9 Great Sources for Video Ad Creative Inspiration
The following is an exclusive guest post by Dillon Becker, a video producer who previously worked at Storm8 and MZ (Machine Zone).
I like to refresh video ad creatives every 2-3 weeks, sometimes sooner. This demands a constant stream of new and imaginative ideas.
Video advertising isn’t slowing down, and competition in the digital ad space continues to grow. Creating video ads that stand out is more important than ever. 
This calls for an endless supply of original concepts.
But where do all these ideas come from? And how do you prevent the inevitable creative burnout?
I’m sharing 9 of the best sources for creative inspiration to help you improve your video ad creatives.
Image via App Annie
1. Marketing tools
The easiest place to find inspiration is your competitor’s ads. Tools like App Annie are the easiest way to do this. These kinds of tools usually let you search and filter through ads, as well as get an idea of how they’re performing.
Image via Envato
2. Creative collections
However, inspiration can come from anywhere—not just from other video ads. Showcase websites such as Dribbble, Inspiration Grid, and Behance make it easy to explore creative work from skilled designers. The downside here is that these sites usually lean toward static art and graphic design. Now, that isn’t to say that these sites feature less video. They’re packed with plenty of clever video and animated content.
Image via Apple
3. Apple’s App previews and trailers
App previews on the Apple App Store are essentially video ads, providing a similar avenue of inspiration. App preview videos are embedded inside an app’s product page on the App Store, making them easy to find and watch. And because of the restrictions Apple puts on its App Store app previews, they can be a great reference for how to make gameplay both seductive and honest.
Image via Facebook
4. Ads in the wild
Sometimes inspiration is right under your nose. Scrolling through social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter is a great way of finding video ads in their natural habitats. Using apps and other mobile games can be useful as well, especially if rewarded video or interstitial video is part of the core monetization strategy.
5. Straight from the source
A lot of companies upload their ads to video platforms such as YouTube or Vimeo , and often to their social media pages. If there is a specific company you admire for their creative ingenuity, chances are they’ve uploaded many of their video ads to one of these places.
6. PC and console game ads
Not all of your inspiration has to come from mobile games. PC and console games have equally inspiring video ads and share the same sort of creative challenges that mobile marketers and agencies face. They also share similar audiences, and they’ve been in the game (pun intended) for a lot longer.
7. Brand ads
All advertising shares similar goals regardless of the product or industry, so what works for one video ad in a particular industry can often be adapted to another. Try watching popular ads outside of gaming, then challenge yourself to apply the creative concepts you observe to your own video ads.
Image via GraphicStock
8. Following others
Sometimes I’m just looking for general creative inspiration, perhaps for a visual style or color palette. I follow a large number of designers, videographers, and other creative professionals on Instagram. In doing so, I’ve created a personalized showcase of ideas that I can easily reference anytime. Looking at what your peers are creating is a solid way of finding fresh and original concepts for your next video ad variation.
Image via Snapchat
9. Snapchat Discover
One of my favorite sources of inspiration is Snapchat’s Discover section. It’s basically an endless source of ingenious advertising, primarily of the video and animation variety. The restrictions and vertical nature of Snapchat force advertisers to get creative , and the competition means frequent updates. There’s also a nice variety of content from different industries, from gaming to health to automotive. And the best part is you can download the ads and save them for future analysis.
Meet Dillon next month in Taipei, Taiwan! At Digital Taipei 2017 on September 10 from 3:50-4:30 p.m., you can learn how to improve your mobile advertising strategy with Dillon’s best practices for video ad metrics.
