Pre-roll Video Ads: What It Is & Why Advertisers Use Pre-roll Advertising?

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We hope that the title of this post has piqued your interest enough to keep reading. By the way, it only took a few seconds. Isn’t it? That is the basic idea behind pre-roll video ads: Show viewers why they should continue watching your advertisements and then make them click to know more. 

In simple terms, if you have spent ample time watching videos on YouTube, you would have probably encountered different types of advertisements as much as the intended video content.

A frequent example is an ad that plays before you see the video, followed by a “Skip Ad” button after five seconds. That is known as pre-roll video advertising.

However, with so many commercials battling for our interest, consumers are less likely to engage with the majority unless it is a brand or product in which they have previously expressed interest.

With that being clear in our mind, we will go over why pre-roll ads should be part of your advertising VOD business model, where and how to utilize them in your business strategy, and some meaningful examples are along the way. 

What Are Pre-Roll Ads?

A pre-roll ad is a video advertisement that occurs before viewing the main content on online video platforms like YouTube and Dailymotion. These ads are promotions, product marketing videos or different forms of creative short form content in various durations typically lasting between 15, 30, 45 and 60 seconds.

Pre-roll videos offer multiple benefits to advertisers and publishers. And it is obvious that they prefer pre-roll ads to other forms of ads like mid or post-roll for various reasons.

The main functionality of pre roll ads is to create brand awareness, as they have high visibility and viewer attention at the earliest before watching the actual content.

Pre-roll ads are target focused and advertisers can tailor their message to reach specific demographics, communities or interest groups easily.

According to a study, pre-roll ads are mostly effective, unlike mid-roll and post-roll ads they were skippable.

And, pre-roll ads often have higher completion rates compared to other ad formats and higher audience engagement rates.

This is why video pre roll advertising is immensely popular among businesses and publishers to reach their potential customers.

 

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What Are The Types Of Pre-Roll Video Ads?

Using pre-roll ads for marketing is a way but digging deeper there are three different types of pre-roll advertising to enhance your overall video marketing or digital advertising results. Let’s see them quickly below,

1. Skippable Pre Roll Ads

These are the first 5-second ads that can be skipped after viewing them in the limited duration and these pre-roll ads usually employ a pay-per-view approach, which means advertisers pay only when the user views 30 seconds or the complete ad.

According to a study, very few viewers watch skippable pre roll videos all the way through. However, as compared to non-skippable ads, 

In fact, skippable advertising is utilized to increase online sales, leads, brand and product awareness.

2. Non-skippable

Non-skippable pre roll ads are typically 15 to 20 seconds long,  pushing the viewers  to purchase. They are based on CPM (cost per mille), which is the total ad spend for every 1,000 impressions.

One campaign saw a 97% boost in conversions among consumers who watched an ad for at least four seconds. Non-skippable pre roll ads raise your brand awareness and increase conversions.

3. Bumper

A Bumper is a short, non-skippable pre roll ad that typically lasts 6 seconds, and acts on target CPM bidding, where for every 1,000 times an ad is displayed on a web browser, the advertiser pays. 

Bumper advertising reaches more audiences and increases brand awareness to a greater extent.

Bumper pre roll ads are ideal for mobile devices as they are designed to be quick and memorable for on-the-go customers.

Google also discovered that 9 out of 10 bumper advertising resulted in a significant increase in ad recall making these pre-roll ads are also effective.

Key Benefits Of Pre-roll Video Advertising

Pre-roll advertising has its own perks and in the section below we will discuss the most important ones in detail,

1. Target Audience

Pre-roll video ads are the best way to attract a target audience as they are less intrusive than mid- and post-roll ads. 

Based on their viewing patterns, age, demographics, and interests of the viewers pre-roll ads function and the cons of pre-con include the testing of patience when the viewer is in a rush to view the content.

2. Guaranteed Views

Since pre-roll advertising appears before the play of actual video, pre-roll ads are more likely to be viewed more than the mid and post-roll ads, which usually appear in between or after a video.

Viewers who wish to see the video that follows the ad rarely have the option to skip it. One thing to keep in mind is that the shorter the commercial, the more likely the viewer will watch it from start to finish and respond to any call to action.

3. Interaction

The chances of a user interacting after watching a pre-roll ad commercial, such as clicking on the link, sharing it on social networking sites, or clicking it to see relevant content is higher than the rest of the ads.

Many platforms allow advertisers to categorize their ads in accordance with the targeted audience. Some platforms even allow advertisers to design short surveys with fun animations and graphics to engage audiences related to their products.

