Native Video Advertising: A Guide for Boosting Engagement

When executing your digital marketing strategy, you want your content–from video to static images–to reflect your brand on every channel you’re on.

Whether you’re posting on Twitter or creating videos for Instagram, each feed should give potential customers a feel for your company and your values. Building your digital strategy on a solid brand lets you better select targets and ad channels. Video ads are no exception.

Native video advertising should be one of the biggest components of your digital marketing strategy, and it’s vitally important to do it right–especially if you want to boost engagement.

Otherwise, your ads might not land correctly with your intended target audience. 

Learn More: Social Media Video Ad Specs & Placements Guide

What Is Native Video Advertising?

Native video advertising is content that’s created specifically for (that is, native to) a certain platform. Your customers already know about native video advertising from a lot of scrolling experience. Customers know that Facebook videos look different from TikTok videos, which look different from YouTube ads, and so on. And Instagram audiences are different from TikTok audiences, which are in turn different from Pinterest and Twitter audiences.

It’s easier to engage your audience with native video content because they don’t have to click through or load another tab to see it. When scrolling through a particular platform or social media channel, customers expect consistency. Brands that can seamlessly slide into that space (and users’ attention spans) have an advantage over videos that loudly and disruptively announce themselves as ads.

Some platforms have even modified their algorithms to prioritize native video, so if you’re not using it, your ad might get bumped down the queue in favor of a native ad. 

Direct response ads like this one from CBRE are specifically made to look native on social platforms, like Instagram.

Native video advertising also involves weaving branded messages into video content that feels natural. Video marketing is an effective way to build brand awareness and engage potential customers online. Most businesses (93%) have gotten new customers through video marketing. But it can be time-consuming. You might find it easier to post the same videos across social platforms, like posting the same content to TikTok and Instagram’s Reels. Although these platforms work the same way, each has a different user base. What works with TikTok marketing might not resonate with Instagram users. 

Creating original videos and uploading them to each platform separately helps you create content that appeals to each user. Making one video for multiple social media feeds doesn’t work because the video will likely only look “native” on one of them. Shooting and editing video content for each platform will make your ads more engaging to users regardless of where they are watching. 

Native video advertising is increasingly important in the world of marketing, with the market for native advertising projected to globally reach $402 billion by the end of 2025.

Small wonder that native advertising is dominating advertising trends in 2022. 

Need help making videos? See how our video production platform can help your business.

Native Video Ads Vs. Pre-Roll Video Ads

While native video and pre-roll ads might seem similar, the key difference is that pre-roll video ads act as a barrier to watching content, while native video is embedded within it. 

With native video, on most platforms users get the choice to watch or keep scrolling past, as on Instagram. That means the soft-sell of native video doesn’t disrupt your aesthetic experience. By contrast, pre-roll video ads can act as a frustrating barrier to getting to the content you want to see, making them a potential source of resentment rather than inspiration.

Benefits of Native Video Advertising

As mentioned, the benefits of native video advertising are broadly that:

• It’s less intrusive than other forms of video like pre-roll, and
• It offers a more seamless user experience. 

But there are other pluses, too.

Offers Better Reach

Native video advertising, given that it’s embedded in content users are already interested in, tends to be more finely targeted than banner ads. This allows it to meet consumers where they’re already showing interest. 

So, if you’re browsing Indian recipes on Pinterest and a native ad pops up advertising curry paste, it’s actually helpful and informative, rather than an impediment to your experience.

Leads to More Engagement

Native advertising’s style tends to be more informative and entertaining than pre-roll ads. This allows consumers to feel like they’re part of a conversation, rather than being dictated to, which is a lot more welcoming. 

Native video advertising tends to fit in with the tone of a consumer’s feed, so it’s part of a theme of content users are already enjoying. They’re likely to share great native video content, and to engage with it.

This increased engagement can sometimes be controversial, as when there’s no clear demarcation between news articles and sponsored content. It’s smart for advertisers to clearly label native ads as “sponsored content” or something similar to avoid complaints. 

But used in a way that’s subtle but not ethically dubious — e.g., making an ad in the form of a TikTok video that’s engaging and informative, and in the same style as content users are consuming, — native video content is a great way to get users’ engaged attention. Indeed, one study found that 71% of consumers personally identified with a brand whose native video ads they had viewed.

More Attention-Grabbing

Given the challenge to create ads in the style of whatever platform you’re using, and that you already have the attention of your viewers, there’s a lot more creative potential to play with than the stilted format of a banner ad. 

It can be fun and involve a certain degree of playfulness using the existing syntax of a social media platform to create eye-catching content. For example, this Home Depot native content on the website Apartment Therapy is witty and fun, showing an animated house with different rooms to click on (leading you to various Home Depot solutions). 

