Top Five Techniques on How to Get the Most Out of Your Overlay Creative

Overlay banners have always been the best of video advertisements. They are not as obtrusive and annoying as pre-roll ads that appear before the video starts, but they still achieve better visibility and have more potential for interactivity, which, in turn, returns higher click-through rates. Not to mention the fact that they are also the least expensive video ads to produce. For CPM-based advertising, video CPM for overlay ads is $4 on the average. Plus, you only need some graphical design software skills to start making an overlay creative.

Designing an overlay creative may be one of the challenging parts of creating the advertisement. Some people may want to get away with this part by focusing heavily on the technical aspects of creating the ad, but without giving the design and aesthetics some thought, your video advertisements can turn out to be a waste of time, effort, and a little bit of money in the end.

So we compiled a list of the top five overlay creative design tips to get by you. Follow these tips and your ads will get you going as far as they can take you.

1. Use a small file. The rationale for this is simple - a smaller file loads more quickly. And if your advertisement loads more quickly, less people will get tired of waiting for it to load and close the video site altogether. Creating a small overlay creative file is not easy, especially if you want to include animation and other moving elements in it. But it has to be done.

2. Include a call to action. Some advertisements are simply there to be seen. Others, unfortunately, are there to be ignored. But how do you know that your video advertisements were actually viewed? Include a call to action in your advertisement. Ask your audience to do something for you. Have them click this button or ask for their email addresses. This is also a good way to generate leads for your business without spending money for mailing lists and potentially being labeled as spam.

3. Animate your overlays. One secret to making an attractive overlay creative is animation. Nothing catches the human eye more than movement, but too much of it can also have a boomerang effect and have your plan spring back at you. The key to making good use of animation is to use only a little bit of it. Make a blinking, sparkling banner that takes up almost half of player space and your viewers will hate you for it. Not only will it take such a long time to load, it also screams insensitivity on your part as an advertiser.

4. Write an excellent copy. Good copy is okay, great copy is better. But to guarantee that your video advertisements will really entice your viewers to click on the link to your website, your copy has to be nothing but excellent. Great visuals are there to catch their attention, but without a compelling copy to push them all the way to making a purchase, your overlay creative is useless. Use a powerful headline that will swiftly grab your readers’ interest and keep your copy short, sweet, and succinct. Save the sales power words for your
sales page. For now, you only need to take them there with your ad copy.

5. Create several designs. You aren’t planning on using just one overlay creative, are you? Because if you are, expect your video advertisements to get old within the first week of launching your ad campaign. Change ad designs every week or so and don’t let them get stale. The impact of one advertisement fades away completely after a third time a user has seen it. The good thing though is that you can limit how many times one user will see your ad.

About Author:
Kristina Kyle is a marketing consultant for AdoTube Ad Exchange (ADEX), one of the leaders of in-video advertising and targeted video marketing industry. To learn more about how ADEX can help you open new opportunities for growing your business, visit http://exchange.adotube.com/intro.php.