Tremor: Content is the key for pre-roll video ROI

Content could be the reason your most recent video ad campaign didn't pull in the kind of return you were hoping for. According to a recent report from Tremor Media, when pre-roll ads are used content can either make or break the campaign.

by Kristina Knight

Of the more than 100 video campaigns running both :15 and :30 ads with almost 65 million pre-roll impressions served. The completion rate for :30 ads was slightly better than the completion rate for :15 ads. They also found that content relevant to the ad was most effective.

"While we wouldn't suggest it as a best practice," said Jason Glickman, Tremor Media CEO, "it is proof that audiences are willing to accept pre-roll advertising in exchange for the content they want on demand."

The relevance of the ad to the content served is becoming more and more important throughout online advertising so it should come as no surprise that video viewers also want relevant online ads paired with the content they download. According to a recent Ipsos MediaCT study, about 66% of consumers said advertising was a reasonable exchange for viewing free, professionally produced content on the internet. About half of those surveyed replied that the same was not true for user generated content.

This disparity is fairly recent and underscores the difference that consumers see in professional videos (news and sports clips, movie trailers and online series) and user-generated content (home movies, practical jokes and silly "caught on tape" moments). For advertisers, then, it makes sense to advertise adjacent to professional content but not for UGC.