What Is Video Advertising? A Guide to Getting Started

What Is Video Advertising?

Video advertising is promoting and selling a product or service using videos. Unlike still images or text, videos bring ideas, stories, and products to life. That’s what makes them so engaging.

Video ads simplify concepts, grab attention, and persuade people to act. They combine visuals, audio, and motion. When done right, they deliver your message in a way that sticks.

You can run video ads on platforms such as YouTube or Vimeo. Like this one before a Refinery29 video:

Or on social media channels like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, etc:

Or on websites:

As you can see, video ads come in many shapes and sizes. They can take a lot of planning to produce, but they’re worth it for the returns.

Tip: Too many ad campaigns to manage? Use Semrush’s PPC Advertising Toolkit to plan, manage, and optimize your digital advertising campaigns with ease.

Understanding Video Advertising in Digital Marketing

Video advertising is a crucial part of digital marketing. Short, informative videos promoting products can play before, during, or after the main video a user is watching.

They can also appear on a company’s website and social media feeds or in programmatic advertising.

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated video advertising’s use. Nielsen reported online media consumption in the United States increased 215% in the first month of lockdown.

That trend continues, as users now watch 17 hours of online video content per week according to Wyzowl.

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