First, let’s start with explaining what digital video advertising is before we talk about its benefits.
What is Digital Video Advertising?
The purpose of digital video advertising is to deliver promotional video content to a target audience via various online channels. It is the practice of distributing video ads across many different sources of content online.
What kind of video ads are there?
Digital ads are usually categorized into instream and outstream ads:
Instream Video Ads
Ads that are integrated into existing video content are called instream video ads. So how do they work? An ad plays at a specific point in the video playback, interrupting it. Instream ads can be classified into three categories depending on when they play:
- Pre-roll ads – play before a video starts.
- Mid-roll ads – play at some point during video playback. The point where the ad plays is called a cue point.
- Post-roll ads – play after the video ends.
Outstream Video Ads
Outstream ads appear within the content of the website or on the side as it is scrolled down. The biggest advantage of these ads is that they do not interrupt users while they are consuming content. Since they don’t obstruct and distract users from other content, they also have higher viewability than most other video ads.
- In-Content Outstream Ads – appear as a video player within editorial content once users scroll down to it.
- In-Slide Outstream Ads – appear in one of the corners of users’ screens and follow them as they move down the web page.
- Hybrid Outstream Ads – Hybrid outstream ads are a combination of the previous types: they start as in-content units but transform into an in-slide unit and follow the user once they scroll through the page past the in-content video ad.
So now you know some things about video advertising and how it works. If you want to monetize your website, this is the way to go.
Why publishers should use video ads:
- Video Ad Spend Is on the Rise.
Advertisers are spending more money on video advertising every year = more revenue for you as a publisher: The vast majority of ad agencies worldwide believe the format of video ads is going to become increasingly important to their advertisers in the near future. Social media platforms’ revenue from video advertising has grown so rapidly that it now consists of between 30% and 60% of all revenue. A similar trend can be observed among businesses and websites that utilize video advertising, which sees a fairly steady increase in revenue. - Higher CPM rates
There are many advantages in using video advertising for advertisers, therefore, they are willing to pay higher CPM rates for video ads in comparison with display ads. In terms of ad revenue, you as a publisher will benefit from the comparable CPMs advertisers are willing to pay for video ads. - Improve UE (user experience) on your website
As mentioned, CPM rates for video ads are higher then You can reduce the number of ads on your website, and replace them with one video ad that can produce the same revenue, while being less intrusive.
Here is some best practice advice for publishers who want to add video advertising to their site:
- Keep the audio turned off
According to the Coalition for Better Ads, autoplay ads with audio are considered by users to be the most intrusive ads. Additionally, many browsers block ads of this nature from appearing on their web pages (including Chrome through a technique known as ad filtering). Also, you might find your website blacklisted if you have autoplay video ads with audio on. Rethink your strategy before advertisers and browsers start complaining. - Placements
Ads must be viewable for at least two continuous seconds and at least 50% of the ad must be visible to meet the viewability standards for video advertising set by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and the Media Rating Council (MRC). Different sources have different requirements (some require completing the video), and only if your video ad meets these requirements will you gain revenue for displaying the ads. - Number of ads on your site
Overwhelming users with too many ads is never a good thing. Due to this, the viewability score drops as users are unable to concentrate on the content or ads on the site, and the loading time of the page increases. Using too many ads causes users to install an ad blocker. To better understand the potential of your website, it is recommended to start with layout optimization. Then, place ad units carefully based on the amount of time users spend on different parts of your page. - Consider adding video content
Video ads are most effective when they appear with video content. When it comes to improving audience engagement (which leads to better revenue) and time on-site, video content is the answer you’ve been looking for. You can achieve better ad monetization using instream ads if you have video content.
To sum it up…
In this article, we went over what is video advertising, the advantages of video ads to publishers, and the best practices for publishers who want to add video ads to their websites.