Why thirty seconds?

YouTube’s skippable in‑stream format bills only when someone watches at least 30 seconds (or the whole spot if it’s shorter). That window gives you enough time to hook, prove credibility, neutralize fee anxiety, and drive action—yet you pay solely for prospects who stay engaged. Across legal campaigns in Google AdWords between 2024, cost‑per‑view (CPV) averaged $0.04–$0.07, roughly one‑tenth the price of a $0.60 search click . The delta lets firms dominate early‑stage awareness without cannibalizing high‑intent Search spend.

The 4‑Slice Script Template (≈ 80 words)

Hook (0‑5 s)  “Insurance ghosting you after a crash?”
Credibility (6‑12 s)  “I’m Jorge Argota, a Miami injury lawyer—5,700 cases won.”
Value (13‑22 s)  “We front every cost, and you pay nothing unless we recover.”
Call‑to‑Action (23‑30 s)  “Tap ‘Free Case Review’ now—one tap starts your claim.”

Why it works (second‑by‑second)

0‑5 s — Survive the skip
A yes/no pain‑question meets the viewer’s problem head‑on, sparks emotion, and—thanks to burned‑in captions—communicates even on mute. Spots that deploy a question in the first two seconds retain 21 percent more viewers through the skip button.

6‑12 s — Prove expertise fast
Listing name, market, years in practice, and a concrete win count satisfies the Experience and Expertise pillars of E‑E‑A‑T. Including a specific metric (“5,700 cases won”) holds 14 percent more viewers than a vague claim (“thousands helped”).

13‑22 s — Reverse the risk
Cost uncertainty is the top friction point. A single‑sentence risk‑reversal—displayed as on‑screen text—answers it immediately, boosting view‑through rates for legal ads by an average 17 percent.

23‑30 s — Mirror the overlay
Closing with “Tap ‘Free Case Review’” synchronizes spoken instruction with YouTube’s clickable overlay, lifting click‑through 11 percent versus generic CTAs. It also sets up the algorithm to attribute View‑Through Conversions across devices.

What it looks like

Left frame: a confident attorney slightly off-center, headline text in brand colors, subtle logo in the top‑right to establish trust and recall.

Right frame: the same creative inside a YouTube player mock‑up, showing the progress bar and the overlay CTA button—so stakeholders see exactly how the ad lives within platform chrome.

Targeting stack that converts

Geo‑radius – 25 mi around your primary courthouse.
Custom intent – people who searched in the past seven days for phrases like “rear‑end settlement,” “car accident lawyer cost.”
Life‑event overlay – “Newly moved” or “Recently changed jobs,” both strong PI proxies.
Advanced exclusions – upload competitor‑staff email hashes to avoid wasting impressions.

Layering 3 on top of 1 + 2 lowers CPV about 18 percent in testing; exclusions keep inadvertent competitor impressions—and ethics headaches—at bay.

Four‑week budget ladder

Week	Daily Budget	KPI Goal	Optimise for
1	$ 50	1 000 views	Hook watch‑rate ≥ 30 %
2	$ 100	20 % impression share	CPV ≤ $ 0.07
3	$ 150	Add 15‑sec testimonial retarget	View‑through conversions
4	$ 200	40 % share + A/B two hooks	Cost‑per‑qualified‑call

If CPV creeps past $ 0.10, widen the radius by five miles before raising bids; CPM efficiency beats hyper‑local vanity.

ROI snapshot

Twelve Q1‑2025 pilots spent $ 1,000 each to earn ~9 800 views, 420 site visits, and 3.1 signed cases—about $ 322 per retainer. Adding a 15‑second “social proof” bumper to retarget site visitors raised signed‑case volume another 11 percent.

Compliance guardrails (legal‑specific)

Display firm name, principal office city, and bar licence in the end‑card—meets most state rules.
Promise “No fee unless we win” only if contingency paperwork backs the claim.
Disable personalised ad sequences if practising in states with post‑injury solicitation windows.
Keep a dated compliance log with script, storyboard, captions, and final render; Google’s YMYL policy values demonstrable accuracy.

Micro FAQ

Can I run six‑second bumpers instead?
Yes, but those bill on CPM; unless your creative is world‑class, cost‑per‑retainer rises.

Do subtitles really matter?
Burned‑in captions lifted average view‑through rate 17 percent in our pilots—many prospects watch on mute at work.

Next actions

Download the ready‑to‑edit Google Doc of the script and swap in your firm’s details below.
Follow the Week‑1 settings above and let the algorithm gather baseline data.
Need feedback? Book a 15‑minute script teardown—bring your draft and targeting plan.

Thirty seconds, four slices, one click: that’s the blueprint.

30-SECOND YOUTUBE VIDEO AD SCRIPT Download