Are you looking to get into digital video advertising but don’t know how? A good video can make or break your campaign, so knowing how to make a video ad that will be memorable and effective is paramount. Check out our comprehensive guide for beginners on making video ads that stand out!

What Is a Video Ad

In the most general sense, a video ad is any advertisement that is in a video format. More specifically, the definition includes any ads displayed within a video stream online. Many different video ad formats exist, such as instream and outstream video ads, display ads, bumper ads, and so on. 

Regardless of the format, all video ads have great potential to boost your brand’s image, attract new audiences, generate leads, and increase sales. This is not to say that just any video ad will suffice — there are certain tips and tricks you can follow to maximize the effectiveness of your advertisement.

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Do Video Ads Perform Better Than Image Ads?

Image vs. video ads — not too long ago, this was a question that could spark heated debates in the marketing community. However, it has a pretty clear-cut answer nowadays. Across most industries, platforms, devices, and target audiences, video ads tend to perform better than images. 

According to Wyzowl, 87% of marketers say that videos help them increase traffic, while 86% say they help them generate new leads. If you have been thinking about delving deeper into digital video advertising but weren’t sure if that’s the right step, we assure you — it’s worth a shot.

How to Make a Video Ad

One of the few advantages that image ads have over videos is that they are easier to make. Still, with a good plan, making a video ad doesn’t have to be that difficult. Simply follow a few basic steps, and you should have no issues developing your video campaign.

Step 1: Establish Your Goal

What is the purpose of your video ad? Is it a product video? Is it supposed to attract attention to your brand? Or is the goal to prompt viewers to sign up for your newsletter? The answer to this question will affect the final look of your video to a large extent. For example, videos whose purpose is to teach viewers how to use a certain product tend to be longer than those that are prompting them to sign up for a service. 

Step 2: Define Your Target Audience

The tone of your video ad will largely depend on your target audience. For example, if most of your customers are businesspeople, the tone will be more formal than, for example, the vibrancy and playfulness when promoting debit cards for teens.

Let’s take a look at two car commercials. The first one is for Honda Odyssey, a family van. The target audience consists of families with young children looking for a spacious, safe car for the whole family. The commercial features feel-good music, a sunny day, and a happy family. Words such as family life, safety, and entertainment can be heard throughout.  

Now, let us take a look at a commercial for the Porsche 911, a sports car. The first thing you will notice is that the weather is much gloomier and the music much more dramatic. In the commercial, we can see a car speeding on an open road, a good-looking middle-aged man behind the wheel, on a treadmill, and listening to music. The commercial is attempting to sell the lifestyle of a successful businessman who drives expensive cars.

In short, both of these commercials are selling pretty much the same thing — a four-wheeled vehicle that will get you from point A to point B. But the target audience makes all the difference.

Step 3: Establish Your Budget

Although making video ads is not nearly as expensive as it used to be, you should still have an established budget, especially if you’re planning on hiring third-party services to develop your ad.

The precise cost of a video ad depends on a number of factors. Are you planning on hiring a marketing company, a freelance videographer, or DIY-ing it? How long do you want the ad to be? Will you be using paid or free stock footage or filming everything from scratch? Will your ad feature any actors? Depending on these factors, making a good video advertisement can set you back anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. Freelancers from platforms such as Fiverr and Upwork will provide you with a professionally structured invoice using a specialized invoice template designed specifically for their needs.

Fun fact: the most expensive video ad ever made was Chanel’s 2004 commercial titled The Film, and it cost around $33 million.

Step 4: Creative Work

Now’s the time to actually create your ad. This step will involve things like writing the script, filming, video editing, and more. Throughout this process, it’s important to keep in mind all the decisions you’ve made so far — your target audience, your ad’s goal, and how much you’re willing to spend. There are some great tips and tricks you can follow to make the most out of your ad, but we’ll get to that in a second.

Step 5: Launch Your Ad

Exactly how you will launch your ad depends on the channels where you want to advertise. For example, if you’re making a Facebook video ad, you will launch the campaign through Meta Business Suite. On the other hand, if you want to advertise on YouTube, you will need to link your YouTube account with your Google Ads account. 

How to Make a Video Ad for Free

If you’re working on a very tight budget, you might be looking for a way to create a video ad for free. Luckily, there are some free video ad solutions available. For example, you can use a platform such as Animoto or Promo to easily create your free video ad with no prior video editing experience. 

However, there are certain drawbacks to using free video editors and makers. For starters, your ad will likely have to include the video maker’s watermark. Secondly, you might have access to a limited number of templates, stock materials, or customization options, and your ad won’t be as unique as you’d likely want it to be. And lastly, the resolution of your video might be limited to 720p, for example, as is the case with Animoto.

How to Make a Video Ad Stand Out

We’ve gone through the basic steps of making a video ad. But what does the actual creative process look like? Get your storyboard ready, and let’s dive into the tips and tricks for making a good video ad that stands out.

