Yes - you can promote a YouTube playlist experience with ads. The practical way is to run a video ad that lands viewers on the first video in a carefully sequenced playlist, so the watch page opens with the playlist rail and autoplay carries people through your catalog.
Done right, a single paid click can trigger several organic views, which is exactly what we engineer at Dynamoi.
What “promoting a playlist” really means
You do not upload a playlist as an ad creative. You promote a specific video, then design the landing experience so it opens inside a playlist. The viewer lands on that video’s watch page, sees the playlist rail, and the next video auto-advances. That is the core mechanic behind playlist-first growth.
Two key pieces make it work:
- The ad points to your playlist’s opener - the video you want every new viewer to start with.
- The playlist is tight and intentional - 10 to 20 related videos, clear ordering, strong first 15 seconds, and a consistent visual theme that keeps people watching.
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Playlist-first structure that multiplies views
Think in sessions, not single views. Your opener should hook, your second and third videos should deepen interest, and your strongest social proof should sit early. Add end screens pointing to the playlist, a pinned comment with the playlist link, and a short description line that repeats it. This redundancy helps viewers enter or re-enter the sequence even if they break the chain.
Curate for momentum:
- 10 to 20 videos, 8 to 12 minutes each where possible.
- Keep metadata consistent - titles, thumbnails, and series naming.
- Place your best mid-video hook in the early slots to earn trust fast.
How to set it up in Google Ads
You will use a standard YouTube video campaign, then select the opener as your ad creative. For in-feed formats, clicks open the watch page of that video, where the playlist rail appears if the video is part of a public playlist. For in-stream formats, focus on creative and audience alignment so viewers who click through land on that same opener inside the playlist environment. See Google’s overview of video campaigns for current options and placements: .
A quick view of the landing behavior:
| Ad format | Where the click lands | How to surface the playlist |
|---|---|---|
| In-feed video ad | Watch page of the ad video | Make the ad video the first item in a public playlist so the playlist rail shows |
| Skippable in-stream with “watch on YouTube” click | Watch page of the ad video | Same as above, plus include the playlist link in description and pinned comment |
| End screens and cards | In-video navigation | Add a playlist end screen element and a card to the playlist opener |