In today’s fast-moving digital space, video advertising has gained a reputation as one of the most powerful tools for marketers. Why? Well, it is shown to easily grab users’ attention, drive significantly higher engagement, and convert audiences across different channels.
That’s why our team decided to dedicate the whole article to exploring what makes video ads so effective. Whether you're new to video marketing or looking to optimize your current campaigns, this post is your perfect destination.
Down below, you’ll discover the best practices in video advertising to elevate your approach and maximize ROI through compelling, high-performing video content. We will tell you more about the unique benefits video ads have to offer and why they’ve become a cornerstone of modern advertising strategies.
What is video advertising?
Video advertising is a popular form of digital marketing that leverages short video clips to promote products, services, or brand messages across various online platforms.
This type of advertising can typically be distributed through channels like social media, websites, CTV, or programmatic ad networks. Effective video ads emphasize visual storytelling and are a perfect approach to achieve various marketing goals.
Why is video advertising so effective?
Video ads are on the rise, and the numbers speak for themselves. In 2024, digital video advertising surpassed global spending of $191.3 billion. Pretty fascinating, isn’t it? Moreover, as the number of digital video viewers grows exponentially and is now over $3.37 billion globally, it makes video one of the most powerful formats for reaching and engaging audiences.
Video ads became a hot trend in the realm of the digital landscape for plenty of good reasons. Now, we live in a world where the content overload is unprecedented and the attention span of online users keeps shrinking.
Video content can cut through all the digital noise and clutter. It has exceptional power to inform, persuade, and entertain in just a few seconds. Here are the main reasons why video ad campaigns will soon dominate marketing and how they can elevate your strategy.
Captures attention within seconds
Static formats for digital ads are the most traditional, yet they are often overlooked by online users. Instead, video ads are a perfect way to easily grab their attention, and they increase the likelihood of your message being seen.
This format is much more engaging, effective, and memorable. Motion, sound, and visual storytelling draw the eye of highly exigent people, making them more likely to stop scrolling.
Delivers complex messages clearly
Videos can break down complex or burdensome messages and present them in a more user-friendly, digestible manner. This format combines images, voice-overs, on-screen text, and animations, which a company can use to convey its idea to the end user.
In mere seconds, it can deliver the right message clearly without overwhelming users with dense text and visuals.
Adaptive to changing consumer habits
The way online users consume content changes over time. If a few years ago a mere banner ad was enough to bring quality results, nowadays you need to go beyond.
Video content became dominant and preferred among other media formats, especially for younger generations. Knowing the changing habits of people, advertisers can quickly adapt to these shifts and offer them relevant content in the desired format that will perform better.
Boosts engagement and brand recall
As video is a perfect combination of motion, sound, and visuals, it naturally captures more attention and keeps viewers interested longer.
This will inevitably lead to better advertisement outcomes, higher engagement, and significantly higher brand recall. People will be more likely to remember your ad and, therefore, your brand to choose you in the future.
Enables cross-device reach
Videos are a pretty versatile instrument that can also be perfect for consumption across a variety of devices. From smartphones to desktops to CTV, you can ensure your video ads are delivered to your users no matter what device they are using, creating a consistent experience.
This will result in higher performance and enable marketers to amplify their reach across diverse touchpoints.
Drives higher conversion rates
Video format is much more engaging than any other one as it taps into emotions and motivates users to take action with more determination. Naturally, it will bring you better advertising outcomes and generate higher conversions. Users are much more likely to click, sign up, make a purchase, or take any desired action after watching a compelling video ad.
Builds brand storytelling
Video is one of the most powerful tools for brand storytelling. It allows you to showcase your company’s identity, mission, and values in the most human and authentic way.
Storytelling is not just about what you have to tell with the video. Storytelling is a way to enhance the effectiveness of video ads. It encompasses music, voice, and visuals to forge emotional connections to drive loyalty and differentiate you in crowded markets.
Overcomes limitations of traditional ads
Traditional ads, such as banner ads, are associated with some limitations. For example, they don’t allow you to fully convey complex messages or ideas. Moreover, many online users claim banner ads to be highly intrusive and annoying.
On the other hand, a video advertising campaign can deliver an engaging, fresh, and unconventional, richer content experience while minimizing nuisance. This approach will bring you better results while leaving a positive impression that lasts.
Suitable for programmatic
As you may know, programmatic is on the edge of advertising trends and tendencies. The good news is, video formats are not only engaging but also highly adaptable and suitable for programmatic. Your video ads can be seamlessly integrated with demand-side platforms as well as with real-time bidding environments.
Therefore, you have access to an additional pool of viewers and receive better chances of delivering your ad to the right audience. Videos can be dynamically tailored and distributed across devices and channels, maximizing reach, efficiency, and return on ad spend.
12 video advertising best practices
At SmartyAds, we are deeply convinced that creating a performing video ad is both an art and a science. With users scrolling faster than ever before, learning tactics to capture their attention within seconds (if not milliseconds) is crucial. Let’s dive into our top video ad best practices that will help you craft impactful video campaigns for your business needs.
Set clear goals
Understanding what you are doing, why, and how you are doing this is the basis of every successful start. Before planning your video ad campaign, the first thing to do is to set clear, achievable, and measurable goals.
No matter what your final goal is, this is the foundation for all the campaigns you will have in the future. With the specific goal in mind, it will be so much easier to set up and then optimize your ads. Not having a focused direction is a way to nowhere, even with the most stunning video.
