Top 10 Online Video Ads That Inspire and Engage

Today, over 90% of businesses rely on video ads to connect with audiences on a deeper level. So, it goes without saying that moving visual format is a crucial strategy for successful marketing.

Compelling animations and unforgettable storytelling make video ads stand out and do their magic. However, that’s not it! Creating a well-rounded video advert that is informative, engaging, and interactive takes a lot of brainstorming, planning, and resources. But, worry not!

I have curated a list of the 10 best online video ads that captivated the masses and guaranteed conversions. Let’s analyze the key elements that make them successful.

Part 1: 10 Online Video Ads Done the Right Way

Check out these ten online adverts designed the correct way to drive traffic and attract audiences.

1. Nike – "Dream Crazy"

Featuring athletes like Colin Kaepernick, this ad campaign goes beyond promoting sportswear. It encourages viewers to dream big and push past societal barriers.

• Platform: YouTube, TV, Social Media
• Success Factors: Powerful storytelling, celebrity endorsements, and a social message.
• Why It Works: The ad resonates with the audience by aligning with Nike's core values of empowerment and determination. The emotional power of the ad emphasizes the campaign's message, making it an inspiring and highly shareable ad.

2. Apple – "Welcome Home"

A surreal ad directed by Spike Jonze, this video focuses on creativity and aesthetics to match the premium brand.

• Platform: YouTube, TV
• Success Factors: Visual creativity and emotional relevance.
• Why It Works: The ad combines immersive visuals with an emotional soundtrack, making it compelling content. It also highlights Apple's design and technology to create a strong emotional connection with existing users.

3. Dove – "Real Beauty Sketches"

Dove's ad focuses on the difference between how women see themselves and how others see them, promoting self-esteem and real beauty.

• Platform: YouTube
• Success Factors: Emotional storytelling, strong social message, and authenticity.
• Why It Works: This campaign addresses social issues and challenges conventional beauty standards. Its emotional message resonated with audiences globally, positioning Dove as a brand that cares about real beauty and self-confidence.

4. Old Spice – "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like"

A humorous, fast-paced take on a video ad featuring Isaiah Mustafa. It became a sensation, rebranding Old Spice as a youthful, fun brand.

• Platform: TV, YouTube, Social Media
• Success Factors: Humor, brand personality, and viral potential.
• Why It Works: The ad's humor and memorable one-liners turned it into a viral hit. It modernized Old Spice's image, appealing to a younger demographic while keeping the brand relevant in the competitive men's grooming market.

5. Coca-Cola – "Taste the Feeling"

Here is yet another video ad that brings together joyful moments. It features a Coca-Cola bottle to emphasize the happiness and unity it brings to people's lives.

• Platform: TV, YouTube, Social Media
• Success Factors: Emotional appeal, universal message, and brand consistency.
• Why It Works: Coca-Cola's ad taps into universal themes of joy and togetherness, making it relatable content that strengthens its longstanding brand image as a promoter of happiness.

6. Google – "Year in Search"

A heartwarming compilation of global events and trending searches from the past year, reflecting shared human experiences.

• Platform: YouTube, Google
• Success Factors: Inspirational storytelling, data-driven insights, and emotional connection.
• Why It Works: By using data to reflect on the year's major events, Google's ad touches on shared human experiences, fostering a deep emotional connection with viewers. It also showcases Google’s role in helping people find what matters most, leaving a positive product impression.

7. Amazon – "Alexa Loses Her Voice"

A humorous Amazon ad that shows Alexa losing her voice and celebrities stepping in to provide her voice, showcasing Alexa's personality and capabilities.

• Platform: TV (Super Bowl), YouTube
• Success Factors: Humor, star power, and creativity.
• Why It Works: The ad's comedic tone, star-studded lineup, and lighthearted concept made it fun and memorable. It demonstrates the versatility and personality of Amazon's Alexa while entertaining the viewers.

8. Heineken – “Worlds Apart”

Heineken's ad brings together people with opposing views and encourages them to have meaningful conversations over a beer.

• Platform: YouTube, TV
• Success Factors: Social message, emotional resonance, and inclusivity.
• Why It Works: The ad emphasizes inclusivity and unity, encouraging people to find common ground despite their differences. It effectively promotes Heineken as a brand that fosters open dialogue and connection, setting it apart from competitors.

