How to Create Audience Impact with Six-Second Video Ads

Spin Creative • February 15, 2018

Six-second ads, also referred to as “bumper ads” on some media, have grown increasingly popular over the last several years to the point where they are now a fairly standard video advertising format.

Close up on set monitor for Spin Creative video shoot for Wave Broadband

While these ads work best when used as supplements to longer form ads, they have become powerful tools in their own right, especially on major video platforms like YouTube and Facebook.

If you’re interested in adding six-second ads to your video marketing arsenal, here are some tips to help you create a strong audience impact with them.

· Tease upcoming long-form ads: If you have an upcoming long-form ad or series of ads you want to really push, six-second ads make a great teaser. This strategy was used by a lot of companies this year in anticipation of the Super Bowl. Because Super Bowl commercials are events in themselves, and because many people eagerly anticipate what types of ads brands will develop for the big game, these short ads increased people’s interest and anticipation in the ad.

· Build a story in six-second increments: Rather than using your six-second ads as a teaser, you might choose to create a story built in six-second fractions. Again, this takes some creativity and a lot of planning, but it can be a great way to increase engagement and built anticipation among people who see your videos.

· Highlight a single product or feature: With six seconds to work with, you need to narrow the focus as much as you possibly can down to a single idea or feature. If you have a product with multiple features worth promoting, you can create individual six-second ads for each of these features, rather than trying to cram them all into a single 30-second ad. The benefits of these ads will add up over time, and you don’t have to worry about people tuning out of your standard-length commercial.

· Experiment with these ads on other platforms: A great way to gauge the effectiveness of your six-second ads before placing them on YouTube videos is to use them in your company’s Instagram or Snapchat stories, if you use those platforms. Those stories are designed for shorter video ads already, so you can see what sort of response you get when those ads will disappear after 24 hours.

For more information about how to effectively use six-second ads as part of your digital marketing and how to get creative within that very small time constraint, say hello us at Spin Creative.

About Us
Spin Creative is a video production company and creative agency helping marketers create winning video and creative strategies that engage, inspire and activate targeted audiences. Spin is headquartered in Seattle with offices in San Francisco and London, serving brands around the globe.

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