There’s no sugarcoating it: if your marketing strategy in 2025 doesn’t include video, you’re leaving money on the table.
It’s like going all in without any ace up your sleeve.
Video advertising has cemented itself as one of the most potent tools for brands aiming to boost awareness, engagement, and, yes, revenue.
In this guide, we’re breaking down how to use video advertising effectively, the types of video ads worth exploring, how these ads impact sales, and, most importantly, the 10 video ad best practices that maximize your ROI.
How to Use Video Advertising?
The first step to using video advertising effectively is to understand where and how it fits within your overall video sales funnel strategy.
From raising brand awareness to closing the sale, different formats and platforms serve different stages of the buyer journey.
Where to Place Video Ads:
- Social media: Ideal for brand awareness and audience engagement. Platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube are perfect for snappy storytelling and lifestyle content.
- Pre-roll/post-roll ads: Found on YouTube or embedded in articles (best for driving website traffic).
- Landing pages: Conversion-focused videos that explain a product or offer.
- Email marketing: Embedding a short, effective video ad can boost click-through rates dramatically.
For an advertiser, it’s not just about placement. It’s about purpose. Are you educating, entertaining, persuading, or all three?
When to Use Video Ads:
- Launching a new product
- Promoting a limited-time offer
- Retargeting users who visited your site but didn’t convert
- Creating evergreen brand content to build trust over time
The golden rule: match the video format to the user’s intent on that platform. Don’t drop a 3-minute explainer on a TikTok ad. Keep it snappy, relevant, and goal-focused.
What Types of Video Ads Work (with Examples)
Choosing the right format for your video ad can make the difference between a viewer clicking away in five seconds or converting into a loyal customer.
Let’s explore the five most effective types of video advertising, with detailed insights into how they function, why they work, and when to use them.
1. Explainer Videos
Explainer videos are ideal when you need to simplify something complex.
They combine narration, visual metaphors, and clear structure to guide the viewer step-by-step through a concept.
The tone is usually friendly and informative, and animation is frequently used to strip away real-world distractions and focus purely on the idea.
Example: Dropbox’s early animated explainer video had nothing more than narration and clean graphics to explain cloud storage.
2. Product Demonstrations
These videos do what static images or written specs never could: they show exactly how your product works in real-world use.
Whether it’s a piece of software, a physical gadget, or a lifestyle product, demo videos offer transparency and clarity, helping potential buyers visualize themselves using the product.
A good demo video doesn’t just show how a product functions. It communicates its value.
Often paired with on-screen annotations, close-up shots, and a user-focused narrative.
Example: Blendtec’s “Will It Blend?” campaign took product demos to viral territory by blending items like iPhones and marbles, proving both product strength and brand personality in one go.
3. Customer Testimonials
Nowadays, the product options are endless. Especially when AI is taking over digital marketing.
Therefore, buyers trust people more than brands. Testimonial videos put real customers front and center, explaining how a product or service solved their problem.
These videos are gold for high-ticket items, B2B services, or anything where credibility is key.
They provide social proof that your product actually delivers.
Example: HubSpot’s customer success stories follow a documentary-style format, with business owners walking viewers through their journey from problem to solution, all tied back to the company’s CRM tools.
4. Brand Storytelling Videos
Unlike direct sales-focused ads, brand storytelling videos are about emotional connection.
They often center on mission, values, or purpose, highlighting why a brand exists, not just what it sells.
These videos are longer, more cinematic, and less transactional. They serve to humanize the brand and build long-term affinity.
Example: Nike’s “You Can’t Stop Us” campaign is a masterclass in visual storytelling, using split-screen edits and emotional music to weave together a global narrative about resilience and unity – all while subtly reinforcing Nike’s core message: empowerment through sport.
5. User-Generated Content (UGC)
UGC video ads harness the authenticity of real users and turn everyday people into brand ambassadors.
UGC feels less scripted and more spontaneous, which is exactly why it performs so well on TikTok, Reels, and YouTube Shorts.
Audiences increasingly prefer content marketing that looks like what they’d see from a friend, not a brand.
UGC is best for retargeting, boosting engagement, and reinforcing product credibility at the moment of purchase.
Example: Glossier amplified UGC by reposting customers using their products in real-time on Instagram Stories. It created a feedback loop where customers not only trusted the content: they wanted to become part of it.
How to Make a Good Video: 10 Best Practices for Video Marketing
Let’s take a deeper dive into the best practices for video marketing, giving you not just a checklist, but practical insight into why each tactic matters.
1. Start Strong
People won’t wait long for your ad to hit: the average attention span is under 8 seconds.
Hook your viewer immediately with a bold visual, a provocative question, or an emotionally resonant moment. Think of this as your video’s thumbnail in motion – if it doesn’t pop, it flops.
2. Prioritize On-Screen Text Viewing
Most of today’s videos include subtitles. Not because people watch social media clips without sound. It’s just nicer and helps most people understand.
Add subtitles, text overlays, and expressive visuals in some free video editing software, deliver your message, and complement the audio part.
3. Focus on One Message
A common mistake is trying to squeeze too many goals into one video. Think brand awareness, product features, testimonials, and CTAs all at once.
Focus on a single goal per video to maintain clarity and keep your audience from bouncing.
4. Use High-Quality Visuals
Low-res footage, poor lighting, or jerky motion signals amateurism.
Even UGC can look great with minimal equipment (natural light, a stabilizing tripod, and basic color correction go a long way). Bad visuals sabotage even the best message.
5. Tailor for Platform
Each platform has its own language.
What works on YouTube (longer, more polished) won’t fly on TikTok (short, snappy, and often raw).
Create vertical formats for mobile-first platforms, and optimize resolution, duration, and tone based on where it’ll live.
6. Include a Clear CTA
Even the most entertaining video is a missed opportunity if there’s no call-to-action.
Make it loud and clear: “Sign up now,” “Visit the site,” “Get your free trial.” Reinforce it visually and verbally, so viewers know exactly what to do next.
7. Keep It Short
Time is the most expensive currency online.
Unless it’s long-form content designed for YouTube, aim to communicate your key message in under 30–60 seconds.
Trim the fat and respect your viewer’s time. It’ll reward you with more completions at the end of the day.
8. Leverage Emotion
The best video advertising campaigns don’t just inform but make people feel. Use humor, nostalgia, inspiration, or even urgency.
Emotionally resonant content is more shareable, memorable, and effective at driving conversions.
9. Test and Iterate
The most terrible marketing mistake is thinking that once it works, it’s going to be fine.
No, it won’t. Treat video like a living organism, which is obviously always evolving.
A/B test different hooks, visuals, and CTAs. Use real data (not guesswork) to decide what stays and what gets cut.
This is the essence of video performance marketing: data meets creativity.
10. Track the Right Metrics
Avoid vanity metrics like views alone. Instead, check out watch time, CTR, engagement rate, and, most importantly, conversion.
Use tracking links, heatmaps, and attribution tools to understand how video contributes to the customer journey and revenue.
Conclusion
Video advertising is not a “nice-to-have” thing.
Implementing video ad best practices will set your campaigns apart in a sea of digital noise.
Effective video ads aren’t lucky, they’re strategic. If some of them will help you follow up, others will allow you to lead the way.
Let the cameras roll, and the conversations follow.
