How Smartly Helps Advertisers Transform their Video Advertising in the Era of Growth

2024 was a big year for video, with global video ad spend hitting a record high of $ 191.4B. It was also the year short-form video overtook other video advertising formats and accounted for over half (52%) of all the budgets spent on video.¹ It’s easy to understand what’s been driving this change, with the explosive growth of short-form video platforms like TikTok and industry giants Meta and YouTube also pivoting their apps to center on shorter formats as a driver for growth, engagement, and ad revenue.

The shift shows no signs of slowing down, with global video advertising spend projected to hit $ 241.9B by 2028.¹ This dramatic change in consumer behavior poses urgent challenges for advertisers, who now not only have a plethora of channels to produce fresh, channel specific content for, but also tailor the content to the preferences of various customers, while understanding the impact they are driving across a fragmented consumer journey.

Additionally, commerce and advertising have become increasingly intertwined, with platforms like TikTok and Instagram driving shoppable experiences with video formats. Advertisers are now tasked with creating content that not only captivates but converts, making the ability to seamlessly integrate commerce into video campaigns a critical differentiator.

Smartly–with its industry leading solutions for media, creative and intelligence–is in a unique position to help advertisers future-proof their video advertising strategy and win in this era of growth.

Adjusting to the Shifting Landscape of Video Advertising

The swift evolution of short-form video has spanned all major social platforms, with even platforms like LinkedIn leaning in. The staying power of short-form video is driven by consumer behavior and technological advancements: with everyone carrying a high-definition video camera with us wherever we go, capturing and consuming video has never been easier. And where consumers go, advertisers will need to follow, if they are to capture a slice of that attention.

2018 was the year that saw mobile prevail over desktop for video advertising and in 2024, Meta revealed that watching Reels accounts for 50% of time spent on Instagram, while YouTube Shorts surpassed the milestone of 2B monthly users. This indicates another shift: not only are videos mainly short-form, but also consumed on a vertical mobile screen, with audio occasionally off.

But the shifts in video advertising don’t end there, with CTV pacing to catch up to linear TV by 2028. With leading streaming services like Netflix, Amazon and Disney+ all rolling out their ad-tiers, the number of channels and formats to account for is going up and the traditional landscape format still holds its ground, as most users use a smart TV for viewing CTV.

Adding to this complexity is AI, which burst on the scene and made its way into the mainstream in 2024, cementing itself as a tool to aid creativity and through various workflows. With generative capabilities now commonplace in scriptwriting and video creation, advertisers are pressed to figure out where and how these expanding capabilities add the most value.

Advertiser Challenges in 2025 and Beyond

Advertisers face three key challenges in this new landscape:

1. Scaling for Channel-Specific Demand: Producing tailored content for diverse platforms and audiences, while keeping it fresh to avoid creative fatigue.
2. Personalization at Scale: Meeting consumer expectations for relevant and engaging ads across the funnel, without overextending resources.
3. Measuring and Optimizing Performance: Maintaining visibility across fragmented channels and ensuring investments drive measurable impact.

AI will be the cornerstone of overcoming these hurdles. Advertisers who effectively integrate automation and intelligence into their workflows will not only keep pace with change but lead the way.

The Smartly Solution: Produce, Personalize, Perform

Smartly’s platform is built for automation, scale, and efficiency, empowering advertisers to navigate the complexities of video advertising with ease.

Produce Exponentially
With tools like Video Templates, Smartly automates the creation of thousands of on-brand, channel-specific creatives in seconds, allowing them to go all the way to product-level with video creatives. Advertisers can dynamically personalize ads using data from product catalogs or external factors like weather, ensuring relevance at every touchpoint. Integrated approval workflows keep brand compliance seamless and streamlined.

Personalize Everywhere
Smartly’s AI-driven automation solutions take personalization to the next level, from customizing video overlays for different platforms to tailoring messaging for specific audiences and enabling commerce with video. Channel overlays ensure best practices are consistently met, maximizing ad performance while minimizing manual effort.

Power Performance
Smartly’s predictive tools optimize campaigns for maximum impact. Predictive Budget Allocation automates budget distribution based on top-performing metrics, while rule-based triggers prevent ad fatigue by adapting creatives in real-time. Cross-channel Reach and Frequency measurement and comprehensive reporting tools consolidate performance insights, empowering advertisers to understand what works and why.

Smartly is an AI-powered advertising platform and 2025 will see the roll out of various innovative Smartly AI video features and enhancements into familiar workflows. These features help advertisers go from idea to ad in moments, boosting creative diversification and lengthening the lifespan of creative assets:

• AI Video Ad Assembly: Rapidly generating diverse creative variations.
• AI Video Auto-Cropping: Automatically adapting scenes to fit diverse formats.
• AI Generation on Feeds: Enhancing product imagery to use in captivating video ads.

With the power of automation and scaling combined with robust reporting and measurement capabilities, advertisers are able to produce, personalize and perform with video in 2025 and beyond.

Transform your Video Advertising for the Future

Competition for consumer attention in the age of endless feeds of video entertainment and high expectations for personally relevant ads requires a partner that thinks ahead and builds solutions for the future of video advertising. Smartly has been named a leader in The Forrester Wave: Creative Advertising Technologies, Q4 2024, a testament to our commitment to innovation in seamlessly integrating creative and media workflows for marketers. Smartly allows brands and agencies to stay ahead of the competition and deliver high-impact, data-informed video ads at scale.

Source:

1. https://www.statista.com/outlook/dmo/digital-advertising/video-advertising/worldwide#ad-spending

‍

Book a demo today to see Smartly’s video advertising capabilities in action!