VAST, or Video Ad Serving Template, is one of the most powerful tools available for digital marketing. It provides a standardized way for publishers to serve ads or video ads that are tailored to the viewer’s experience. The goal of VAST is to help businesses maximize their video ad campaigns, both in terms of reach and engagement. In this blog post, we will look at what is VAST, how it works, the features and benefits of VAST, and why you should consider incorporating it into your digital marketing strategy.
What is VAST?
VAST (Video Ad Serving Template) is an XML schema-based protocol developed by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) in 2008 as an industry-standard solution to ensure that video ad serving was more reliable, efficient, and measurable. The protocol defines how an ad server communicates with ad video players, allowing ads to be served more quickly and accurately than was previously possible. In short, VAST makes it easier for companies to deliver relevant ads to their target audiences.
How Does VAST Work?
The process starts when an advertiser creates a creative ad unit—a media file in a supported format such as HTML5—and uploads it to their ad server (such as Google Ads). This creative ad unit contains code that allows it to be tracked by the advertiser’s tracking system (such as Google Analytics). Once the creative has been uploaded, it will be sent out into the world via various websites and apps through an HTTP ad request/response cycle using the VAST protocol. Whenever someone views or interacts with one of these ads, information about their actions will be relayed back to the advertiser’s tracking system so they can gain valuable insights into their campaign performance.
Features & Benefits of a Video Ad Serving Template
VAST offers a number of features that make it an advantageous choice for businesses looking to optimize their video ad campaigns. Here are some of the key benefits of using VAST:
- Standardized Format – VAST simplifies the process of delivering video ads by providing a standardized format that is compatible with all major web browsers, TVs, mobile devices, etc. As such, there is no need to tailor your videos for each platform; they can be served up in the same format across all platforms. This also makes it easier for viewers to find what they are looking for as they navigate through different websites and devices.
- Multi-Platform Support – As mentioned above, VAST is compatible with multiple platforms including web browsers, TVs, mobile devices and more. This makes it possible to streamline the delivery process across multiple channels while still ensuring that viewers have access to high-quality content whenever they want it.
- Targeted Ads – One of the main advantages of using VAST is its ability to target specific audiences based on demographic data, parameters, and other criteria. This helps businesses better understand who their viewers are so that they can deliver ads tailored specifically to them. Furthermore, this also ensures that you don’t waste money on ads that won’t perform well with certain demographics or audiences.
- Improved Analytics – With VAST, businesses can gain insights into how their video ad campaigns are performing in real-time so that they can make adjustments accordingly if needed. This helps ensure that you get maximum ROI out of your campaigns by optimizing your spending on ads over time and tracking success metrics such as impressions served, clickthrough rates (CTR), viewability rates (VTR) and more.
VAST Increases Ad Revenue Opportunities
Using a Video Ad Serving Template on your website can help increase your ad revenue opportunities since it allows you to serve more targeted and relevant ads to your visitors. This means that advertisers will be more likely to choose your site for their campaigns, which will result in higher revenues for you as a website owner. Additionally, using VAST also gives you access to more types of advertising formats, such as interactive video ads, which can further boost your revenues.
Adding Value Beyond Monetization
It’s important to note that utilizing a Video Ad Serving Template isn’t just about generating more money; it can also add value beyond monetization as well. For example, using VAST will enable you to track analytics like viewership numbers and engagement levels; this information can then be used by marketing teams to create better campaigns and optimize their overall performance. Furthermore, using VAST can also provide valuable insights into how people interact with ads on your site; this data can then be used by product teams when creating new features or redesigning existing ones in order to better meet customer needs.
In conclusion, VAST is an invaluable tool for any business looking to maximize its video ad campaigns across multiple platforms and gain deeper insights into how its campaigns are performing over time. With its standardized format and multi-platform support capabilities, as well as its ability to target specific demographics through targeted ads and improve analytics through detailed reporting metrics – there’s no doubt why so many businesses have incorporated this powerful tool into their digital marketing strategies! So if you’re ready to unlock the full potential of your video advertising efforts – don’t hesitate – embrace the power of VAST today!
Don’t forget to look out for our next blog post on how to use VAST within the Mediawide Creative Management Platform to create personalized Video Ads.
