5 Video Types Perfect for Performance TV

Not everyone does Performance TV.

Sure, they may run ads on Connected Television (CTV), but as the ad tech market explodes with a veritable smorgasbord of platforms – all claiming to be the one streaming ads solution to rule them all – finding viable avenues for your ad creative that will actually reach your target audience may be the biggest challenge marketers face in 2022.

Performance TV is one of those avenues.

Actually, scratch that. Performance TV isn’t just an avenue for your ad creative or video marketing efforts. It’s becoming the leading solution for getting your advertising campaigns in front of the biggest streaming audiences online today.

Developed by the Jedi’s at MNTN, Performance TV combines the impact and prestige of TV advertising with a suite of optimization, attribution, and targeting capabilities for Connected Televisions. This platform functions a lot like Google search and Paid social on Facebook, with self-managed campaigns that focus on conversions and revenue.

Or to put it another way, “Connected TV isn’t just TV, it’s another digital channel that can be added to your performance marketing mix. One that can be targeted, launched and reported on in the same way as you would on social media or display.”

Easy enough to understand, right? But here’s the tricky part legacy marketers need to wrap their heads around. You can’t just throw an ad together that’s optimized for social media and expect it to work just as well on CTV. Performance TV is at its best when it’s uniquely designed for the biggest screens in your house, while still layering in those direct response-style CTAs that you’ve come to love in social media-oriented ad creative. 

Kick off your creative brainstorming with the 5 video types that are perfect for Performance TV campaigns.

Learn More: Your Guide to Connected TV Video Ad Specs

Brand Commercial

An example of a brand commercial for Hawthorne.

Brand commercials sell audiences the virtues of your brand. They’re less about a product, and more about creating positive brand sentiment. By creating a bond or sense of loyalty, brand commercials can help ensure that your brand stays at the forefront of consumers’ minds and that they remember you when they need something you sell. 

Think of ads by clothing companies, like Outdoor Voices or J. Crew, or furniture companies like Crate and Barrel. They tend to feature good-looking people having fun, hanging out in nice clothes, living in nice houses. We want to be them. Eventually, these brands may sell us a specific item, but the first step is giving us that warm glow, creating an emotional bond with the brand. While brand commercials have been pricey in the past, new technologies and smarter production ideas keep them affordable.

Sizzle Reel

An example of a sizzle reel for Gobble.

Not all sizzle reels need to literally feature things sizzling, but it sure doesn’t hurt–especially if you are in the subscription food delivery industry like Gobble!

More generally though, sizzle reels are those short, snappy promos that show off the best parts of your product or service. In Hollywood, sizzle reels are used to sell movies and TV shows by showing networks all the best parts of a proposed project, edited like a trailer for maximum interest. If you’re looking to get people excited about your product, sizzle reels are the best way to get an audience on the hook.

Educational Videos

An example of an educational video for Biohm.

Educational videos allow your brand to develop it’s voice as an authority in your industry, just like Biohm did in the above ad. You can build this authority by expressing unique opinions on a topic, establishing yourself as a thought leader for whatever target audience you’re aiming to hit.

For another video marketing example, this educational video for Sparknotes goes in-depth on the themes in To Kill a Mockingbird. It’s pitched at younger audiences, but most educational videos offer comparable clarity and simplicity even for adult viewers, aiming to break down complex issues and make them digestible. Through this video, they position themselves as an authority on literature, the perfect place for a brand dedicated to study guides to be in.

If you’re making educational videos, keep them short and punchy, and tailor their aesthetic to your audience. When you think about it, the Sparknotes educational video is not that far removed from educational videos that the New York Times and NPR put out to establish themselves as leading explainers of a complex world.

Lifestyle Videos

An example of a lifestyle video for Nurx.

A lifestyle video shows consumers how a product can help them achieve a more stylish and appealing way of living. Lifestyle videos are authentic (showing how your brand would make your viewers’ lives better) and aspirational (see how nice things can be?). Lifestyle videos need to be polished, but still relatable. They feature on-screen talent enjoying your product in familiar environs, typically in a few different situations. If you sell rugs, show the rugs in every room in the house. 

For lifestyle videos, relatable talent is key. Cast for the demographic you’re targeting, and consider pairing them with user-generated content and testimonials, which are shown to boost audiences’ trust in your product, too.

DISCOVER: Learn how we helped NURX develop a creative testing plan to reduce their CPA by 33% in this case study.

Product Spotlight

An example of a product spotlight for ReserveBar.

Product spotlight videos tell the story of your product, or showcase how consumers will look and feel using your product, like in the above ad for ReserveBar, or this video for Hint.

Many coffee companies, for example, focus on the beautiful collective farms where coffee grows in Africa, then cut to people enjoying a great cup right at home. A product spotlight video puts your product in the best light possible and highlights its key value propositions to consumers.

Want to learn more about the power of CTV? Download our free guide to receive an A to Z overview of the potential this channel has to revitalize your future marketing campaigns.