Did you know that you can buy YouTube subscribers using Google Ads? And yes, it’s entirely legitimate. In fact, there are two distinct methods for achieving this, both of which we will explain in this article, along with their respective pros, cons, and tips for maximizing effectiveness.
Let’s jump right in!
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How to get YouTube subscribers from Google Ads
There are two main campaign methods you can enable in your Google Ads account to gain more YouTube subscribers. One way is through promoted content in YouTube Studio, which is powered by Google Ads. The other is done directly through Google Ads using the Demand Gen campaign type. Here is a breakdown of each.
Method 1: YouTube Promotions in YouTube Studio
The most straightforward path to acquiring YouTube subscribers is directly within YouTube Studio. If you’ve previously boosted a post on Instagram or promoted a TikTok video, this process will feel quite familiar.
Here’s how you do it:
- Log in to your YouTube Studio account at studio.youtube.com.
- Click on the content tab in the left-hand menu.
- Find the video you want to promote, tap the three dots next to it, and select promote.
- Choose one of three goals for your promotion: audience growth, video views, or website visits. To specifically gain subscribers, you’ll want to select Audience growth.
- Complete the promotion setup by choosing your target location, budget, and a few other basic settings.
And just like that, you’re running in-feed ads on YouTube to gain subscribers. While this is undoubtedly the most user-friendly option, an alternative method exists that offers greater transparency and control over your campaigns.
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Method 2: Demand Gen Campaign in Google Ads
Aside from promoting your content via YouTube Studio, creating a Demand Gen campaign directly within your Google Ads account is another viable option for more subscribers.
Before you start, make sure your YouTube account is linked to your Google Ads account. This is a prerequisite for Google to accurately track subscriptions and other YouTube engagements.
Here’s how to set up a Demand Gen campaign for YouTube subscribers:
- In your Google Ads account, click the + button to create a new campaign.
- Select the Demand Gen campaign option, and give your campaign a name. Don’t worry about the automatically populated conversion goals.
- In the next step, under campaign goal, you’ll see a new option next to clicks, conversions, and conversion Value: YouTube engagements. Choose this as the campaign goal. Google Ads will then automatically configure your conversion action as YouTube subscription, mirroring the behavior of a YouTube Promotion.
- Crucially, because this is a Demand Gen campaign, you get significantly more granular control. You can set your own Target CPA, define your budget, implement sophisticated audience targeting, and even test a variety of ad creatives to learn what resonates most effectively.
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Real YouTube subscriber campaign results examples
I was curious to see which of these methods would yield better performance for my own YouTube channel, so I conducted a direct comparison test. I set up two separate campaigns promoting the same video with the goal of gaining YouTube subscribers. To ensure the test remained as fair as possible, I deliberately refrained from selecting specific audience targeting in my Demand Gen campaign, opting instead for Google’s automated optimized targeting.
An example of how ad viewers can subscribe straight from promoted YouTube content.
Here’s a comparison of performance across these two methods during my one-week head-to-head test:
YouTube Promotion performance:
- Cost per subscriber: $1.00. I spent $35 and acquired 35 subscribers.
- Impressions: 11,365
- CPM: $3.08. These represent exceptionally low CPMs for YouTube – truly remarkable!
- Views: 80
- View rate:7% (in-feed). I would categorize this as a below-average view rate, suggesting the initial audience may not have been properly aligned with my content.
- CPV: $0.44. This falls on the cheaper side of the CPVs I would expect from a typical Video campaign.
- Conversion rate: An impressive 44% of users who chose to watch my video also proceeded to subscribe! This was the most striking statistic, indicating that despite a lower view rate, those who did engage were highly likely to subscribe.
Demand Gen campaign performance:
- Cost per subscriber: $2.19. I spent $52 and acquired 24 subscribers. This represents more than double the CPA of the YouTube Promotion, yet remains remarkably cost-effective.
- Impressions: 17,471
- CPM: $3.00, similarly low as the YouTube Promotion.
- Views: 181
- View rate:04% (in-feed). I would classify this as an average view rate; notably, it was nearly 50% higher than the YouTube Promotion’s view rate, suggesting a greater alignment between this audience and my content.
- CPV: $0.29. This proved even more economical than the YouTube Promotion, and considerably more affordable than typically anticipated for a Video campaign.
- Conversion rate: 13% of users who chose to watch my video also proceeded to subscribe. While still a very high conversion rate, it was significantly lower than the YouTube promotion’s 44% conversion rate.
My test demonstrates that while both methods offered comparable CPMs, the YouTube Promotion implemented directly within YouTube Studio offered the most cost-effective approach to acquiring YouTube subscribers.
Conversely, the Demand Gen campaign yielded more efficient views, but at a less efficient cost per subscriber. This difference highlights the aspects you might consider when choosing the right campaign type for your goals.
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What to watch out for in YouTube subscriber campaigns
Here are three important caveats to consider if you’re contemplating using Google Ads to get more YouTube subscribers.
1. Reporting transparency
While the YouTube Promotion is easy to set up, you get very little campaign reporting within YouTube Studio. However, video ad expert Cory Henke showed me a very cool workaround. When you run a YouTube Promotion, Google automatically creates a “hidden” Demand Gen campaign on your behalf.
To access this, open up your Google Ads account (if you didn’t have one before, Google will have automatically created one for you now!), then navigate to insights and reports, report editor, and campaign performance report. There, you’ll uncover some of the hidden metrics about your campaign that are not displayed within YouTube Studio.
2. Subscriber quality and engagement
I acquired 59 new YouTube subscribers through the examples above. It’s too early to ascertain if these subscribers will exhibit the same level of engagement with my content as the 4,200+ I’ve acquired organically. The exceptionally high conversion rate from view to subscriber suggests these campaigns may be targeting people who are more prone to subscribing to numerous channels, perhaps without a profound interest in the specific content. While I think my YouTube content is high quality, I question whether it deserves a 44% conversion rate solely based on its merit!
3. YouTube partner program eligibility
It’s important to note that any paid views generated from YouTube Promotions or Google Ads campaigns do not contribute towards your watch time eligibility for the YouTube Partner Program. However, the subscribers you acquire do count towards your subscriber eligibility requirements. Ideally, these paid subscribers will eventually contribute to your organic watch time by consistently consuming more of your content, helping you meet the watch time criteria.
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Start growing your YouTube subscriber rate with Google Ads today
If you’re just starting on YouTube, are nearing the YouTube Partner Program subscriber threshold, or believe that allocating a modest budget to acquire subscribers is worthwhile, then both of these strategies offer viable solutions with relatively low CPMs, affordable subscribers, and reliable metrics. It’s a legitimate strategy to both kickstart and accelerate your YouTube channel’s growth.
For more ways to grow both your YouTube and Google Ads strategies, see how our solutions can help!