Tell a compelling story
This ad format requires a thoughtful approach. It’s very different from a basic banner ad. At the heart of a winning video advertisement lies the powerful and compelling storytelling. It might sound contradictory at first glance, but don’t advertise your product or service. Advertise a story, an idea, or an emotion that lies behind your product or services.
Our world is overflowing with similar goods, and there are thousands of solutions to almost every problem. Therefore, to truly stand out among the competition, tell a story that speaks to your audience’s needs, pains, and emotions. A nicely crafted narrative will help you build a bridge between your business and your potential customers.
Keep it short and sweet
As we have already mentioned, the attention span of digital users decreases continuously. Having this information in mind, you should make an impact with your video pretty fast. Keep your video concise. Try to cut to the chase and share the main points of your story.
No one has time to listen to a few minutes about an unfamiliar business. Short, simple, and clear videos have higher chances of being watched until the very end and remembered. So take your chance.
Grab attention from the very start
Continuing the previous point, it's paramount to make the first few seconds of your video ad count. So our best advice here is not to wait until the end of the video to say your punch line. Let this line open your advertisement to quickly grab the user's attention.
It’s a pretty well-known fact that users decide within seconds if they want to stop and watch a video or keep scrolling. Include striking visuals and dynamic music to enhance the impression of your core statement.
Design for mobile viewers
This is one of the most overlooked video advertising best practices we can even think of. When creating a video ad campaign, people often focus on the message, on the visual part. And often, they forget to adapt the video for different devices. Based on our experience, mobile is the main platform people use to watch video content.
As billions of people are constantly immersed in their phones, tailoring your video to mobile devices should be your core priority. Make sure your video ad performs well on smartphones and tablets.
Check the loading time and adjust the video quality and resolution if it takes too much time to load. Users’ time is the most precious resource, so do your best to appreciate it with a speed loading time that doesn’t compromise the quality of your video image.
Craft a killer headline
A headline might seem like a pretty small and unimportant detail for your ad success, however, a headline can make or break your campaign’s success.
This is one of the first things a user will see, so make sure it’s captivating. Keep it clear and concise, evoke emotions, and make it resonate with the needs and problems of your target audience.
Make it work even without a sound
What’s worth knowing is the fact that most users watch videos without sound, especially when it comes to mobile devices. It’s absolutely critical for the success of your campaign to ensure your video ad is clear even without the sound.
The potential solution is either to include captions or to convey the meaning of your video through clear visuals or animations. This way, viewers will understand your video even without hearing the audio, and they still can engage with your ad.
Tap into meaningful emotions
One of the most prominent benefits of video ads is their ability to build emotional connections with users and drive engagement through various emotions. Think about which emotions will likely resonate with your target audience and focus your video on that.
Remember, the right video advertisement should evoke the feeling of happiness, sadness, nostalgia, empathy, or any other sentiment that can be related to your products or services. Emotional triggers always make any campaign more juicy and highly performing.
Include a clear CTA
A clear CTA is a must for your video ad. It serves as an instrument that guides viewers towards the desired step you want them to take. We recommend that you provide incentives and special time-sensitive offers to motivate viewers to convert.
Creating a sense of urgency is a proven tactic that helps businesses achieve higher conversion rates. How to do this? You may introduce visual cues like countdowns or bold text that will highlight the time-sensitive nature of the offer. All this spurs viewers to act quickly.
Test different video formats
One of the top video ads best practices is feeling free to experiment with different video formats. Explore all the formats available out there. These are, for instance, skippable and non-skippable, bumper, overlay, in-stream ads, etc.
Each format has its own set of benefits; it serves different purposes and may be suitable for distinct stages of the customer journey. So it’s up to you to evaluate your current needs and choose the format that will perform well in your specific case. By trying out different formats, you will be able to learn what your audience likes or dislikes to adjust your future strategy.
Cross-promote on different channels
A cross-platform approach in promoting your video will further enhance the effectiveness of your efforts and will attract broader audiences to your business.
Share your content across various channels.
Whether it’s social media, email, or even your website, you can still expand your reach and perform effective content repurposing. If applicable, adjust the video for each platform’s peculiarities to maximize the effectiveness.
Measure your success
To truly understand the effectiveness of your video ads, you should constantly track the performance of your campaigns. Measuring success with relevant metrics allows you to identify strengths and weaknesses of your advertisement and optimize it to gain better results.
Leverage detailed real-time analytics to see which aspects of your video are working and what parts require some adjustments. Review these insights regularly to improve your ROI and enhance the overall ad effectiveness while continuously refining your marketing strategy.
SmartyAds: a partner you can count on
If you hesitate or need support on your way to an effective video ad strategy, we are here to support you on your path. 10+ years in the industry of programmatic advertising, 11 international awards, and plenty of satisfied customers all over the world, SmartyAds has become a trusted technology partner for businesses looking to amplify their digital reach.
SmartyAds feature-rich DSP enables advertisers to achieve their marketing goals. The diversity of ad formats, detailed targeting, creative builder, and deep insights make it possible to harvest tangible results. Our interactive CTV video formats (see how it works) bring immersive engagement to the big screen, helping brands captivate viewers like never before.
Our team provides end-to-end solutions to fit into your omnichannel strategies. We've helped companies overcome challenges like low engagement, poor targeting, and fragmented user experiences using our interactive video formats and real-time optimization tools. Feel free to contact us, and we will be thrilled to address any issue or question you may have about video advertisements through our DSP.
Ready to future-proof your advertising? Partner with SmartyAds for smart, scalable, and measurable results.
Get started with our innovative DSP to set up your first video ad!
