If you’ve made it here, you probably know the power of video ads. The expansion of this format will continue in 2024, so not including it in your ad inventory would be signing your own failure sentence. The safest path is to optimize the performance of this creativity within your monetization plans by exploring its benefits and applying best practices with your team to get the most out of this ad format.
By optimizing your ad inventory with video ads, you stay in tune with the main trends in content production and consumption in applications and websites. Just look at YouTube’s performance: an ad on this platform can reach 2.29 million customers, according to First Side Guide.
Furthermore, this format is a very effective tool for capturing users’ attention and achieving effective impressions. In 3 seconds, you play the possibility of winning a click or achieving interaction. With a video, it’s much more likely to overcome the challenge, benefit advertisers, and expand your monetization possibilities.
Why are video ads so effective?
This ad format offers a different experience to potential customers of a brand. It is much simpler to share testimonials, explanations, or benefits through the combination of image and audio. And if the ad is built with creativity, it will be more likely to achieve a high click-through rate (CTR).
In addition, video ads play with a key element: emotion-based storytelling. Who can resist a video that immediately connects with our feelings? With appropriate storytelling resources and clear segmentation, you will have effective video ads.
For that reason, more and more advertisers are looking to sell their products or services through this format. Many have already verified its effectiveness for optimal return on advertising investment (ROAS), greater efficiency in attracting potential customers, and more possibilities for loyalty.
And if you want more reasons, look at the reach of video and streaming platforms. The YouTube user community grew by 10% in 2023. In the third quarter of that year, it reported advertising revenues of almost $8 billion, 12% more than in the third quarter of 2022.
If we talk about TikTok, the statistics are also favorable. According to Statista, ByteDance’s platform generated advertising revenues equivalent to $4 billion in 2022, and according to sector projections, that figure could double in 2024.
With such results, going against the tide will only generate losses and reduce your chances of placing your ad inventory, reaching premium advertisers, and increasing your reputation as a publisher.
The most powerful types of video ads
Although you know their benefits, you know that there are much more effective video ads for getting conversions. Their screen space, narrative, location within apps, and duration are the keys to their success. You can identify them by their content and their location within the application.
Most successful video ads according to their content
A testimony, a quick and effective explanation, or the words of an influencer: these contents can generate engagement. That’s why, in programmatic advertising, video ads whose messages are closer and more attractive to the audience segment they want to reach are valued. By studying them, you will know which ones connect with your application community.
#1 Testimonial Videos
They collect the story of a user, product, or service that has already verified its benefits. Generally, they present a problem that any potential customer may have and explain how the brand helped solve it. Accompanied by a good call to action (CTA), they guarantee a high conversion rate.
#2 Demonstration Videos
They are very similar to the commercials we see on television. They focus on the features and benefits of the product, its quality, and how it can help the user. They can also invite users to visit the brand’s digital platforms.
#3 Videos with Experts and Influencers
When an expert or well-known voice invites us to try something, we feel more inclined to do so. That is the purpose of this type of video ad: to show the benefits of a product thanks to the reputation it has within a community.
In this case, the message is built hand in hand with specialists with a high reputation, whose technical assessment promotes the brand. Recognized influencers within the user community the advertiser wants to reach can also be used.
The presence of these figures within the creativity offers greater interaction, key to recording effective impressions and ensuring an adequate return on advertising investment (ROAS).
#4 Tutorial Videos
Does a brand simplify the life of its potential user? How can they know? Through a tutorial. That’s why this format is included among the most powerful video ads. An advertiser can show how to use or acquire their product in a simple and attractive way, another way to promote interaction with ads.
With this ad format, you not only capture new users: you guide those who are loyal and increase the chances of closing sales.
#5 Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality Videos
Although it sounds futuristic, these video ads can offer an immersive experience to potential customers, especially in areas such as real estate or tourism. For publishers, these formats are a challenge, as their developments must have the robustness necessary to serve these video ads.
#6 Personalized Videos
If a brand wants to speak to its potential or loyal customers, this video ad works perfectly. By creating a message tailored to that user, it increases the chances of conversion and, in addition, builds a closer bond that will favor new interactions.
