Preparing for Q4: Amazon Video Ads

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Video helps shoppers understand a product’s benefits without having to take additional action. Traditionally, most consumer education on Amazon takes place on product detail pages, through product images, A+ content, bullet points, and the product description. 

But with Video ad, you can appeal to buyers on the search results page, without having them click through to your page or storefront. 

Not only it sky-rockets your performance, but it also helps to build better brand recognition. 

We prepared a complete video ad guide for you to make the most out of the upcoming Q4 race.

Creative guidelines and best practices

• Amazon customers are shopping for products and brands. Your content should be educational, demonstrative, and product-focused.
• Show your product — research shows that videos that feature the product prominently within the first second typically perform better than those that don’t. Do not waste your chance to engage shoppers by fading in from black or starting with an empty frame.
• Keep it brief and focused — We recommend an optimal video length of 15–30 seconds to relay your message and hold customers’ attention. Limit your content to just a handful of key selling points to ensure your message is received.
• Optimize for the format — This video unit auto-plays without sound and runs inline in the search results with no option to go full screen. Your videos should work without sound. You’ll need to ensure that on-screen text can be easily read on a mobile device and isn’t obstructed by the user interface positioned within the video area.
• Consider the loop — Once this video ends, it will automatically loop. Consider adding an end card to allow for some breathing room, or get creative and make your loop seamless.

On-screen text guidelines

We recommend adding on-screen text to videos that rely on voiceover to communicate the product message. To ensure text can be easily read on smaller screen devices, we recommend using Helvetica or a similar sans-serif font at a minimum size of 80 px. We recommend displaying the text in white on top of a black bounding box set to 80% opacity (seen in the example below). Please ensure the text does not interfere with the safe area template.

Video and audio specifications

Top moderation rejection reasons

Avoid these top rejection reasons to help ensure your Sponsored Brands video ad is approved in moderation.

• Black or empty frames at the start or end of videos. Don’t waste your chance to engage shoppers by using black or empty frames.
• The video includes Amazon branding elements. Amazon trademarks, products, or references to Amazon products or services are prohibited.
• The video includes customer reviews. Customer reviews (including star ratings), even if these reviews are on Amazon, are not permitted.

Top Tips from Bellavix

• Do your research before video creation. To win your customer, you have to be just one step ahead of your competitor. Check on your main keywords to see what your competitors do. Analyze, note, take action. 
• Remember, the video ad features only one ASIN. Be very specific, highlighting key product features—no need to narrate your brand story now. 
• If you struggle with the content ideas, we suggest going to the Q&A and the Review sections of your listing – that’s a great source of knowledge. Using your customers’ language and highlighting what matters to them increases your chances of conversion.
•  Since the ad loads at page load, a user scrolls down to the ad by the time it is already in motion. Keep that in mind, when you get to the creation step. It should be clear and dynamic to capture buyers’ attention from any place. 
• For the same reason, try to keep it short (15 sec ideally) so that it could be seen by a user at least one full time while he/she scrolls through.
• It might be very challenging to pack your message in such a short video. While text voiceover/text over highlights a product’s main features, visuals at the same time may provide additional information (showing how to use/apply, targeted audience, ingredients pictures, etc.). That way, you provide more information within a shorter period of time. 
• Make sure your video aligns with the Ad Policy. Once created and uploaded, it still might be disapproved. Each video goes through the moderation process, and sometimes it might take a few attempts to be approved.
• Don’t give up on the idea of video creation just because it seems ‘too expensive’ or ‘too time-consuming’ or ‘you don’t have a right team’ etc. The most effective video ads were created as a presentation with slides! You already have good quality pics for your listing, right? Then repurpose them! Add a few more text overlays and voila – your ad is ready to run and convert.

Below you can find two ad examples with our comments

If you have additional questions or want us to help you on your Amazon journey, don’t hesitate to contact the BellaVix Team. 

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