YouTube: Measuring Beyond the Click

Using geographic targeting to understand the broader impact of video advertising.

OnlineMetals’ audience was already using YouTube to learn, build and market their own products. We saw an opportunity to meet them there with creative built specifically for the platform — and then understand what happened after they watched.

The Opportunity

Rather than treating YouTube exclusively as a source of clicks, I wanted to understand how video could contribute to broader brand discovery, site traffic and revenue.

I helped develop and execute a series of campaigns that evolved from nationwide awareness into geographically targeted market tests.

My Role

Creative Development · Media Strategy · Geo Targeting · Performance Analysis

I wrote, directed and acted in campaign creative, coordinated production alongside videographer Edward Lee, and helped take the work from concept through activation and performance analysis.

01 / BUILD

What Will You Make?

Our nationwide campaign introduced OnlineMetals through the customers and projects made possible by our products.

300K+
Campaign Views

2X
YouTube-Attributed Traffic & Monthly Revenue in 2020

Beyond producing the creative, the campaign gave us a foundation for exploring how YouTube advertising could influence customer behavior beyond direct engagement.

02 / TEST

Taking YouTube Local

We moved from nationwide activation into geographically targeted campaigns, using individual markets to better understand how increased YouTube exposure corresponded with traffic, branded search and revenue.

HOUSTON + DALLAS

The campaign reached approximately 620K people across the two markets.

During the Houston test period, revenue increased 90%, compared with a 13.8% national baseline used in our analysis.

620K
People Reached

90%
Houston Revenue Growth During Test Period

250%
Reported Campaign Return

SEATTLE

Seattle produced a different pattern: lower reach, but stronger engagement and efficiency.

During the campaign period we observed:

+7%
Traffic from Branded Search

+21%
Branded Sessions from New Users

302%
Reported Campaign Return

03 / LEARN

The Click Wasn’t the Whole Story.

The geographic campaigns gave us an early way to look beyond direct platform attribution.

Different markets responded differently. Houston demonstrated greater scale and revenue growth, while Seattle generated stronger engagement and efficiency. Most importantly, changes in branded search and site visitation suggested that video exposure could influence customer behavior outside the immediate ad interaction.

The analysis wasn’t a controlled incrementality study, so the campaigns couldn’t establish that YouTube alone caused those changes. But the results changed how I thought about measuring media.

Attribution tells you where a conversion was recorded. Good experimentation asks what changed because you invested.

That distinction continues to shape how I approach performance media today.

YouTube: Measuring Beyond the Click

Using geographic targeting to understand the broader impact of video advertising.

01 / BUILD

02 / TEST

03 / LEARN

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