Choosing Video Ad Network

The important goals of advertising are not only to attract users, but also to make them understand and remember your product. Video advertising solves these tasks like no other. But it's not enough to create an attractive ad, you also need to show it to the viewer. And this is a job for a video ads network. Let’s talk about video ad networks and decide on the best one.

Video ad network works the same way as other advertising networks. In other words, these are companies that negotiate with the owners of sites and apps whose owners are ready to advertise. After that, the networks offer services to advertisers. Video ad network have a wide set of features that require strict selection. The client can configure this advertising campaign, select the necessary configuration. The publisher — that is, the owner of the site or application is selected according to the requirements of the network. For example, many networks don’t work with sites about gambling or ideologies.

Mobile video ad is in great demand now. For example, it can be a video only ad inside an app, or the video will play after ad that can be configured due to advertiser needs.

What is the secret of success?

Video ad, and mobile video ad in particular, show in practice greater efficiency than regular banner ads, for several reasons:

1. Better effect: a person perceives information better when visual, audio and text content are combined. That's why video only ad helps to interest advertising customers.
2. Effective storytelling: it's best to tell the story of a video rather than static images or large texts. Therefore, video ads will help convey information about products or services.
3. Improved brand awareness: this item correlates with the first reason we talked about. Video advertising helps to capture in the viewer's memory not only your products, but also yourself — your logo, name, brand.
4. More effective targeting: this applies to mobile ad video. Video ad servers using these technologies also include tracking user behavior.

Video advertising offers brands a more attractive, memorable and effective way to communicate with their target audience, which is why the popularity of video ad networks is growing every year.

Common formats of video advertisements

If we look at video ad examples, we can identify several common advertising formats with which they work. Let's list them:

1. In-stream. It is used more often than other formats in any video ads network, because it literally repeats the principle of TV advertising. The video is shown during breaks in the view. Based on this, there are such types as: before the video (pre-roll), in the middle (mid-roll), after the video (post-roll) or after turning on from pause (pause-roll).
2. Out-stream. Advertising that bloggers deliver in integrations in their videos. The advantage of this format is that the role of a blogger improves client engagement, as people tend to agree with the opinions of their idols. In addition, using this format opens up a lot of room for creativity. There are many ways to demonstrate information: from a simple presentation to a story about personal experience or even a drawing.
3. Skippable and Non-Skippable. Digital content can feature skippable and non-skippable ads. Skippable ads are more effective as they allow users to skip the ad and continue watching the content. These video ads give a sense of control, which has a positive effect on user behavior. Non-skippable ads should try to interest the client, otherwise he may strongly dislike it for the lack of the possibility of skipping.
4. Rewarded Video. This form of advertising operates by providing players with incentives, such as exclusive currency, coins, or additional lives, in return for their engagement with advertisements. As a result, these advertisements generate a significant surge in website traffic and active participation from advertisers. Especially popular for video game ad.
5. Pre-Roll Video Bumper. Such non-skippable six-second commercials attract the attention of the audience. They act at the most appropriate moment: the user has already tuned in to the perception of the content and is not yet tired of watching the video.
6. Playable Ads. This advertising format literally gives the user the opportunity to immediately experience the product without downloading or going to the site. This is especially common in mobile ad video.

Video advertisement types

Video advertising can be very different. It depends on the platforms, goals and services of the brand. Surely, you will be able to name the types of advertising yourself.

But just in case, we will give some video ads examples:

1. Explanation videos. These are short clips that explain complex things in a simple and fascinating way. Video ad examples such as the bank's story about its services or video game ad.
2. Demo videos. Such advertising is needed to visually present the product and tell more about it.
3. Brand Storytelling videos. If you need to convey to your customers your ideas and goals, the mission of the brand and its features, this is the most suitable advertising option.
4. Video advertising on social media. Such videos can be of different formats, depending on the functions of the platform. But they are united by the place of publication — social media.
5. Interactive videos attract viewers with the opportunity to get in touch with the functionality of the product and entertain themselves. Interactive ads are not suitable for all platforms, sometimes you have to limit yourself to video only ad.
6. Video game ad is often found in mobile apps as the popularity of mobile games grows. Gamers are always happy to see such type of ads in video games as rewarded video ads that offer in-game rewards such as virtual wealth.

Main criterias of a good ad network

The functionality and interface of advertising networks may differ, but in general their work is the same. Based on this, there are several criteria that will allow you to decide on a suitable video ad networks:

1. Reach and targeting options.
   It is worth making sure that your advertising reaches and acts on the right audience. To find out, study metrics and try different targeting options offered by advertising networks and video ad servers. To make your campaign generate revenue, use various video ads examples.
2. Quality of inventory.
   This is another major factor to consider when choosing a video ads network. Here you'll find high-quality inventory that includes premium publishers and content creators. It should also have a strict quality control process to make sure that your video ads are placed in a secure and brand-friendly environment, free from fraudulent or malicious activities.
3. Transparency and reporting.
   Transparency and accountability will help determine how effective your campaign is. Transparent reporting is also important, thanks to which you will see the impact of your advertising at the moment. For example, the HilltopAds video ad network gives its customers the opportunity to see all the parameters and results of their advertising, which has a positive effect on brand distribution.
4. Customer support.
   This point is necessary for a good ad network. You should choose one that offers excellent customer support with dedicated account managers who can assist you with any questions or issues you may have. In addition, the service should help you master the functionality and manage the company yourself.

As a result, we can say that in order to choose an advertising network, you need to find out what inventory and targeting it provides, how convenient its use is and how the network interacts with customers.

And a few more tricks

In order for advertising to be productive and profitable, you need not only to choose a video ad network, decide on the form and content of advertising, but also observe other key points. Don't forget that advertising should be:

1. Understandable without sound. Not everyone keeps the sound on their phone turned on: someone is riding the subway, sitting in class or just doesn't like noise. Therefore, advertising is done with subtitles or without words at all, only with visual content. The easiest way to do this is in a video game ad.
2. Informative. Viewers can close your ad or leave the site altogether. But they will definitely see the first seconds of the video — therefore, advertising should carry useful and attractive information from the beginning. This is important even if you are using a non-skippable advertisement in which video will play after ad or video only ad.
3. Convenient. If you want to get viewers to pay attention and keep them, make your ad convenient. Use bright and clear images, large fonts, avoid unnecessary details and everything needless. You can focus on video ad examples that you like.

Conclusion & Making a choice

The exponential growth of video ads calls for the need to create high-quality advertising and effectively communicate it in order to stay competitive. Video ad networks will help you with this. We talked about how to understand them and what criteria to take into account. Now it's time to choose a video ads network.

HilltopAds is an experienced advertising network that occupies a firm position among competitors. HilltopAds keeps up with industry and develops with it, introducing new technologies.

One of our main activities is ads in video games. Our advertisers can monetize them with advanced features. Another large one is a mobile ad video that is truly recognized as effective and popular today.