It feels like a piece of content on Apartment Therapy, which is all about brightening your apartment (so you’re happy to click on it, hoping to learn something). And, it’s got a smart design that grabs and holds your attention far more than a conventional banner ad for Home Depot would.

Great Native Video Advertising Examples

To help you generate some creative brainstorming, we’ve picked a selection of QuickFrame produced native video ads that we’ve recently enabled brand’s to create. This selection will give you a bird’s eye view of exactly what native video content looks like on each platform, and how you can translate that to your business.

Facebook Native Video

This ad for Kingsford charcoal is a perfect example of an excellent Facebook native video. It’s full of color, food that you want to cook and eat right now, subtle reinforcement of the brand throughout, bright, bold text, and helpful content (a recipe for grilled portobellos). Interested consumers can click on the website and follow through to the site, without any friction.

Twitter Native Video

Motion graphics and the promise of further education and communication are well-suited to Twitter, a platform that promises greater engagement and conversation, but is less about Instagram-style aesthetics.

Instagram Native Video

Great Instagram native video advertising, like this short, 15-second ad for Bev, is colorful, fizzy, and gets to the quickly consumed point, giving you a lot of facts quickly in a concise, entertaining way. Every element, from the colors used to the text (“zero sugar,” “absolutely delicious”) keeps the messaging focused while also entertaining. And of course, it’s in an appropriate aspect ratio.

Pinterest Native Video

Pinterest emphasizes aesthetics, so many beauty products are sold there. Keeping it short, punchy, and attractive are why this great 9-second ad works.

YouTube Native Video

Compelling YouTube native video content like this ad for CarGurus makes use of humor, text and graphics. It also has a slightly longer narrative than Instagram to drive home the advertiser’s point and feel similar to the kinds of short sketches and clips you’re likely to be watching on YouTube. Another winning YouTube tack is to use humor but in a shorter, punchier way, with voiceover and striking color and graphics.

TikTok Native Video

Good TikTok native video ads, like the examples on this page, is fast, snappy, and take advantage of TikTok trends like unboxing, simple recipe instruction (as in the SodaStream example), with straightforward, catchy choreography, appealing on-camera talent, and texts.

Video Production Tips for Native Video Content

The main aim of a native advertising video is to feel fresh, original, and appropriate to the platform for which it’s created. But you don’t have to set up multiple video shoots to create native videos for each social platform. For instance, plan ahead and designate which social media channels you’re using so you can capture footage for each video in one shoot.

Here are some more native video content tips.

Use Multiple Angles

Make sure you have the right orientation and aspect ratio for your medium. Many videographers prefer shooting in landscape format–16×9– which still works for television and wide-screen computers. But ads that are designed to play on video-first platforms like TikTok should be shot in a 9:16 aspect ratio. 

If you’re shooting a video for Instagram, consider what it would look like using a 1:1 ratio. Don’t put anything important outside this part of the frame. If you’re planning on posting the video on multiple platforms, shoot from multiple camera angles, including wide and vertical, so you can create an ad that works for each. Be sure to capture all the footage at once to lower your video production cost. 

Put the Important Stuff Upfront

Regardless of which platform you’re using, including the most important information at the front of your video keeps viewers interested.

Many platforms, including Facebook and YouTube, give viewers the option to skip videos in the middle, so put your call to action and attention-grabbing headlines up front. Or, like in this ad creative example, use puppies to create a thumb-stopping hook.

Tweak Your Script

Different platforms mean different audiences, the same script won’t work for all of them. Make sure your script can be modified for each platform. If you’re posting to TikTok, you might choose to skip the script altogether and instead put more weight on musical choices and dance moves. Whereas with a LinkedIn video, you might need to be more straightforward and professional.

Edit Your Videos Separately

Different formats and aspect ratios also require different approaches to cutting. Even though this means that you’ll probably be editing your native video content multiple times, it’s easier to create separate videos for each platform. If you’re making an Instagram video that requires a 1:1 ratio, editing it on its own helps you keep each frame within this size without compromising the rest of the video. It’s easier to work with multiple-sized shots by saving your initial footage and importing it as a separate project within your editing software. 

Native Video Ads: Final Thoughts

Native video is a trend that’s only becoming more pronounced, and while its effect is seamless, its production can be complex. Using raw footage to create multiple videos for different platforms can be intimidating, but QuickFrame can help. We use a data-driven process to create videos that are appropriate and effective for each platform.

Whether your goal is to build brand awareness or improve customer retention, our experienced Maker Community can produce dynamic, engaging native video advertisements that resonate with your target audience.

Contact us today to find out more.