Lucia Summa
Advertising isn’t a new concept, but there’s always something new to learn. Whether you’re trying to build leads or generate more awareness for your brand, the placement of your ads matters.
Use this guide to learn about some placement options for your next ad.
It’s likely that at one point while browsing through videos on YouTube or Facebook you’ll have an ad pop up. Whether it was at the beginning, middle, or end of the video is totally up to the advertiser who was in charge of putting it there.
So, what exactly are these ads called and what are they for?
What is a Mid-Roll Ad?
Mid-Roll advertisements are when advertisers play a short clip in the middle of a video. You’ll typically see these in content that is longer.
If you advertise your content on YouTube or Facebook, consider adding in a mid-roll ad to see how well it does for you.
Can you skip Mid-Roll Ads?
Whether or not you can skip through mid-roll ads is completely up to the platform that you’re viewing it on.
YouTube has a “Skip” button that you can use if the ad is longer in length. It typically appears after a couple of seconds.
If the mid-roll ad is short, you probably won’t see a “Skip” button. You’ll just see “Video will play after ad.”
How long do Mid-Rolls last?
Mid-Roll advertisements typically last anywhere between 5-30 seconds, depending on where you’re seeing the ad. You’ll notice Mid-Roll ads are shorter on YouTube than they are on Facebook. Whichever platform you’re viewing the ad on, chances are that the social network wants the ads to be even shorter.
What is a Pre-Roll Ad?
Pre-Roll advertisements are played before the video starts, which makes sense since it has the word “pre” in it, right?
After clicking on the video you want to watch, the pre-roll ad will begin to play before the video that you requested is shown.
Pre-roll ads are a great way to monetize since the viewer is most likely going to sit through the ad to get to the video content that they were originally searching for. Just don’t get carried away with adding in pre-rolls, no one will want to sit through 3 or more ads.
What is a Post-Roll Ad?
Post-Roll advertisements are played after the video ends and before the next one starts. Are you noticing a pattern here?
If you have your videos set to autoplay, it’s important to note that it can either be the post-roll ad from your current video or the pre-roll of the upcoming video.
Post-rolls aren’t usually great in terms of monetizing. Since the video that the viewer originally intended to watch is over, there won’t be any reason to not skip through it.
Conclusion
Now that you know what mid, pre and post-roll ads are, pick out which you think is best and try using it in your next advertisement. It’s probably a good idea to consider where to put the ads while you’re creating the content. Just remember to keep your ad engaging and short to potentially receive a better outcome.
