Guide To Video Ads

In this guide, we will be discussing the basics of video advertisement, and ways you can push your adverts and get people watching them. Before knowing ways on how to keep your viewer intrigued, know the benefits, and how to make, you will first need to understand the different types of video advertising. We will be focusing mainly on YouTube ads and Google ads and how they work.

Variants of Video Adverts

There are a fair few types of video adverts and all are unique and can be utilised in their own ways. They all come with good advantages, but also have a set back that needs to be noticed and developed further so that the ad does not fail.

Bumper Ads

Bumper Ads are 6-second long non-skippable in-stream ads that are played before (usually, can be played as a mid-roll) the video that the user is about to watch. Bumper Ads are known for its brand, reachability and frequency.

They are short and brief ads, but connect well with the viewer through its ‘memorable message’. They are CPM format which means ‘Cost Per Thousand Impression’.

TrueView Instream Ads

TrueView Ads are typically 30 seconds long and give the viewer options of what they want to do, the most commonly known one, ‘Skip Ad’ that appears after 5 seconds into the ad. There are multiple types of ‘TrueView’ ads, ‘TrueView For Action’ (skippable, drives website actions mainly), ‘TrueView For Reach’ (In-stream) and ‘TrueView For Discovery’ (typically found whilst scrolling on the YouTube homepage for example). ‘Action’ takes control of conversations by including text headings within the ad. ‘Reach’ can have a duration of 6 – under 30 seconds.

Finally, ‘Discovery’ are ads that allow people to understand your brand/company. TrueView for Reach has CPM (Cost Per Thousand Impressions), whilst ‘Action’ and ‘Discovery’ have CPV (Cost Per View).

Non Skippable Instream Ads

Non-Skippable Instream Ads will only appear as a ‘Mid-Roll’ ad (appears anywhere throughout the video). These can vary between 15 and 30 seconds in length but can vary on the viewer’s location and by the title, they are not skippable.

These Instream Ads give the creator more revenue compared to other ads. They are the most like TV ads. This runs under the same format as the other 2, CPM (Cost Per Thousand Impressions).

Outstream Video Ads

Outstream video ads are most likely guessable after reading the one prior and the title. These ads appear/play when scrolled past a certain point in the website/article, or in YouTube’s / Google’s case, at the end of the video. These usually go overlooked due to it playing at the end.

Masthead Ads

Masthead Ads are advertisements that are banner like, in YouTube’s case, across the homepage. These types of ads are effective if the advertiser is looking for; Reach, Impact, and Awareness. These ads fall under the format ‘CPM’ (Cost Per Thousand Impressions) but can also fall under CPD (Cost Per Day).

Bumper Ads

Before we do so, we need to understand the advantages and disadvantages of Bumper Ads.

Advantages

Maximum Reach

• Bumper ads is one of them or if not, the best ad format because of its effects. Its effects can be watched on any device, anywhere, without having to sit through an entire TrueView ad. It’s CPM is 25% – 40% cheaper than TrueView In-Stream ads (according to Google).

Brand Impact

• The brand impact on bumper ads can be compared to TrueView In-Stream, typically for its attraction and awareness.

Attention Rate

• Captures the viewer’s attention within a time frame of 6 seconds. This short and fast ad format has the highest completion rates, as well as being the leading industry viewability and audibility rates.

Disadvantages

Length

• The shortness of the video in some instances is really useful to capture the attention within a short timespan and get your proposition across, however, the majority of the time you need longer than 6 seconds to convey your point and brand, so you’re more limited using this type of ad.

Utilising

When designing the ad, you want to make sure that you are focusing with one objective, if you have more than one, it will most likely end up being too quick for the viewer to understand your proposition. If you don’t know what your objective is, try asking yourself these questions:

• Are you attempting to build ‘Brand Awareness’?
• Are you aiming for a set number of visits/clicks to your website?
• Are you trying to get the viewer to click the ‘Buy Now’ option?

