This morning YouTube unveiled “TrueView for action” an important update to its TrueView ad format. With TrueView for action, advertisers can add calls-to-action during and after the ad’s play. Examples of a call-to-action could include get a quote, book now or sign up alerts.

YouTube is positioning the feature as applicable for advertisers of high consideration products or services, such as financial services, automotive or travel, where the ability to move a viewer down the funnel toward purchase enhances the ROI of the ad. YouTube said that its research has found approximately 70 million 18-54 year-olds in the U.S. say YouTube already helps at least once per month in making a purchase decision.

The YouTube for action feature makes it easier for advertisers to capitalize on specific moments when they have viewers’ attention and interest. In this sense, YouTube for action fuses the best of brand advertising (which drives viewers’ emotions) and performance advertising (which drives viewers’ actions).

Because advertisers are only charged for TrueView ads when a viewer watches either to the end of the ad or for 30 seconds, or when they select the ad to watch, the format has strong advertiser appeal in reaching only those viewers who are interested. But now with the enhanced ability to convert viewers to take a targeted action, the ROI potential increases further.

As advertisers embrace TrueView for action, I expect the next step will be for YouTube to publish case studies showing not just how advertisers increased conversion from their ads, but also how actual sales resulted.

Being able to demonstrate how a YouTube ad can close the loop from awareness to purchase for high consideration products and services would be a real differentiator for YouTube.