Ep 577: Why Content Targeting on YouTube Is Beating Cheap CPVs

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Eric sits down with Dougie, Pilothouse's Google Lead, to dig into why content targeting—specifically with YouTube Select—is outperforming audience-based targeting, even at premium CPMs. If you’ve been running low-cost YouTube campaigns with underwhelming results, this is the mindset shift you need.

For DTC brands tired of wasting money on passive YouTube impressions.

• What YouTube Select actually is (and why it matters for performance)
• How to think about placements vs. audiences
• Why content congruence improves funnel performance
• Scaling tips: what kind of brands can go big with Select
• How to build creatives that match the content being watched

Who this is for: Brands spending serious dollars on YouTube, or considering a shift from Meta to a broader channel mix.

What to steal:

• Align creative to content before launch
• Use Google reps to identify top indexed channels by persona
• Treat YouTube Select like TV: flight-based, not daily budget-driven

Timestamps

00:00 Content vs interest targeting

02:01 Why content alignment converts

04:02 YouTube Select explained

06:02 Why low quality inventory fails

08:04 How content based creative works

10:03 Google and YouTube strategy shift

12:02 Aligning creative to placements

14:02 Meta and Google funnel synergy

16:01 Scaling with YouTube Select

Hashtags

#YouTubeSelect #GoogleAds #ContentTargeting #MediaBuying #DigitalAdvertising #PerformanceMarketing #BrandStrategy #YouTubeAds #PaidMedia #MarketingPodcast #DTCMarketing #AdStrategy #AudienceTargeting #CreativeStrategy #Pilothouse

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