ad platforms allows you to continually engage people who have already shown interest. With precise interest, behavioral and demographic targeting capabilities, Facebook and Instagram ads let you cost-effectively connect with highly relevant audiences.

TikTok Video Ads

As TikTok has skyrocketed in popularity, especially among Gen Z users, its video ad offerings present exciting opportunities for brands. Like Stories ads on Instagram, TikTok offers in-feed native video ads up to 15 seconds long that users can easily flip through between watching user videos. 

Hashtag challenges allow you to tap into trending TikTok themes and encourage user-generated content related to your brand. You can also develop branded effects and augmented reality filters that immerse users in your campaign.  

Snapchat Video Ads

Snapchat’s unique vertical video format andengaging AR lenses and filters can help your video campaigns stand out. Snapchat’s advanced targeting features allow you to reach precise demographics based on age, location, interests and behaviors. 

Snapchat offers a range of video ad options, including 3 to 10 second Commercials, 3 to 60 second Long Form Vertical Video ads, AR try-on Lenses and Filters that overlay your brand. Snapchat also lets you retarget users who have viewed your ads or visited your website.

LinkedIn Video Ads

As the world’s largest professional social network, LinkedIn offers a prime opportunity to get your brand in front of an educated, high-income audience. LinkedIn Video Ads play inline within LinkedIn’s feed, either before or within relevant native video content.

You can target your ads using LinkedIn’s Matched Audiences capability, which allows you to target your ads to specific, vetted lists of LinkedIn members based on their company, job title, skills, groups and other attributes. This allows for precise targeting of your professional audience.

Twitter Video Ads

Although less video-centric than other social platforms, Twitter does offer effective in-feed native video ads with strong targeting and engagement potential. Much like other social platforms, Twitter’s video ads can promote your brand while blending seamlessly into users’ feeds.

You can target Twitter video ads using keywords, interests, behaviors, and remarketing. Twitter cards also allow users to play your videos directly within their feed without leaving Twitter. Promoted video Tweets can further amplify your message.

Streaming TV Services

Major streaming television services like Hulu, Roku, SlingTV, DirecTV and Amazon Fire TV offer enticing options for video ads. These platforms allow you to target viewers based on advanced data like past purchases, household income and predictive behaviors. This level of targeting precision helps maximize your ad relevancy.

Interactive video ads on streaming TV invite the viewer to engage further with your brand. Options may include clickable overlays, custom microsites or QR codes for special offers. Streaming TV video ads help you reach cord-cutters in a captive lean-back viewing environment.

CTV and OTT Video Ads

Connected TV (CTV) refers to televisions connected to the internet via platforms like Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Samsung TV and others. These smart TV devices have opened up huge opportunities for targeted Over-the-Top (OTT) video advertising.

Because these ads are shown directly on users’ TV screens, they offer an immersive experience with captive attention. You can target ads using advanced data like device type, viewing behaviors, purchase intent signals, and other attributes ideal for your brand. Interactive options allow further engagement.

Pre-Roll and Mid-Roll YouTube Videos 

While diversifying beyond YouTube is important, YouTube video advertising itself should not be neglected. YouTube offers powerful targeting capabilities, including interest/topic targeting, remarketing, keyword targeting, and demographic targeting like age, gender and parental status.

YouTube’s TrueView in-stream format allows you to deploy ads that users can skip after 5 seconds – you only pay if viewers watch at least 30 seconds of your ad. Pre-roll and mid-roll YouTube ads paired with TrueView allow you to maximize value and enhance audience targeting.

YouTube Competitors

YouTube alternatives like Vimeo, DailyMotion and Vidyard offer additional options for more affordable video ads beyond YouTube itself. Although YouTube’s audience size is unmatched, these competitors can still offer strongReach of tens or hundreds of millions.

Vimeo’s ad offerings include in-stream ads, branded channel sponsorships and first-click interstitials. DailyMotion offers options like digital mastheads, video pre-rolls and integrated brand channels. While smaller, these video platforms still provide sizable built-in audiences.

Programmatic Video Ads 

Programmatic advertising uses automated software to buy and optimize video ad placements for your campaigns. This approach allows you to target your video ads to specific sites, apps, and pages that are highly relevant to your target audience. For example, a fitness brand could target health/wellness sites.

Programmatic partnerships enable advanced targeting capabilities like retargeting people who have previously visited your website. This automated approach scales your video ads to hundreds or thousands of sites and apps that match your ideal audience.

Native Video Ads

Native video ads seamlessly match the design and format of the surrounding content they are embedded within. For example, a sponsored video ad may be recommended as related content at the end of an article. This creates a smooth, non-disruptive experience.

Native video placements allow brands to reach highly engaged audiences in a relevant context. Sites like healthline.com offer native video ad options positioned as educational resources inline with articles. Nativo, TripleLift, Sharethrough and others facilitate native video ad campaigns.

In-Banner Video Ads

For a lightweight option, in-banner video ads offer a compelling format that is simple to set up. These include video creative contained right within a standard IAB display banner unit. In-banner video ads can be delivered through existing display advertising campaigns.

Because they rely on traditional display ad placements, in-banner video ads can easily be implemented at scale across a wide range of websites relevant to your audience. Video in banner ads also provide high viewability as users tend to engage with the motion-based creative.

Outstream Video Ads

Outstream video ads play between paragraphs of editorial content on news/media sites, without requiring built-in video content. For example, an autoplay video ad will appear inline between paragraphs down the page. Outstream ads help publishers monetize owned and operated site content.

Brands like the non-disruptive viewing experience this creates compared to pre-roll ads. Outstream placements also work on both desktop and mobile websites. This flexible video ad unit provides an easy way to reach audiences in an environment with engaged viewing.

Conclusion

While YouTube maintains an enormous, diverse audience that makes it very appealing, focusing your video advertising solely on YouTube can limit your brand’s reach potential. By diversifying your video ad placement across social platforms, streaming TV, programmatic partnerships, and through compelling formats like native and outstream, you can achieve greater awareness.

Carefully consider which video-first platforms beyond YouTube make the most sense for your target audience, campaign goals and brand positioning. Allocate budget across 4-5 of the options outlined above to reduce over-reliance on YouTube. Track key metrics like completed views, click-through rate and conversions to optimize your allocation over time.

With innovative video ad formats, advanced targeting capabilities, and placements designed for engaged viewing, there are now many impactful advertising options beyond YouTube alone. Focus on relevant placement and formats, lean into data-driven targeting, and diversify across this mix of video platforms for superior campaign performance.