8 Tips for Making an Effective Video Ad for Your Video Marketing Campaign

With platforms such as TikTok and Instagram at the peak of their popularity, it’s no surprise that video consumption has skyrocketed in recent years. As a result, the primary focus of online marketing has seen a shift toward digital video advertising. Nowadays, advertisers are willing to invest much more in video ads. However, it’s a rather challenging task to make a video ad that will fully serve its purpose. So, to help advertisers, we decided to share eight tips on how to make a video ad more effective and eye-catching to consumers.

8 Tips for Making an Effective Video Ad

Crafting an effective video ad can be a complex process. Defining your goals, creating a storyboard, and of course, investing in high-quality video production are all a part of the excruciating process. Utilizing professional video editing software is essential in this process, as it enables creators to produce polished, compelling content that captures the audience’s attention.

However, knowing your audience is probably the most important point since it impacts the entirety of your strategy. The following tips can help advertisers increase the chances of creating an ad that truly resonates with their target audience and gets satisfactory results.

Follow TargetVideo on LinkedIn to stay up-to-date with the latest developments in the industry!

Follow Us

Start Off Strong 

The beginning of a video ad is crucial for grabbing the viewer’s attention. Many platforms like YouTube, for example, give users a skip option for video ads, usually five seconds after the video ad has been played. This means that most of the audience only watches the very start of the video.

Similarly, the three-second social media rule also suggests that you need to draw in the audience within the first three seconds of a video without giving out too much information. That is, a video ad needs to have a compelling hook at the very beginning to be successful and keep the audience watching. An introductory hook can be one of the following:

• A question;
• A beginning to a story;
• An introduction to a problem; 
• A bold surprising statement. 

Keep It Short and Simple

The ideal length for video ads can vary, depending on the platform, product/service in question, and target audience. However, a general rule of thumb is to keep video ads as concise and compact as possible. While ads for in-depth product presentations can last up to 2 minutes and still be effective, short-form video advertising is much more likely to leave a lasting impression. So, ads up to 30 seconds are generally more impactful.

Choose the Right Ad Format 

Advertisers can choose from various video ad formats, including instream, outstream, and even mobile advertising. The options are plentiful, especially when working with high-quality DSPs that offer a wide range of ad placement and a large network of website publishers. However, an advertiser’s choice will entirely depend on their campaign goal.

For instance, non-skippable instream ads are well-suited for brand awareness and reach. Skippable instream video ads, on the other hand, are better for developing leads. In addition, with mobile traffic now making up for more than half of all online traffic, mobile ads are a great solution to expanding your reach.

Monetize with pre-, mid-, and post-roll instream video ad formats.

Learn More

Make It Relevant

One of the biggest drawbacks of traditional advertising is relevance. Viewers aren’t fond of having their shows interrupted by commercials for household appliances with little to no importance to them. This is where online video advertising overpowers traditional. With video advertising, advertisers have the ability to create content that is highly relevant to the viewers. This can be achieved by focusing on where the said ad will be displayed or by catering to the viewer’s needs and interests.

Personalize Your Ad 

With multiple targeting options available such as behavioral and contextual targeting, advertisers can create personalized video content that tailors to their audience’s online experience and preferences. This can include dynamic content, personalized recommendations, and retargeting based on previous user behavior.

Tell a Story

These days, more and more brands are focused on video storytelling in their advertising campaigns. Creating a narrative akin to a short film with a clear beginning, central theme, and a conclusive resolution makes ads more persuasive and relatable. 

Highlight the Brand’s Success  

When promoting a product or service, emphasizing the brand’s existing achievements is a great way to demonstrate its reliability to viewers. This can be done by including customer testimonials and positive feedback in your ads. Publishers can also highlight brand values or share service statistics.

Include a CTA 

The goal of most ads is to make viewers take specific actions, so including a CTA is probably the most crucial step in your video marketing strategy. Most CTAs are placed at the very end of the advertisements. However, the placement will depend entirely on the ad format you choose. For example, if your format is a skippable instream video ad, placing the CTA at the beginning for more exposure makes more sense.

Try an Alternative Solution With TargetVideo’s Native Advertising

If you find the entire process of creating your own branded video ads troublesome and time-consuming, or you think that the current market is oversaturated with programmatic pre-roll ads, we suggest trying an alternative approach — native video advertising.

TargetVideo’s in-house production and implementation of native video ads offers advertisers a way to seamlessly incorporate products in context-relevant editorial content without being intrusive and deliver them to contextually well-targeted websites. Contact us and promote your brand with TargetVideo.

Seamlessly promote your brand through original native video content.

Learn More

FAQ