SocialDisplay and Video / July 29, 2016 / By Erin Martin

What Works in Video Advertising

Mobile devices and social platforms have dramatically changed the way people behave online. This forces advertisers and publishers to reevaluate their content distribution strategy, which includes advertising. What does this mean for social video advertising? Brands are testing new lengths and formats to find their groove in the new media landscape.

In a recent article by OnlineVideo, Ad Advice: Online Video Ad Pros Spell Out What Works Now, Mixpo’s vp of product, Justin Kistner, gives the low down on the top trends to keep in mind when developing a social video advertising strategy.

Thumb-Stopping Creative

The first three seconds of a video ad are crucial to capture attention, especially for video ads within social. Test a few different videos to ensure you’re delivering the most compelling message.

“You have to work a lot harder to make your content compelling right out of the gate when you are serving content in an opt-in type of environment like Facebook and Twitter,” says Kistner.

Be Persuasive Without Audio

The pros recommend creating videos that can stand alone without audio, because it’s more likely the user will have the sound already turned off.

“I think people who are taking it one step further are doing a really smart use of closed captions in a very high design form of an overlay, to draw attention to something. You might put a semi-transparent color over the whole video and make the words pretty large so it looks like designed graphics,” Kistner says.

Go Vertical

“Embracing new formats is always a good idea because there’s a novelty factor. Vertical videos are really hot right now, but there’s not a lot of video content that’s been created that way. It’s actually quite a bit of a challenge to get advertisers to think outside of the landscape orientation, but users respond very well to them, so I think you’re going to see a growing number of video shot this way,” Kistner says.

Go Long

“We’re seeing brands get great success using a very long format to deliver almost infomercial-like experiences. When someone is genuinely interested in your content, that can be a good way to give them a lot,” Kistner says.

Read the full article on OnlineVideo to learn more.

Download Mixpo’s latest report, The State of Digital Advertising for Publishers.