As smartphone adoption rates rise, and video upload rates increase right alongside, the video ad is going to be an important aspect of the media landscape. We already see companies investing more money into mobile advertising and location-based targeting. Video ads are just the next logical step. They provide an outlet for a sales pitch, they can be intimate and they are effective at telling the story of a brand or its product.

For your video ads to be effective, you’ll need to master a few basic concepts and execute them well.

Have a Plan

Will your video explain the product, or will you show the product in action? Are you going to demo the product, or simply show a use case? Deciding how you want to display your product is the first step in creating a video. Try to think of videos as fitting two distinct categories for now: explainers and demos. Explainers do exactly what they sound like, they tell users what a product does and how a service works.

Demos let the user see the product solve a problem, and they can be powerful associative tools.

Get to the Point

A pre-roll ad only offers you about 10-15 seconds of time to get the user’s attention. Even if you purchase a viewable impression worth 15 seconds of time, you’re not going to stay in the user’s mind if your ad doesn’t have a hook and get to its point quickly. Try to keep that in mind as you craft ads. Keep it simple and execute one idea masterfully.
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Ted Dhanik writes on behalf of engage:BDR, where he is CEO and co-founder. Ted Dhanik is passionate about the practice of digital advertising, and blogs frequently about the changing industry. Ted Dhanik, and his pets, are based out of Los Angeles where he actively mentors start ups.