1. AdRoll Help Center
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  3. Static Ads

Video Ads

Use video ads throughout your entire customer journey to:

  • Reconnect with current and potential customers by adding AdRoll Video Ads to your retargeting campaigns.
  • Connect with new audiences by adding AdRoll Video Ads to your Brand Awareness campaigns.
  • Deepen connections with increased brand awareness and understanding of your products.

You can launch videos within existing campaigns or launch new ones.

Note: You cannot add video ads to campaigns also running dynamic ads.

Example

In-Stream

WebAdPlacement-InStream.gif

Out-Stream

WebAdPlacement-OutStream.gif

Placements

There are two types of video ads for the general web: in-stream and out-stream. In-stream video ads appear within the context of the streaming video. Out-stream video ads appear outside of any streaming content, similar to standard display ads.

Format Guidelines

Supported File Types & Codecs
  • MP4 recommended. MOV also supported.
  • H.264 Video Codec is required.

File Size
  • Up to 1GB

Ad Copy
  • Destination URL w/UTM Params (required): Up to 1024 characters, no redirecting URLs and cannot lead directly to a payment processor (e.g. PayPal) or video (e.g. YouTube)

Length and Aspect Ratio
  • Recommended Length: Under 30 seconds
  • Min Length: 1 second
  • Max Length: 30 minutes
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9 or 1:1
  • (Video) Pixel Aspect Ratio: 1:1 (or 1)

Additional Considerations
  • Video Sound: Recommended
  • Thumbnail: Defaults to the first frame, and can be edited
  • Autoplay:
    • For in-stream placements, autoplay is automatically enabled.
    • For out-stream placements, autoplay is enabled when the user scrolls over the ad.
  • Use this tool to verify if your video ad meets our requirements.
  • Characters such as @ > # $ % ^ & () < are not permitted in your text
  • Video Assets will need to be hosted with AdRoll and can’t be served from a third-party/tag manager

Upload Video Ads

You can add video ads to AdRoll either from your Ad Library or directly in a campaign. 

From your ad library, click on Upload on the top right. While creating or editing a campaign, when you get to the ads step, click Upload. 

  1. Drag and drop your MP4 or MOV video file(s) into the drop zone
  2. Edit the name and destination URLs for each placement. Adroll will automatically create ads for all placements suitable for your video. For some placements, there may also be a Title, Description, or Call to Action. 
  3. Choose your thumbnail using the arrows on the video preview. We recommend a thumbnail image with minimal text.
  4. Click Upload

You can also create facebook videos through the Create flow during campaign creation or edit.  

Social Video Ads

Video ads on Facebook and Instagram are out-stream video ads, which means they appear outside of any streaming content, similar to standard display ads.

Your ads can appear in the following Facebook placements:

  • Newsfeed
  • Mobile Newsfeed
  • Instagram
  • Facebook Audience Network

Example

Facebook

SocialAds-FacebookVideoMobileAds.gif

Instagram

SocialAds-InstaVideoMobileAds.gif

 

Format Guidelines

Supported File Types & Codecs
  • MP4 recommended. MOV also supported.
  • H.264 Video Codec is required.

File Size
  • Up to 1GB

Ad Copy
  • Title (required): Up to 25 characters recommended, including spaces
  • Description (required): Up to 125 characters recommended, including spaces
  • Destination URL w/UTM Params (required): Up to 1024 characters, no redirecting URLs and cannot lead directly to a payment processor (e.g. PayPal) or video (e.g. YouTube)
  • Call-to-Action (required): Defaults to “Learn More”
  • Link Description (optional): Up to 25 characters recommended, including spaces
  • Display Link (optional): Up to 1024 characters

Length and Aspect Ratio
  • Recommended Length: Under 30 seconds
  • Min Length: 1 second
  • Max Length: 30 minutes
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9, 1:1, 4:5, or 9:16
  • (Video) Pixel Aspect Ratio: 1:1 (or 1)

Additional Considerations
  • Video Sound: Recommended
  • Thumbnail: Defaults to the first frame, and can be edited
  • Autoplay is dependent on the user’s Facebook settings
  • Note: Videos over 60 seconds cannot run on Instagram placements
  • Use this tool to verify if your video ad meets our requirements.
  • Facebook allows the above fields to be longer than recommended but if longer than recommended, the text may be truncated when displayed as an ad.
  • Characters such as @ > # $ % ^ & () < are not permitted in your text
  • Your display URL is how your URL will appear on your ad. It automatically pulls from the profile name you entered when signing up with AdRoll. To edit, on your dashboard check Settings > Advertiser Profiles.

Create Social Video Ads

  1. Create a New Campaign or Edit an Existing Campaign.
  2. Under Ad Types, select either Dynamic Ads or Static Ads & Video.
  3. When you get to the Ads step, click Upload.
  4. Drag and drop your MP4 or MOV file into the dropzone.
  5. Choose your thumbnail using the arrows on the video preview. We recommend a thumbnail image with minimal text.
  6. Fill in any copy as needed.
  7. Click Upload.
  8. Review and Launch a new campaign, or Save an existing campaign.
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