Since the internet became available to the general public, brands and businesses have been using this digital space to increase their reach. The internet changed how all businesses operate, providing them with a new type of advertising. Digital advertising has taken priority in most businesses’ marketing campaigns. Most consumers conduct the majority of their shopping online, so it’s only natural that they would be more receptive to digital forms of marketing. It is projected that there will be 230.5 million online shoppers by 2021.

The scale of content available for online users to consume is virtually endless and comes in many forms. However, one channel reigns supreme over the rest: video. Cisco predicts that by 2021 82% of all internet traffic will be video. Businesses understand how vital videos truly are to their success, as about 82% of businesses reported using videos in their marketing campaigns.

As time has shifted, the internet continues to fill with more and more content. Users’ attention spans have only gotten smaller. This has created an issue for many marketers. Traditional video ads of 30 seconds to a minute are losing their impact. Fewer users are interested in viewing these ads, which has led many marketers to condense these ads into much smaller six-second bumper ads.

Bumper ads have gained immense popularity over the past year, as Google has even created a Bumper Machine to help businesses.

What are Bumper Ads?

Traditionally, YouTube allows ads of about 15- or 30-seconds ads before, during, or after a video. However, viewers’ patience has only gotten smaller as time has passed. Many longer ads are now skippable, prompting consumers to ignore any message they briefly see. However, bumper ads provide marketers a chance to get their message across without disrupting a user’s experience.

Bumper ads are six-second ads that appear before a YouTube video plays that cannot be skipped. Their short format is perfect for reaching a greater number of people and increasing brand awareness.

Bumper ads are short and concise, conveying your message quickly and clearly. Other ads, like overlay ads, skippable, and non-skippable ads, provide you more opportunities to further explain your product or services in more detail.

You can run them on their own or in conjunction with other ad campaigns. Regardless, their impact has been recognized.

Benefits of Bumper Ads

Outside of the idea that consumers’ attention spans are getting smaller, utilizing bumper ads has proven to have a positive impact on your business. Some of the benefits of using these ads include:

• Cost-Effective: Like many channels of advertising, bumper ads have to operate within a bidding model. However, you will only have to pay on cost-per-impression pricing, which means you are only charged per 1,000 impressions. The pricing does vary depending on your budget, competition, and more, but the ROI for these ads is high.
• Little Viewing Disruption: One aspect of ads that many consumers can’t stand is that they break up their viewing experience. They will go to a video and are forced to watch a 30-second, non-skippable ad. With bumper ads, this disruption is very minimal. You keep your brand in front of consumers for only a few seconds without disrupting their experience.
• Retargeting Ads: Retargeting advertising is a form of advertising that should not be overlooked. By creating strong messages from long-form ads, you can craft six-second ads targeted at users that watched your longer ads, keeping your brand and business in the front of their minds.
• Increase Brand Recognition: One of the greatest perks of bumper ads is that it boosts your brand recognition. Bumper ads allow you to reach more people more frequently without coming off as a nuisance. A survey of 122 bumper ad campaigns found that 70% had a significant lift in brand awareness, with an average lift of 9%.
• Recycle Existing Assets: As we mentioned earlier, Google has created a tool called Bumper machine, which is powered by machine learning that takes a long-form ad and creates a six-second bumper ad, saving you time and money. You don’t have to create entirely new content and can reuse existing ads.

Creating Bumper Ads

It’s important to note that Google’s Bumper Machine provides marketers with multiple options to choose from that it thinks work the best. Then it’s up to you to take those and choose which works best for you. However, you don’t need to rely on Bumper Machine to create all of your ads. You can make them on your own.

Here are some helpful tips in creating bumper ads:

• Be Simple and Concise: When creating 15- or 30-second ads, you are given enough time to construct a short story, including product information, a tagline, and more. You aren’t given that time with bumper ads. These have to be extremely focused. If you add too much, your viewers will be left confused. Find a message or point to focus on. Find a message you want to convey about your product, service, and business. Once you’ve found it, clearly and quickly state your message. Don’t over complicate things. You don’t need too many visuals or cuts. Keep the flow simple. Clearly deliver the message either by audio or large text.
• Start Flashy: You only have a short time to grab your audience’s attention, so you’re going to want to come out hot. Start with a flashing visual, celebrity appearance, funny moment, or whatever else to grab their attention.

As the internet becomes more and more populated, marketers are beginning to adapt to the behaviors of consumers. The practically endless wealth of content and information available to consumers has led to a narrowing of attention spans, according to researchers at the Technical University of Denmark, which has led marketers to focus resources on creating short, six-second bumper ads. If you are interested in improving your reach and brand recognition through video advertising and more, contact ARYU Advertising today.