That is why pre-roll advertisements are often more interactive, eye-catching, and engaging.

4. Brand Awareness

Pre-roll advertisements are the first visual of a video and these display content that is directly related to the interests of potential buyers and thereby it increases brand awareness.

A well-crafted advertisement increases the likelihood of a viewer remembering the brand and recommending it to their friends and family.

After creating an ad with a high engagement rate, a marketer can tweak it and use it in future advertisements. In conclusion, a good pre-roll ad increases brand awareness among people of different age groups.

5. Pre-Rolls Influence Buying Decision

We have seen in the past, that customers initially hear about a brand through various social media sites (such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc) or television before making any purchasing decision.

What’s more interesting is that millennials are more likely to trust pre-roll video advertising than any other type of video ad. 

Data says 57% of these types of ads effectively build their confidence when making a purchase decision.

Introducing pre-roll ads into your marketing strategy can give viewers more confidence in purchasing your products and services. 

6. Marketing

A well-crafted pre-roll video can aid viewers in remembering and recalling your ad  in making purchase decisions on the products or services that are being displayed on the mobile or desktop screen.

7. Pre-Rolls Increase Lead Generation

Pre-roll ads are beneficial with their ability to target a specific audience, resulting in ideal lead generation. With pre-roll advertising, you can target your audience based on their interests, age, gender, geography, and more.

With these factors to target, your digital advertising campaign becomes a lot easier and more effective, resulting in more users entering the lead generation funnel.

8. Pre-Roll Ads Targets The Right Audience 

As mentioned above, pre-roll ads have the ability to target the right audience by understanding their interest, online behavior, geography, topics, keywords, and whatnot.

As most of the user data is available online, making the most of it can help businesses in selling their products or services to the right person.

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“Oberlo’s detailed market report states that video consumption is swiftly becoming one of the most favored ways to consume content. In fact, 85% of US internet users watch online videos, with 73% of buyers saying that the brand’s video presence has influenced their overall purchasing decision.”

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And since pre-roll ads appear at the start of the video, users have a choice if they want to skip it or not. What makes this kind of ad even more fascinating is that it creates a better video environment by not forcing users to watch the ad. Isn’t that good for the streaming business? It certainly is.

How Long Can Pre-Roll Video Ads Be?

Pre-roll ads must be concise. They should last no more than 60 seconds.
If you want to see good results, then the time of the pre-roll ad should not be more than five seconds.

In any event, the ad should grab the viewer’s interest within five seconds, or they would most likely skip it (when the option is clearly visible on the screen).

The ideal pre-roll ads are clickable and include a URL and call-to-action that sends customers to the website where they can know more about the brand or product and finally make a purchase decision.

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“When you combine great video content with smart ad targeting capabilities, you could increase your chances of advertising your product, service, or brand to the right audience at the right time.”

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Why Do Advertisers Choose Pre-roll Video Advertising?

Rolling pre-roll ads have a number of benefits, which is why they are so popular among marketers.

The main scenario that takes place here is as follows – Users will initially click on the video by seeing the catchy title and thumbnail; till now, they will be uninformed of what ad will be displayed to them.

With pre-roll advertising, the audience is more likely to watch your advertisement because they are pretty much interested and eager to watch the original content.

In fact, pre-roll advertising has a greater success rate than most other forms of advertising. 

For example, if you place an ad near the end of a clip/video, there is a high chance that the user has already skipped during the video or knows it is going to end and prefers not to stay and watch the ad at the end.

Even if it’s a skippable commercial and they don’t watch the entire thing, catching a glimpse for a few seconds will still benefit you in the long run, especially if you’re just paying for an advertisement depending on the number of views. 

How VPlayed Helps You To Start Your Pre-roll Video Advertising?

We all know that there is nothing more vital than effectively reaching and interacting with your target audience – but doing so effectively is one of the most difficult tasks marketers face today.

Now that consumers have recognized video as the preferable method of content consumption, pre-roll ads are the weapons you need to utilize to lift your brand among your target audience.

Indeed, science backs it up, and consumers support it by watching relevant video ads. 

Working with VPlayed can assist you in automating the process of distributing and online video monetization content on your vod platform, allowing you to focus solely on running your business.

Furthermore, the platform can help you in running all ad types (pre-roll ads, mid-roll ads, and post-roll ads) that can accelerate your success and capture consumer attention before anyone else does.

In other words, rather than looking for a third-party network, you can monetize all of your content by joining hands with the VPlayed OTT platform. 

If You Already Have An Idea About Pre-roll Video Ads, Schedule A Free Demo And We’ll Get You On The Road To Video Streaming Success!

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