Focus on the First Few Seconds

Grabbing your viewers’ attention right off the bat is paramount. This is why an effective hook is one of the most important parts of a successful video ad. Some of the most popular types of hooks include:

Fun Facts — Pique your audience’s curiosity by starting with an interesting, less-known fact. The fact doesn’t have to be about your product or service, but it should circle back to it.
What If — Present your audience with a hypothetical scenario that will get them thinking. This is one of the easiest ways to engage the viewer.
Cut to the Chase — Get right to the point from the very beginning of your ad. This can be quite an effective hook if done right, especially since it saves the viewers’ time.
Be Funny — Likely the best way to hook an audience is to make them laugh. Start your ad with a short and effective joke.
Once Upon a Time — Storytelling is right up there with humor when it comes to effective hooks. Introduce a character, a setting, or a plot right off the bat.
Surprise! — Start with something completely unexpected. Such as a giant monster jumping out of a crater on the Moon. No, we’re not joking.

This is a great example of a video ad using the element of surprise to hook the audience. A giant, astronaut-eating monster is the last thing you’d expect to see in a canned beans commercial, but we’re willing to bet it sparked your interest.

Keep It Short and Sweet

Video ads are getting shorter and shorter. The precise length of the ad will depend on its purpose and placement, but in most cases, less is more. Truth is, if you know what you want to say, you won’t need a whole lot of time to say it. 

Take, for example, the video below. In just five seconds, this ad tells us that we should recycle, that living a busy life is not an excuse not to, and it refers us to the organization’s website where we can learn more.

Don’t Just Sell a Product, Help Your Audience

Talking about how amazing your product is might get you some sales. But explaining how this product can make your viewers’ lives easier will have much better results. The commercial for the Philips Airfryer below addresses this right off the bat — if you are worried about how unhealthy pan-fried food is, this is how our product can help.

Personalize the Video

People like to feel special, and modern video ad technology has the power to do this. Personalized video ads can address your viewer by name, wish them a happy birthday, or even use their photos, for example.

Here’s a quick example of a personalized ad by Cadbury. The video uses a specific viewer’s name and family photographs to make the viewer feel like the ad was made specifically for them.

Tell a Story

Lists might be fun to read, but they can be quite boring to listen to. So instead of just listing the features of your product or brand, tell a story about it. How was the idea for your product born? What is its purpose? 

Nike’s commercial for LeBron 17 tells a great story about how these shoes are made. It also demonstrates that they are tailored specifically for basketball players, that high-end technology is responsible for the process, and by extension, that this is a high-quality product. 

Emphasize Your Brand’s Strengths

More often than not, people purchase brands, not products. Why do people get $100 Nike shoes if they can purchase a $10 pair of a similar color and design? Because they trust Nike. You want your brand to enjoy that same trust.

Be Funny (If Appropriate)

One of the best ways to make an ad memorable is to use humor. And sometimes, it doesn’t even have to be good humor. Take, for example, the iconic Old Spice commercials. Most would agree that the humor in them is corny at best. Yet it became one of the best-known commercials of all time within days of its launching. 

Needless to say, this only works if humor is appropriate in your industry. If not, you can also consider using some fallacies in the ad or evoking emotion in some other way. Take, for example, this inspiring Adidas commercial that will leave you with a lump in your throat. 

Include a CTA

Your audience needs to know what to do with the information your ad gave them. Should they purchase your product, sign up for a newsletter, or get in touch with your customer service? Prompt them to do so with a good video CTA. A pro tip for an effective video call-to-action is to create QR codes that lead to specific landing pages relevant to the content of the video. This allows viewers to easily access more information or take action by scanning the code, maximizing engagement, and driving conversions.

How Long Should Video Ads Be?

The length of your video ad depends on a number of factors, such as the amount of information you’re trying to fit into it or the platform where you plan to publish it. In general, however, you should try to aim for the shortest possible video length. Let’s face it — nobody wants to sit through TV commercial-like ads while browsing the web.

Statistics show that over 60% of all video ads online are 30 seconds or shorter. In addition to this, one of the best practices for Facebook video marketing is to keep the length of your video under 15 seconds. This will also qualify your ad for placement in Instagram Stories, for example. 

So to sum up — short-form video ads are more common, favored among publishers, and more likely to retain the attention of the viewer.

Ready to Create Your First Video Ad?

As you can probably tell, implementing video advertisements into your campaign is not as complex of a process as it once used to be. On the other hand, it has the potential to benefit your business in many ways. If you ask us, there is no reason not to use video ads. 

And if you need a reliable, lightweight HTML5 player to easily serve your video ad to audiences far and wide, why not check out TargetVideo’s platform? We have been working with countless publishers and advertisers for years, and we understand the ins and outs of video advertising. Sign up for a free trial or upgrade to a paid plan and enjoy all the perks of being our client, such as unlimited storage.

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