The most effective video ads according to their location in the app
Beyond content, the performance of video ads also depends on their location within your application. The possibility of skipping it or not, its location, and the space it occupies on the screen are key elements for its performance.
#1 In-Stream Video Ads
This format is played in streaming broadcasts. They can be served before (pre-roll), during (mid-roll), or after (post-roll) a video. Depending on the intention of an advertising campaign, they can be skippable (the user can skip it after five seconds) or non-skippable.
In addition to these modalities, bumper ads can be used. They are very short creatives, at least 6 seconds long, with very striking resources. They are used to strengthen brand identity.
Which format is most effective? That will depend on the characteristics of the application and the user experience that wants to be offered.
#2 Outstream Video Ads
They are used on websites and mobile applications. Within this category are in-page video ads, inserted within content; banner video ads, located at the top of the app interface, and in-text video ads, which are displayed after the user has scrolled through part of an article.
Due to their insertion within applications and websites, they are considered native ad modalities.
#3 Overlay Video Ads
They are used in streaming. They occupy between 10% and 20% of the bottom of the screen to display the creativity, and their use is recommended if live streams are being broadcast.
#4 Interactive Video Ads
If your app is a video game, you surely have this format included in your ad inventory. It is used to offer a close experience with a product or service, to generate interest among potential users.
To not interfere with the user experience, they are displayed after the user completes an action. Thus, their experience is not interrupted, and the abandonment rate is reduced.
The inclusion of these ad formats in your ad inventory will depend on the characteristics of your application, the user experience (UX) you want to offer your user community, and the type of advertisers you want to attract.
These are the benefits you get with video ads
Incorporating video ads offers greater advantages for placing your ad inventory, obtaining a higher effective cost per thousand impressions (eCPM), and creating the conditions to negotiate with premium advertisers in modalities such as programmatic guaranteed.
#1 Your ad inventory responds to the main trends in programmatic advertising
In a world where audiovisual discourse dominates, it is vital to include this format. You will offer a much more suitable UX to the expectations of your user community and have more resources to satisfy the needs of advertisers.
#2 Increase your monetization possibilities
Video ads can guarantee you a higher eCPM, a better CTR, and ample possibilities of obtaining optimal earnings with other modalities such as the cost per real click. They also report a lower abandonment rate.
#3 Your profile as a publisher is revalued
If you want to have advertisers who pay more for your ad inventory, you must offer successful formats whose performance is proven. That is why video ads must be included: if you do not already do so, prepare your app for it.
How to get the most out of it? Follow these recommended practices to monetize with video ads
#1 Analyze the behavior of your users through first-party data
By knowing how they behave with video ads, you will know which modalities work best in your community. Thus, you can progressively adjust your monetization strategies, protect the UX of your app, and continuously optimize your ad space.
#2 Know the main trends in video ads
In programmatic advertising, arriving last results in losses. That is why your team must study which video creativities are dominating programmatic advertising. This prepares them to continuously optimize your development and be up to date with the main demands of advertisers.
#3 Incorporate video ads according to the conditions of your application
Although a video game application and an informative content application can benefit from this format, their developers must choose the most suitable modalities to incorporate them. Location and duration are key to making the right choice and increasing the chances of interaction.
#4 Continuously optimize your app to guarantee the best UX
Correct latency issues, failures in the video player, and ensure that your development is responsive. Thus, it is more likely that your user community will interact with those ads.
#5 Adjust the visibility parameters of the ads
Advertising networks establish minimum conditions for the viewing of a video ad to be considered an effective impression. For example, that the user sees 50% of the ad. Know these parameters to comply with your ad inventory.
#6 Review your ad placement plan to get the best performance
Analyze which locations within your advertising space are most visible for a video ad, the profile of the advertiser you want to reach, and the programmatic advertising mechanism that works best for your goals. Attractiveness and strategy are the keys to your success with video ads.
Video ads have already hooked you. Use them to conquer premium advertisers and monetize more with Wortise
You work hard every day to consolidate your application. And although you already have benefits from advertising in your development, you know you can take it to the next level. We know how to connect you with more prestigious brands and maximize your income. Our experience is at the service of your goals.
We connect you with more than 100 Ad Networks, offer the highest eCPM on the market, and personalized support to address any doubts related to in-app monetization tasks.
