What IS a Pre-roll Ad?
You know the short video advertisement that plays directly before the video you really want to watch? That’s a pre-roll ad. They’re usually 15, 30 or 60 seconds long, and the premise is straightforward: The user is engaged waiting for their desired content so they are likely to watch the ad for at least a few seconds and perhaps in its entirety if you can grab their attention in the first few seconds.
Now, let’s talk about why you should be using pre-roll ads as part of your marketing strategy.
Why Pre-roll Ads?
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First, a 2017 study conducted by IPG Media Lab and YuMe found that pre-roll ads are especially effective when it comes to several important metrics such as brand awareness, brand favorability, brand engagement and purchase intent.
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Second, pre-roll advertising is a practical, commonsense, and cost-effective way to reach
engaged users.
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Additionally, since they run before the featured content, they’re considered to be more informative and less interruptive than outstream and mid-roll ad formats on both desktop and mobile with ad recall being significantly higher. In fact, even if the viewer skips your ad, they’ve been exposed to your brand. A Nielsen study found that viewing an ad for even one second
resulted in increased ad recall and brand awareness. One. Second. While ads can be up to 60 seconds long, it’s important to pack vital, attention-grabbing content into the first 5 seconds.
You want to shoot for a basic version of your message and something that leaves viewers with a positive impression of your brand. Remember people want to be engaged and entertained not pitched so try to provide value and arouse interest rather than blatantly promoting a product or service.
A great platform for pre-roll ads is YouTube. They’re 15-20 seconds in duration and displayed directly in the video player. Unlike other platforms, viewers can’t just skip pre-roll ads so it’s
ideal to include a call-to-action and click through to a post-click landing page offering a free sample, trial or another valuable offer.
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And finally, another great advantage to pre-roll ads is cost. You can often obtain a very high impression count for a small cost-per-view.
Do pre-roll ads sound like a good fit for your product or service? Want to try it? The experts at Green Arrow would love to show you how pre-roll ads can work for your brand.