If you are working on shortening a longer ad, or an idea that is longer in length, make sure that you are working backwards! It’s easy to plan and shoot a shorter ad than it is shortening longer ads.

Another thing to note is to be certain with the audience you are targeting. You are most likely going to be hitting more than one target audience, just make sure you’re hitting the right ones!

Finally, don’t be scared to go mad with it! The best memorable ads always have bizarre ideas and ways of producing them, that’s what you want right? You want people to remember the objective of your ad.

TrueView Ads

Before making the most of TrueView ads, we need to understand the advantages and disadvantages of TrueView ads and their different formats.

Advantages

Reach

TrueView for Reach are skippable ads that can be skipped after 5 seconds and is paid through CPM (Cost per Thousand Impressions).

• TrueView for Reach takes impressions overviews, which gives you the opportunity to plan with ease.
• Easily plannable and measurable throughout video ad campaigns.

Action

TrueView for Action are skippable ads that can be skipped after 5 seconds, mainly there to promote brand identity and either a website link or the infamous ‘Buy Now’ button. It adds to the view count analytics. (CPV, Cost Per View).

• Impactful for telling your viewers the brand and its story, by far worth it for brand identity.
• Sustains the viewer’s attention when paying for views.

Discovery

TrueView for Discovery are ads that are optional. They are found on (for example) the YouTube homepage when searching for a video to watch, so if the viewer is intrigued by the impression, they are more than likely to click it. Paid through CPV (Cost Per View).

• Statistics are more impactful and show its level of ‘interest’ would be higher than the others, for the sake that it’s optional if the viewer wants to watch it or not.

Disadvantages

Reach

• Skippable ad: Because of this, most viewers will ignore this and wait for the 5-second skip button to finish so they can carry on with what they were doing, meaning it is harder to catch their attention. Their aim is to watch something from YouTube, not to be intrigued by an ad.

Action

• Focused on views rather than impressions, it can make it harder to plan off of.
• Little time to catch the viewers attention within the 5 seconds.

Discovery

• Optional, meaning the user is more likely to search for the video they are looking for and overlook the ads being displayed.
• Can be ignored very easily compared to the other TrueView ads, which have to at least be given 5 seconds of watch time.

Utilising

Compared to the Bumper ad, you don’t have to solely focus on one objective, you can change this number to multiple AND you don’t have to worry about time length, to say that they are optional ads. If the viewer truly finds it interesting, they will continue watching, so it is really important that you capture their attention to keep them watching before the 5-second skip button is available.

You have a lot of freedom, so use it to its potential! Try producing a longer demo or even a how-to video conveying how your product works. Remember with TrueView, you can take as much time as you need to tell your story.

Think, how are you going to capture the viewer’s attention to keep them watching? How is the video going to be interesting enough to keep watching? Am I focusing on the product itself, or our brand identity?

Non-Skippable Instream Ads

Understanding the possibilities of Non-Skippable Instream Ads.

Advantages

Awareness

• Drives as much awareness as possible and reaches your target audience with ease.

Non-Skippable

• Non-skippable, meaning your viewer HAS to view your ad, similar to TV ads for instance.

Flexibility In Purchase

• Non-Skippable ads are available on auction, meaning it allows for lower CPM (Cost Per Thousand Impressions) when purchasing.

Disadvantages

Short Viewer Attention Span

• You don’t typically have long to grab the viewer’s attention. 15 – 30 seconds may seem like enough time, but its the first few seconds that are important to keep the viewer reeled in and paying attention.

Viewer Frustration

• If the ad is long, something like around 30 seconds, it’s statistically shown that viewers tend to get more frustrated having to sit through an ad for 30 seconds and unable to do anything to continue their video besides sit and wait. This can be detrimental for brands and identity if this is a recurring thing.