9. Iceland – "Rang-tan"

With creative animation and voiceover by Emma Thompson, this Iceland video ad features an orangutan displaced by deforestation and tells a story of environmental destruction and corporate responsibility.

• Platform: YouTube, TV
• Success Factors: Emotional storytelling, strong environmental message, animation, and social impact.
• Why It Works: Iceland's ad became iconic because of its compelling narrative, which tugs at viewers' heartstrings. The ad's powerful message about deforestation and the impact of palm oil resonates deeply, while the use of animation makes it accessible and memorable.

10. BMW – "The Escape"

A cinematic action-packed ad featuring a high-stakes escape showcasing BMW's performance and luxury.

• Platform: YouTube, TV
• Success Factors: High-production value, storytelling, and brand alignment.
• Why It Works: This visually stunning ad combines suspense, action, and humor to showcase BMW's performance features in a cinematic style. The ad resonates with BMW's brand image of sophistication and thrill, keeping viewers engaged throughout.

Part 2: Why Video Advertising Matters?

Video advertising has become a staple of digital marketing, for all the right reasons. Unlike image or audio ads, video format captures attention in seconds and keeps the viewer hooked throughout, when done right.

These ads aid brands deliver messages using elements like storytelling, interactive visuals, and immersive sounds, that might otherwise be quite complex. This also helps audiences connect with the message that a brand is putting across.

Besides this, video advertising creates emotional connections. Brands can reveal their character, build trust, and leave a mark on the viewers. The flexibility of videos, from tutorials to testimonials and fun stories, fits various marketing objectives.

In addition, social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok enhance targeting and analytical tools to widen the reach of video ads. This really helps brands stand out by reaching the right audience, refining ad sets, and measuring progress.

Part 3: Types of Video Ads

Video ads come in several formats, each designed to serve a unique purpose and fit seamlessly within different platforms. Here are a few popular types:

1. In-Feed Ads

In-feed video ads appear directly in your feed across social networks, Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube. Because these ads look and feel like regular content, they tend to be less invasive. Thus users can choose to engage with them or not while scrolling. These ads usually auto-play to not interrupt the user's browsing experience.

2. Shoppable Video Ads

Marketers use shoppable ads for the viewer to make purchases directly via videos. Ideal for e-commerce, these ads usually have clickable tags or pop-ups that may send users to any brand website or product page. Shoppable video ads work best on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.

3. Rewarded Ads

Rewarded video adverts reward viewers for watching their ads with extra lives, virtual currencies, etc. Since these ads give users a choice, game enthusiasts love these ads, creating a positive association with the brand.

4. Outstream Ads:

Unlike other types of ads explained above, out-stream adverts play independently within the article or webpage. They expand when in view and usually auto-play sans sound, hence being less intrusive. Outstream ads serve better for reaching audiences beyond social media or video platforms, as they can appear on various publisher sites.

5. Pre-Roll, Mid-Roll, and Post-Roll Ads

These classic video ads play before, during, or after a video. As the name suggests, pre-roll ads grab attention from the start, while mid-roll ads appear during breaks, keeping viewers engaged until the video resumes. Post-roll ads, though less common, offer viewers a final reminder after they've watched the content.

Each type offers unique engagement opportunities, allowing brands to choose formats that best suit their goals and target audiences.

Part 4: How Video Advertising Works Across Social Media Platforms?

Video advertising is a core component of social media marketing, with each platform offering unique tools and formats to reach audiences effectively. Here's a look at how video ads work across popular platforms.

1. YouTube

YouTube offers a wide reach and highly customizable ad formats for marketers. On this platform, advertisers can run skippable and non-skippable in-stream ads, bumper ads, and more, depending on their objective.

What’s even better? YouTube lets marketers structure ad campaigns to reach specific demographic, keyword-level, or viewer-interest targets. This allows for a wide range of creativity in reaching audiences that may be at varying levels of intent.

2. Instagram

Instagram has a range of engaging video ad options, including in-feed, stories, and reel ads. All these ads are designed to mimic the fast-paced, visually oriented-user experience of the app.

Like YouTube, advertisers on Instagram can target specific demographics, behaviors, and locations to personalize the entire experience.

