Brands want performant and brand-safe placements for their campaigns but don’t always seize the potential native and video ads hold to cover both bases. Part of the issue is that media buyers often feel less inclined to create the assets needed to shine on native, due to a lack of familiarity with this type of ad. Building video iterations of native content — including VSL (video sales landing) pages — is so foreign to many companies that even bigger brands are reticent about branching into an additional, little-understood format.
They shouldn’t be, especially with studies showing 89% of consumers have been persuaded to purchase after watching a video. Given the prospects for rich performance rewards and the range of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools at their disposal, there is a push for brands and agencies to discover how to harness the power of native and video.
Social Video’s Crown Is Slipping
Looking closer into the reasons behind the limited understanding of native ads, one factor stands out: a preoccupation with social media. Over the last decade, social platforms have become central to the never-ending quest for maximum reach, with ad dollars following hot on the trail of users entranced by an ever-multiplying array of networks.
As social has grown to dominate marketing investment, taking the second-largest share of global ad spend in 2023, there has been less spare budget to share between other formats, particularly those viewed as experimental. Moreover, the increasingly video-centric nature of leading platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and X, has made them an easy double-hit, where campaigns can harness the lure of social connection and digital video simultaneously.
This situation, however, is shifting. New worldwide social user growth has slowed to around 2.4% and so-called “sameification” is seeing the draw of individual platforms wane, with video appeal on a slight but notable decline. Concurrently, growth rates for social video ad spend are also set to rise by only 1% over the next two years.
None of this is to say the social space has lost its value. However, the signs point to a need for brands and agencies to define how they can give ads a unique edge if they want to stand out from bland social video noise, capture audience attention and drive tangible results.
AI Bolsters Video Velocity
VSL pages aren’t complex. Their function is to provide real estate for punchy videos that explain what’s special about a brand, its tools or services, before inviting viewers to interact and learn more. Pages that transcend into the native universe tend to retain these attributes while introducing a few important differences.
The chief emphasis is on seamless contextual fit. Whether the VSL is embedded within an ad or set to play in a full-page video after a user clicks, native messages can adapt to match their surroundings, offering an unobtrusive, natural experience. This presents something of a crossover between social video ads that are designed to smoothly wrap around user-generated content and content marketing.
Of course, driving such activity requires large-scale and high-speed creative versioning. At a time when one-third of marketers have admitted they don’t even have the time to start using standard video formats, this might feel like an impossible task — which is where AI comes in.
GenAI tools are moving into the heart of the creative process. Using algorithms trained on vast data about multi-format content, advanced solutions can create hundreds of new assets and ad variants in minutes via simple prompts. This has already opened opportunities for companies working by streamlining once-prohibitively time-consuming processes: Early adopters estimate a saving of as much as 11.4 hours per week.
So far, GenAI’s ad creation remit has primarily encompassed text, image and audio ads, but expansion is coming. Last month, Toys R Us became the first brand to release an AI-generated video ad using OpenAI’s unreleased tool Sora, with the 60-second spot offering solid proof of the scope for GenAI to craft captivating and unique video stories. Amid increasing interest from advertising technology vendors and media holding groups, the industry seems poised for an influx of AI-enhanced video offerings.
Not Just A Creative Multiplier
For all its benefits, creative production shouldn’t be seen as the pinnacle of what AI has to offer. Machine learning has long played several important parts in advertising, from trend analysis to real-time bidding. Over recent years, developments in semantic analysis have brought greater precision to contextual advertising, significantly bolstering impact and resonance, especially when used with native ads.
Able to instantly assess the deeper meaning of digital media using human-like understanding, semantic AI models provide granular ad matching that ensures live contextual relevance and zero reliance on third-party cookies. Combined with native video ad formats, such media-centric ad delivery allows brands and agencies to deliver ads that feel right for their environment and are much more likely to drive high-quality audience interactions.
Similarly, AI-driven prediction models forecast pre-flight ad effectiveness according to specific goals and design parameters enabling proactive decision-making about where budgets should be allocated. By determining which ad variants are most likely to yield the best conversions and ROI, predictive evaluation enables rapid experimentation with creative components, allowing brands and agencies to change headlines, audio and imagery to see what drives the strongest outcome.
Final Thoughts
Every new advertising approach is outlandish until it becomes business as usual. As social’s grip slackens, brands and agencies that use their liberated headspace — and ad spend — to explore native video will likely find it’s not as convoluted as they thought.
Unlocking the benefits of seamlessly integrated VSL pages can be simple with help from AI tools that take the hard work out of ad creation, targeting and analysis. With prior roadblocks eliminated, natively delivered video campaigns can finally get their time in the limelight.
