Twitter Study Claims Its Pre-Rolls Perform On Par With Those Of Leading Competitor

Twitter has released new research today about the effectiveness of its in-stream video ads, which run as pre-rolls before premium videos from more than 200 “brand-safe” publishers, the company says, including TV networks, sports leagues, and publishing houses.

In a study conducted by Twitter alongside leading ad agency Publicis Media and research firm Kantar Millward Brown, Publicis compared how its pre-roll video ads performed on Twitter versus how they performanced on “a leading online video platform,” which one surmises is YouTube. In terms of message association, Twitter outperformed its competitor, according to the study, while in terms of favorability and purchase intent, both platforms performed equally well.

“We’ve seen our Twitter pre-roll video completion rates compare favorably with other pre-roll opportunities off-platform,” said Publicis exec Kate Sirkin

At the same time, Twitter shared several tips for brands to help them harness in-stream video ads to boost campaign performance. Twitter suggests that marketers target publishers that align with their brand — such as placing ads for a sports drink in front of a sports highlight clip. The company also says that shorter ads work best in achieving brand affinity, with the ideal length being six seconds.

Twitter also suggests that marketers include branding within the first few frames, and that messaging should be bold and expressive with creative captions that can capture viewers’ attention without any audio.