Video Best Practices

Consistently testing a high volume of creatives is critical to scaling on the platform. We recommend uploading as many 9x16 portrait videos as possible on a regular basis to help optimize your campaign performance.
There is no need to pause creatives. Our optimizer will automatically reduce spend on creatives that don't perform. Manually pausing creatives may affect the creative's opportunity to select the best ad for each impression.

Video Length

We analyzed the top 5% of videos on our platform and found that the median length of video was 37 seconds. Advertisers should test videos of all lengths, with a focus on videos >30 seconds.



Video Strategies

Analyzing performance across top spending video ads, we identified recurring creative patterns that consistently drove stronger scale of spend across verticals. While creative testing remains a continuous, iterative process, the following approaches offer a good starting point for ideas to test on the platform.

1. Add Captions to Maximize Engagement

Most mobile gamers have sound off by default, making captions critical. Adding subtitles not only improves accessibility but also boosts performance significantly. We found that 95% of top spending videos we reviewed had prominent captions.
Wayfair's Shoe Storage ad saw a significant drop in eCPP after captions were added:

Additional examples of effective captioning styles:

Takeaway: Always add clear, legible subtitles emphasizing the product's key benefits. Experiment with using “stickers” and color to highlight specific phrases in the audio for additional emphasis.


2. Highlight Promotions and Time-Limited Offers

Promotional offers continue to be one of the most common and effective tactics among top-performing ads. In our review, approximately 40% of the top videos featured some kind of promotion—whether it was a percentage or dollar discount, a BOGO-style offer, or a free item or service included with purchase.
Common offers include 10-40% off codes, free shipping, and free items with a first purchase. For example, several ads introduced "10% off code APP10" right at the hook, or promoted "X free items with your order" or “buy 2 and get 1 free” as a closing incentive.
Urgency messaging is also widely used, with phrases like "Sale ending soon," and "Get yours before they sell out" helping to drive faster decisions.
Takeaway: Introduce an evergreen or promotional offer—and make time-sensitivity clear to encourage immediate action. In many cases we see that ads with evergreen coupon codes outperform on ROAS and scale.


3. Appeal to Specific Audiences 

Top advertisers are successfully using creative visuals and messaging to speak directly to specific audiences. We found that about 30% of the top ads explicitly defined a group for whom the product might be relevant, with examples like:
  • "As empty nesters..."
  • "As a new college grad with a budget..."
  • "My husband is in his 30s and couldn’t find the right..."
  • "Is it possible to get a flat stomach after 50?"
The vast majority of top-performing videos use a UGC-style format, either featuring a single person's testimonial or cycling through clips of multiple people sharing positive reviews. Many advertisers with greater spend have a portfolio of ads appealing to multiple different specific demographic audiences.


Takeaway: Try hooks that appeal to specific audiences such as “as a busy new mom” and “if you’re over 60…” to immediately resonate with specific groups. 


4. Leverage Social Validation and Viral Momentum

Top advertisers tended to incorporate social proof into their videos as a way to give viewers confidence to make a purchase. We found that 24% of top videos included social validation, using techniques like:
  • Referencing the number of positive reviews ("That's why over 100,000 women…”)
  • Mentioning that the product went viral (“I finally got my hands on the viral…”)
  • Suggesting that the product may sell out ("This frame is selling out like crazy…”)


Takeaway: Incorporate social validation to build trust quickly. There are several ways to do this depending on what types of proof points are most authentic to your brand, like UGC testimonials and highlighting the number of positive reviews.


5. Open With Provocative UGC Hooks

Many effective videos opened with a provocative statement about a personal experience. These UGC hooks create open loops or questions that drive the viewer to keep watching for answers, rather than "tune out" an advertising message. In our review, about 15% of the top videos used this type of hook.
Sometimes the hook is “criticism” about the product that flips into praise as the video goes on. Other times, it’s a real problem the person used to have that the product helped solve. These hooks tend to perform well in structured formats such as “3 reasons why.” 
Examples of provocative UGC hooks include:
  • "Never buy the Nectar Foundation & Mattress bundle!"
  • “It was a pity to spend money on this…”
  • "I struggled with dry skin for years…"


Takeaway: Test UGC hooks that sound at first like frustrations - they grab attention and pique curiosity - and follow the hook with a reveal about the product’s benefits. 


Static Videos

Use our  Static Video Converter  to turn image files (JPEGs, PNGs, GIFs, etc) images into 15-second MP4s. This should be in addition to—not instead of—frequently adding a high volume of captioned videos of various lengths to your campaigns.