It’s no secret that video has become an incredibly popular format for advertising and boosting conversions. 

This is because the video is a media format that’s very easy to digest and is not as “cumbersome” as blog posts, but, at the same time, it’s more informative than social media posts. 

However, even among videos, one format is beginning to take over the advertising game and establish itself as a leader in the market. We’re talking, of course, about native videos. 

So, what makes native videos so popular? Why are all major brands now turning to them as a primary form of advertising? What are native video ads in the first place? Read our little article below, and all your questions will be answered!

What Are Native Video Ads

Native video ads are a short-form video format that’s made specifically for the platform they’re being played on (hence “native”). This means that this particular video is designed and made specifically for one specific platform and has all the specificities of that platform.

By now, you’ve certainly become familiar with Instagram stories, TikTok short vids, and YouTube shorts. All those video formats can be considered native videos because they’re made specially to fit each of those platforms and cater to the users of those platforms directly. 

Thus, native video ads are much different from the standard form of video advertising, where the video was made for one platform but is advertised on multiple different ones, even though the format might stick out like a sore thumb. 

In this respect, native video ads are much more focused and are aimed at specific audiences that congregate on a single platform. 

Unlike pre-roll video ads that play before unrelated or tangentially related videos, native video ads are standalone videos that attract more clicks, better viewing times, and higher completion rates. They offer a more compelling exands the importance of creating highlperience, drawing leads to watch the content and engage with the brand. Top eCommerce Development Agencies - Designrush understy entertaining videos that tell a story about the brand and its products, making the content appealing and easily digestible to the target audience.

When creating native video ads, careful planning and consideration are required. Businesses should take note of the aspect ratio, especially for social media platforms viewed on mobile devices. Top eCommerce Development Agencies emphasize the important content early in the video and often create multiple edits of the same content to suit different platforms and formats. Scripting is tailored for each forum to appeal to diverse audiences, and proper timing is crucial to contextualize the content effectively.

Native Video vs. Pre-Roll Video Ads

Now, you might assume that you’ve already experienced native video ads as those advertisements that play before clips on YouTube, and you’d be wrong. Those ads, while similar to native, are actually something completely different, and they often have a different purpose than native video ads. We call them pre-roll video ads.

The main distinction between the two video ad formats is that pre-roll ads, as their name suggests, are made to be played before you play another, completely unrelated (or, sometimes, tangentially related) video. Essentially, they’re the ads you see before you play any YouTube video.

Native video ads are different because they’re designed to be standalone videos. Essentially, native video ads are videos unto themselves and are supposed to be independent promotional content for whatever they’re advertising. 

This makes native video ads a lot more targeted and a lot less annoying or pushy than pre-roll ads, because they are usually viewed of the user’s own accord, rather than the user being forced to watch them. 

Benefits of Native Video Ads

Now that we know what native video ads are, let’s look at some of their benefits.  

They Offer Better Reach

One of the strongest arguments for using native video ads is that they have a lot better reach than more traditional video formats. 

This is mainly because they’re made with a specific platform in mind. As such, these videos are more likely to get shared and re-posted, allowing them to spread quickly and efficiently on the platform. 

Additionally, native video ads are much better at reaching an audience because they’re made for a specific audience. 

As we said, native video ads are standalone videos, which means they’ll mostly be watched by people that are already interested in whatever’s being promoted in the vid, thus making the video spread more easily among the interested parties.   

They Increase Engagement

Again, owing to their very specific and highly targeted nature, native video ads are privy to a lot better engagement than pre-roll video ads.

This is, as we explained, because native video ads are mostly viewed by parties already interested in the video’s subject matter, which attracts more clicks, better viewing times, and better viewing completion statistics. 

They’re More Compelling

Finally, one of the most prominent benefits of native video ads is that they’re very compelling, as in, they compel the leads to watch the content and engage with the brand that created the video. 

This is due to the fact that native video ads are made to be a lot more entertaining and content-rich than pre-roll ads and a lot more focused than other, more regular video formats.

Indeed, brands go to great lengths to create highly entertaining videos that tell a story not just about their product but about their entire brand. This kind of content is highly appealing, easily digestible due to its short-form nature, and compels the audience to act much better than any other video format out there. 

What to Look Out for When Making Native Video Ads

Naturally, creating a very specific and highly targeted video ad requires a lot of careful planning and consideration. 

Here are some things you should be looking out for when making your native video ad:

Take Note of the Aspect Ratio

Considering that many native video ads are created for social media platforms and that social media platforms are primarily viewed on mobile devices, the video’s aspect ratio has to be given much consideration. 

Most videos are created in the standard 16:9 aspect ratio, which is ideal for wide computer screens. However, when making a native video ad for Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok, you ought to consider the 9:16 ratio, as it is much better fitting for tall videos that are intended to be viewed on smartphones. 

Another popular aspect ratio is 1:1. This ratio is often used for Instagram stories because it's very similar to the format used for photos on Instagram, making all of the content on the platform uniform and fitting. 

Emphasize the Important Stuff

When making a native video ad, you have to consider that you’ve got approximately 30-90 seconds to impress your audience.

That’s why most brands making these videos are keen on emphasizing the most important stuff as early in the video as possible. This includes putting your punchline as early as possible, as well as your CTA and any information relevant to the user. The rest of the content is simply there to tell a story.  

Edit Videos Separately

One trick brands often use when making native videos is that they’ll have multiple edits of the same content. 

As we emphasized in the beginning, native video ads usually follow the majority, if not all, specificities of the platform. This includes video length, presentation of the content, editing as well as many other elements.

So, say you hired a motion graphics company to create an animation for you. This animation might be ideal for Instagram but too short or too inconvenient for TikTok. A smart idea would be to create several versions of the animation and tweak and edit it to fit multiple formats.

Mind the Script

Just like editing, scripting for multiple platforms is also advised. 

Your idea might be the same across all platforms, but your delivery will certainly differentiate when approaching multiple platforms and audiences.

You’re trying to appeal to audiences of different sensibilities and, often, those with diverse ethnic, cultural, and age characteristics. 

This makes one kind of video, or, rather, one kind of presentation, highly unsuitable for presentation across all your targeted platforms and audiences. 

Instead, consider tweaking your scripts in such a way that you’re sending the same message to all your viewers but that the presentation of the message is also highly customized for the platform where the viewing is taking place.

Timing Is Everything

Finally, hitting the right timing is everything when posting up native video ads.

Native video ads are highly contextualized with their content, making proper timing incredibly important. 

If your timing is off, if you’re pushing something that isn’t “in vogue,” you’re very likely to miss your mark, and your video ad campaign will fail.

Thus, market research is paramount when mounting a native video ad campaign. By performing proper, in-depth research of your market niche and target audience, you’re much more likely to spot trends and hit the market running with your ad. 

Final Thoughts

In the end, native video ads are an incredibly potent marketing tool and one that is often highly effective if used properly. 

The benefits of native video ads are abundant, and mark it as a clear winner over pre-roll ads as the go-to video advertising format.

However, such a video format requires much consideration. If you’re not careful, your videos might prove to be a complete miss, which means a lot of time and money wasted. 

So, do your research, and consider every element of creating a native video ad, and you’ll have a long and fruitful marketing campaign.