Video advertising covers any promotional content played before, during, or after an online video, and it’s widely considered one of the most effective forms of digital advertising: a moving clip is simply more attention-grabbing, engaging, and memorable than a static image ever could be.
Like any advertising format, video comes with real trade-offs. Here’s a look at both sides, so you can decide for yourself whether digital marketing built around video is right for you.
Pros of video advertising
Attention-grabbing
A well-made video ad holds a viewer’s attention in a way static ads rarely manage. That combination of sound, motion, and visuals pulls people in far more easily than a still image ever could. Roughly a third of users watch video ads all the way through, and that figure climbs even higher for shorter ads.
High engagement rate
Nothing else comes close on engagement. One study found internet users were ten times more likely to interact with a video ad than with a banner or static image.
Videos do well on social media
Plenty of social platforms that once revolved around photos have openly shifted to being video-first, so much so that some have called it the end of social media as we knew it. Video ads are what keep viewers watching and engaging on these platforms, catching attention even as someone scrolls quickly through their feed.
Highly compatible with mobile devices
Some ad formats are stuck on desktop, but video plays just as easily on a phone or tablet. With 89% of Australians owning a smartphone and 53% owning a tablet, reaching mobile users matters more than ever, and skipping mobile-friendly ads can genuinely cost a business sales.
More opportunities for creativity
Want to show off your brand’s personality? Video is flexible in length, content, type, and design, giving businesses room to showcase products and services, promote sales, interview employees or past customers, or simply build brand awareness.
That flexibility leaves plenty of room for creativity too. A well-shot video with strong visuals, music, and pacing is one of the best ways to grab a viewer’s attention and actually keep it.
Cons of video advertising
High cost
Production costs add up fast, whether you hire a professional team or handle it in-house. Scriptwriting, cameras, microphones, and crew all come with a price tag.
Time-consuming
Getting a video made eats up serious time across several stages: planning and filming on one end, editing on the other. Strong engagement numbers are great, but for a small team or a tight budget, that time investment might not pay off.
Not everyone enjoys video content
Video isn’t always the right fit, depending on your industry, audience, and goals. Written content still wins out in some spaces, news and journalism among them. A study from Oxford University found that 41% of millennials prefer reading news over watching it.
A results-driven audience can behave the same way, preferring to scan your website, blog, or ads in text form rather than sit through a clip. Worth genuinely asking whether video adds value to your message, rather than assuming it always will.
Difficult to update
Written content, blog posts, and static images are all relatively easy to tweak when a product, price, brand detail, or trend shifts. Video is much less forgiving. Reworking or refilming means paying most of the original cost again, and for businesses on a tight budget, that ongoing expense can quietly become unsustainable.