For instance, shoppable video ads on Instagram enable users to go directly to product purchase points, making discovery-to-checkout a lesser distance.

3. Facebook

Facebook, hosting a massive volume of audiences and businesses, provides a variety of ad formats from in-feed to story ads, and in-stream video ads that show right in the middle of videos. Facebook video ads are all about short-format, impactful content that captures attention without interrupting the user experience.

The Facebook ads manager supports even more useful targeting options for brand campaigns including interest, behavior, or previous user interaction with the brand.

4. TikTok

TikTok ad strategy is all about promoting high engagement in a short span. The app features in-feed ads embedded in the user’s scrolling experience. What makes them truly unique is the options for interactions, like branded hashtag challenges, influencer live sessions, and viral trends.

With TikTok's Ad Manager, brands are able to create organic-feeling content that has detailed targeting options and analytics insights, rounding off its appeal to the younger demos.

Part 5: How to Make a Video Advertisement Using AI?

Gone are the days when creating video ads took time and effort. Fortunately, today we have tools like Wondershare Virbo that help you produce captivating video advertisements in just a few clicks.

From Nike's motivational messaging to Coca Cola’s masterpieces; each ad proves that well-crafted videos offer memorable brand experiences. To help marketers create such ads, AI-powered tools like Virbo offer features for high-quality video creation. With a variety of templates for style and purpose, Virbo simplifies the process to produce professional ads that capture the targeted audience's attention.

Let’s see how we can create a similar impactful ad using Virbo.

1. First, open Wondershare Virbo online version or download its desktop version and navigate to the Video Montage Maker.

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2. Next, click Add Media from the on-screen prompt and import your images, videos, logos, or text.

3. To customize your video, add key information to describe your video ad. Mention the topic, target audience, product name, features, and the right platform for your video. Additionally, adjust the video length, ratio, language, and type accordingly.

4. Once generated, preview the three video options to find one that best suits your ad’s requirements. Finally, export your video and publish it across social media platforms.

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 Best Practices in Video Advertising

Follow these best video advertising practices to maximize engagement and conversion rates.

1. Keep it Short and Engaging

Attention spans are short, people lose interest in video content after just 8 seconds. So, start with a strong hook and keep the content concise to capture viewers quickly. Videos under two minutes long tend to hold viewers' attention better.

2. Optimize for Mobile Viewing

Mobile devices account for over 70% of video consumption. Hence, go for ads that are interface-friendly. Vertical and square formats perform better on mobile platforms like Instagram and TikTok, allowing the video to fill more of the screen and integrate seamlessly into the user’s scrolling experience.

3. Use Storytelling to Connect Emotionally

Powerful storytelling can create emotional connections, which is key to building brand loyalty. According to Forbes, viewers are 22 times more likely to remember information presented through a story than simple facts. By crafting resonating narratives, brands can build trust and make their messages memorable.

4. Include a Strong Call-to-Action (CTA)

A proper call-to-action leads viewers directly to a defined act, be it visiting the website, making a purchase, or simply learning more. A call-to-action after a video will help increase click-through rates, enabling a brand to reach its goals more effectively.

Part 6: How Much Should You Invest in a Video Ad?

Considering different platforms have different campaign rates and cost determinants, the investment rate differs based on the platform you are targeting. For instance, YouTube charges per view, with costs ranging from $0.10 to $0.30 per view, depending on your targeting and competition.

Brands on Instagram and Facebook can easily spend around $1 per day for basic reach campaigns, with an average of $0.20 to $2.00 per click. Basically, if your ROI is positive, there is no higher or lower budget.

However, when starting a campaign with no idea of current ROI, get help from AI tools like Wondershare Virbo. It helps streamline production and reduce the associated costs, so advertisers on tight budgets can still serve impactful, interactive ads. The tool enables users to create high-quality, engaging content without requiring large assets, opening up video advertising to businesses of all sizes.

Conclusion

Video advertising is one solid way to build brand engagement and drive conversions across platforms. However, picking the right ad format, optimizing for mobile, and crafting engaging stories could make any brand maximize its video ads.

Businesses aiming to make the entire process simple should switch to AI tools to streamline processes and work with tight budgets. Do your research and find which software can help you best!

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