One of the great things about online video advertising consists in the variety of formats marketers have at their disposal when drafting a campaign. They can choose any combination of formats the budget allows them and they can get full media coverage of any brand.
Among these formats there is also the post-roll ad. The opposite of the pre-roll, the post-roll falls in a shadow when it comes to making the cut of marketers setting up advertising campaigns for the simple reason of being shown at the end of the content the user went online for.
What is a post-roll ad?
A post-roll ad is the advertisement shown at the end of a video on Youtube, for example. Some marketers consider that it is a good idea to ride the interest of the consumers after they have finished watching what they wanted. In a way, this form of online video advertising does not force the user to watch it, although there are websites which do. Normally, even though there is no “skip ahead” button, the viewer could simply leave that page before the ad is over.
A post-roll usually is 10-15 seconds long and its best usage is that of inviting viewers to watch similar content. Whether it is the work of the same artist, footage from concerts, behind the scene videos or a word from their sponsors, all of these ads ride out on the last traces of consumer interest after having watched something of his/her own choice.
This is probably the form of online video advertising which best resembles the TV format commercials that roll over the credits of a movie at the end. It is the moment when you should move away to a different activity, but the brain is still stuck on viewing mode and the marketers will make an effort to get something more in there before it “wakes up” and chooses the next thing to watch.
How often are post-rolls used in online video advertising?
Not as often as pre-roll ads, if that is where this question is heading. There is a clear discrepancy between the usages of the two formats for the simple reason of websites not being able to compel viewers to stay connected for the duration of the ad once the content they wanted to watch is over. Even so, there is a feature which can save post-roll ads and it consists in interactivity, the key to online video advertising.
The viewer may leave the page before the message is transmitted, but placing buttons and making the ad as interactive as possible will get brands instant consumer engagement. For instance, a female viewer goes online to look for ways to style her hair for a special occasion, and, at the end of the video, there is an ad for some of the products used in the video, with buttons which take the viewer directly to the presentation or purchase page of the brand.
The fact that the ad is placed at the end of a video is of no importance as long as marketers do a good job in keeping the viewers’ interest and in directing them properly to the products or services they want. Just like pre-roll, matching certain adverts with the content found online is already great targeting and a good use of resources. And this is online video advertising done right!