Utilising

Compared to the TrueView ads, they are similar in terms of the best way to make an advertisement, and again compared to the bumper ad, you can focus on multiple objectives and worry not about the length too much. In this case, however, you have to make the ad interesting, especially if it lengthy. Viewers can get annoyed easily if these ads last long, so making it interesting is important, otherwise could look bad on your brand, but the complete opposite if you succeed.

Just like the TrueView ad, you have a lot of freedom, so use it as much as possible! Making a longer video, or a tutorial on how your product functions is a great way to advertise a product and keep the viewer interested.

If you’re struggling, ask yourself; How are you going to keep the viewer reeled in? Is this about my brand identity or a selected product? Or Does it drag too much in certain parts or any way that can make the viewer bored?

Outstream Video Ads

Knowing the impactfulness and possibilities of Outstream Video Ads.

Advantages

Cheaper

• These Outstream Video Ads are cheaper compared to the other methods of advertising.

Viewership

• Outstream Ads have longer watch-time viewership compared to any other ad method.

Mobile Optimization

• Outstream Ads are better / more optimized for mobile users. It’s important to remember that ~70% of users are on mobile!

Disadvantages

Underlying

• Outstream ads only play after a video content was played (YouTube for example,) or scrolling past a certain part of the page, meaning they are not easily found and most advertisers prefer to have mid-roll ads instead.

Analytics

• Outstream ads are hard to keep track of because of the analytics lack through this method of advertising.

Intrusive

• Viewers typically find Outstream ads less annoying compared to the TrueView ad, which is good but in this instance, if it is played after a video, they don’t have to watch it or even see your ad, they can just leave the page and move on.

Utilising

This method of advertising is more useful on websites compared to video sites like YouTube. This is because you are so much more likely to miss the ad at the end of a video, especially since most creators now have an outro of their own, which is when people would leave, so the ad wouldn’t even appeared yet.

However, if you are using this on articles, it is by far more viewer-friendly. The viewer finds them less-intrusive, so they are in an ‘Ok’ mindset when given the ad. Take advantage of this factor!

You don’t have to be as impactful in the opening like TrueView or Non-Skippable or Bumper ads, but make sure your opening is good enough for the viewer to see what is going to happen. Take your time with this as you have an entire 30 seconds to get your points and objectives across to the viewer.

Stuck? Ask yourself; Can I make it relatable? Can I make it more humorous? How can I make a catchy introduction?

Masthead Ads

Masthead ads aren’t ‘video’ but can have movement to it, so let’s understand what’s good and bad about it.

Advantages

CPD & CPM

• These ads are both CPM and CPD. So they are paid in Cost Per Thousand Impressions AND Per Day!

Huge Reach

• Masthead ads statistically can reach a wide/huge audience in a short time span.

High Impact

• The focus on this ad will have a high impact on its visibility because of its size. More visibility, more attention.

Disadvantages

Cost

• These ads have incredible versatility, but they don’t come cheap!

Placement

• They are very visible, but their placement does not fit in many places, so finding places for this type of ad may be difficult.

Utilising

To utilise mastheads, it isn’t too difficult, you just have to make it really eye-catching! Think of it as a website billboard. Very vibrant colours are a good idea to catch eyes, whilst also having flush movement on the ad is important as well.

Text that stands out is crucial, but you have to find the right balance with the colour scheme for it to but noticeable. Make it signature-worthy! Try and add selected things from your brand/identity that makes you memorable, or use this ad as an opportunity to start a trend in your brand like that.

One final thing to keep in mind is to keep it simple, this is one of those ads that if its too complicated, viewers won’t be too interested in paying that much attention to it, and make sure that you look at examples! Inspiration is key, make the most out of these ads.

If you’re struggling, try asking yourself these questions; What colours work best, and does it fit with my brand? Does it move smoothly, or is it too fast/slow? What makes sense for our brand to advertise?

You should now understand the basics of how Video Adverts work, how to keep viewers intrigued, what works well in what scenario, and the benefits of using these selected ads after this complete guide. Remember that in these advertisements that you need to look at examples of other ads and how other brands are doing well to help with your own success!