5 Tips For Creating A Video Ad That Viewers Won’t Want to Skip

It’s not often that you come across a video ad that you wouldn’t skip if you had the choice. So as an advertiser how can you ensure that the video ad you create captures your audiences attention from the moment they click play and maintains it, so that they don’t click that dreaded skip button?

It’s important to mention that the skip button is important, because it qualifies your views and gives you evidence that the viewer has a genuine interest in your brand message. However, what if your video ad doesn’t quite do the job in sparking that initial interest and you lose views from consumers who may well be interested in your brand?

Well, we’re here to help answer those questions. Take a look at the 5 creative tips we’ve put together that you need to think about when creating your next video ad – if you don’t want viewers to click that skip button…

The use of bold, contrasting colours can really make your video ad standout. If you start your advert with big, bright samples of colour then the viewer is going to sit up and take notice. This ad by Sony for the Bravia LCD Television uses a remarkable idea to capture colour and yet still manage to tie it in with their product. The release of thousands of balls is visually stunning and as a viewer you cannot help but be awe-struck by how incredible it looks. When selecting colours, it’s important to ensure that the colours you use complement each other, the last thing you want is a glaring advert that makes your audience wince their eyes.

If you think of a video advert like a mini movie, one thing it needs to have is suspense and the ability to keep viewers guessing what will happen in the end. Obviously, it’s a very, very, very short movie but the principles are all there. Cravendale’s video ad for Cats with Thumbs captures curiosity and as a viewer you know that something is going to happen – just not what exactly. Viewers will engage emotionally with a video ad that keeps them guessing and therefore it will become more memorable and increase brand recognition.

When someone starts a story, it’s natural that you’ll want to find out the ending, so this is a great technique for maintaining viewer interest. Always keep the frame moving and take the viewer on a journey. Animated video journey ads are particularly captivating because you can create visually unique and memorable scenes. Remember, just because it’s a story doesn’t mean that you need voice overs. This video campaign by Chipotle called Back to the Start contains no voiceover explaining the narrative, yet it draws you in from the very beginning because of its extraordinary animations and captivating photography which maintains your interest and make you wonder what’s going to happen next.

The Old Spice campaign for The Man Your Man Could Smell Like is one of the most successful and popular video ads of all time. The reason it’s so popular? It speaks directly to the viewer, so even if the viewer isn’t looking at the screen when an advert starts to play, if someone greets you with “Hello” or “Hey there” you’re not going to ignore them are you? Old Spice have recognised that millions of women the world over, buy toiletries for the men in their lives and the tone, phrasing and visual scenes of this Old Spice ad speak directly to those women, piquing their interest. So what’s the lesson? Break the 4th Wall!

If you start your video ad with something unexpected then viewers are more likely to keep watching to see how things pan out. You could do anything from having a horse made up to look like a unicorn being ridden by a giant, over-sized teddy bear to a talking tortoise, so long as you can tie it back to your brand and maintain your brand personality. This video ad by Volkswagon is creatively unique and as a viewer it’s both refreshing and appealing to see a video ad using a different format of imagery. The visual representations tied in with the copywriting is simply genius and as a viewer I’m impressed by the thought Volkswagon have put in to create something so different that still manages to effectively sell the brand and product.

Brands are all different, and some are more daring than others. If you want to stand out from the crowd you could do something completely unique and embrace the fact that viewers like to skip video ads. This is exactly what Volkswagon did with their ad for the new Beetle.

This ad from Volkswagon shows just how much information, branding and personality you can get across in only five seconds. Why not create a video ad backwards and start with your branding and then go into the message, use this as a test to see how many viewers are interested in your brand right from the moment they click play.

These tips just scratch the surface of making a great video ad. The truth is there is no one simple formula because consumers and target audiences are as different as the brands trying to reach them. One thing we haven’t mentioned is that targeting is of utmost importance. You can create the most perfect ad for your intended audience but if you don’t target it correctly then chances are it may not even be seen by them.

Don’t forget to let us know about any video advertising projects you’re working on and if you have any other tips you’d like to share for creating a video ad that viewers won’t want to skip, then feel free to leave a comment in the box below.