High-quality ad creatives are essential to the success of your YouTube campaigns. According to Nielsen, creative accounts for 49% of all campaign ROI. Meanwhile, Ekimetrics found that improving your creatives can more than double your ROI on YouTube.
Optimizing your creatives for YouTube’s unique user interface can drive even more conversions. For example, in Demand Gen in-stream skippable ads:
- Including a human voice drives 12% higher conversions on average (US, July 2026).
- Having supers or a text overlay drives 3% higher conversions on average (US, July 2026).
- Having the brand visualized in the first 5 seconds drives 4% higher conversions on average (US, July 2026).
Apply these best practices to build ads that look, feel, and perform their best on YouTube. Additionally, learn more about the ABCDs of effective ads to help you build better performing ads for YouTube.
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Best practices for images
Remove embedded buttons
Remove any non-functional buttons, arrows, or clickable overlays in your images. This “baked-in” UI competes with YouTube’s standard CTAs and confuses viewers instead of guiding them to your site.
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Why it works: Demonstrate real-world functionality while allowing YT’s standard CTAs to capture engagement. |
Why it doesn’t work: “Baked-in” stylings that look similar to clickable buttons add cognitive load and confusion. |
Design to match YouTube visuals
Make sure your images blend in naturally with YouTube Feeds. Avoid using oversized logos and solid, empty bars so they don’t render in an unnatural way.
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Why it works: Full-bleed, high-resolution photography or lifestyle imagery immerses viewers in your content. |
Why it doesn’t work: Black bars distract users from your message, creating a fragmented and cluttered look. |
Include people
Images with a visible human presence consistently outperform other assets. YouTube runs on human connection, so feature faces or people actively engaging with your product wherever it fits your campaign.
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Why it works: When people demonstrate how a product works, users can more easily picture using the product themselves. |
Why it doesn’t work: Polished product images are great enhancers, but they don’t always capture user attention on their own. |