Here’s a statistic that should cheer up any performance marketer: pre-roll ads on mobile can deliver up to a 65% increase in brand recognition. Despite the format of video ads, which is often assumed to be “disruptive”, it turns out only 17% of users found pre-roll formats intrusive.
This is great news for advertisers and marketers.
In 2025, where every scroll, tap, and swipe competes for attention, pre-roll advertising offers a rare balance: high visibility, strong engagement, and low interruption. It’s the kind of format that doesn’t just build awareness, it drives results.
In this guide, we’ll break down how you can use pre-roll ads to drive serious growth for your app or SaaS product. We’ll cover where to run them, how to make them pop, how to target the right audience, and which metrics actually matter.
What Is Pre-Roll Advertising?
Essentially is that 5- to 15-second video that pops up before your favorite YouTube clip or mobile gameplay stream. That’s a pre-roll ad. It’s a form of video ad that shows before the content the user actually clicked on.
Here’s how it fits into the bigger picture:
- Pre-roll ads: Play before the video. Ideal for grabbing attention and setting the message early.
- Mid-roll ads: Show during the video. Good for deeper engagement but can interrupt flow of user experience.
- Post-roll ads: Appear after the video. Least intrusive, but often skipped by users.
We love pre-roll because it’s a quick gateway to get user attention. Especially in mobile-first formats, where every second matters and with users thumbs are ready to skip anytime.
The average consumer today spends around one hundred minutes watching online videos each day. While it’s impossible to pinpoint the exact number of pre-roll ads shown, since it varies by platform, content, and use. Still the pre-roll ads remain a common and often unavoidable part of the online video experience.
So, if your current video strategy does not have video pre-roll in it, it might be time for a rethink.
Why Pre-Roll Ads Matter for Mobile Apps and SaaS Brands
Let’s be real, users today are flooded with content. Cutting through the noise at the top of the funnel is tough. That’s where pre-roll advertising shines. It delivers your message before users even get to what they came for, which is exactly why it’s so powerful for brand awareness.
Here’s how we see pre-roll ads moving the needle:
Building Top-of-Funnel Awareness (Fast)
When your ad shows up before a popular video or stream, you get guaranteed visibility, no scrolling, no skipping (at least not right away). That’s a goldmine for brand recognition, especially when you’re launching a new app or entering a competitive space.
In fact, according to a study, 54% of mobile users rated pre-roll as engaging, higher than any other video ad format. Even better, pre-roll ads on mobile had a 72% recall rate when people were asked if they remembered seeing them, while outstream ads had only a 28% recall rate, and mid-roll ads had 39%.
Microsoft Loop utilized YouTube pre-roll ads featuring high-quality 3D animations to effectively communicate the platform’s features and benefits.
The result of using visually engaging pre-roll ads helped Microsoft Loop stand out in the competitive SaaS market, capturing viewer attention and enhancing brand recall.
Driving Installs and Site Visits
Pre-roll doesn’t just build awareness. When used correctly with the right call-to-action and engaging and creative, it will highly drive performance. Here’s what current benchmarks tell us:
The average click-through rate (CTR) for YouTube Ads, which are predominantly pre-roll or in-stream formats, sits around 0.65% as of early 2025. That’s in line with or slightly higher than other video formats, thanks to their front-loaded visibility and less disruptive nature.
Platforms That Support Pre-Roll Video Advertising
Not all pre-roll ads are created equal and neither are the platforms that serve them. Depending on your audience and campaign goals (awareness vs. installs, broad reach vs. niche engagement), choosing the right pre-roll inventory can make or break your ROI.
Here’s a quick tour of the major players:
YouTube
Let’s start with YouTube pre-roll ads which are arguably the most well-known among users. They appear before videos across YouTube’s massive network, including mobile, desktop, and TV.
- Formats: Skippable in-stream, non-skippable in-stream, bumper ads.
- Strengths: Huge reach, strong targeting via Google Ads (keywords, interests, placements).
- Best for: Awareness, app installs, retargeting site or YouTube viewers.
For example, between November and December 2023, Genshin Impact launched over 5,500 ad creatives on YouTube across various countries.
The ads showcased the game’s high-quality visuals, immersive soundtrack, and dynamic gameplay to captivate viewers.
This extensive campaign significantly boosted the game’s global visibility and user engagement.
Facebook Video
While Facebook doesn’t traditionally call them “pre-roll,” video ads often auto-play before or within video content in-feed and in Stories. On Facebook Audience Network, however, true pre-roll placements are available in third-party publisher content.
- Formats: In-feed video, in-stream pre-roll via Audience Network.
- Strengths: Detailed audience targeting, strong mobile performance.
- Best for: Behavioral targeting, cross-platform retargeting.
Case in point is Netflix, which often uses short, high-impact video ads to showcase multiple trending titles in a single spot. This chaotic but engaging style grabs attention fast and leads directly to more sign-ups.
TikTok Spark Ads
TikTok doesn’t offer traditional pre-roll in the same way as in other platforms, but Spark Ads and TopView placements behave similarly. Basically, Tiktok spark ads shown first when users open the app, giving them pre-content visibility.
- Formats: TopView (first ad when app opens), Spark Ads (boosting creator videos).
- Strengths: High engagement, native feel, creative virality.
- Best for: Brand storytelling, viral hooks, creative-first campaigns.
Take a look at Sephora’s strategy trying to create fun and engaging video content that resonated with their target audience. These videos were promoted as Spark Ads.
As a result, Sephora gained 6x more subscribers without increasing the campaign budget. The campaign also saw high engagement, with average rates between 20% and 40%.
CTV/OTT Platforms (Roku, Hulu, Amazon, etc.)
Connected TV (CTV) and Over-The-Top (OTT) services like Hulu, Roku, and Amazon Freevee offer true pre-roll placements on big screens. These ads reach highly engaged viewers in long-form content environments.
- Formats: Non-skippable pre-roll or mid-roll in streaming TV content.
- Strengths: Premium inventory, high view completion rates.
- Best for: High-impact brand campaigns, retargeting across devices, cross-platform synergy.
Each of these platforms has unique creative requirements and best practices. The key? Match your creative and message to the user behavior of the platform.
How to Create High-Performing Pre-Roll Ads
The truth is most pre-roll ads underperform not because the format doesn’t work, but because the creative isn’t built for how people actually consume them.
Our knowledge of video creatives across platforms reveals these consistent factors that separate high performers from the rest:
1. Hook Early, Like, Immediately
The first 3–5 seconds are everything. This is the time where viewers usually tend to skip ads, so if your ad doesn’t earn their attention fast, it’s most likely gone.
So, start with movement, surprise, or a question that speaks directly to your audience’s pain point.
Try this: Start with a bold claim (“Cut your CAC in half”), a visual pop (zoom, motion graphics), or a familiar situation (“Ever deleted an app because it was too slow?”).
For example, Zapier, an automated ai workflow app, successfully implemented this by opening with a scene that immediately resonates: sales manager drowning in tasks, unsure how to delegate. It’s a common B2B pain point, presented in a fun, almost magical way that stands out. This instantly signals relevance to the viewer and gets them to stick around.
2. Brand Fast, but Not in Their Face
After you get the user’s attention, don’t save your logo for the end. Pre-roll ads often flash their brand elements (logos, color, voice over) in the first 5 seconds consistently see higher aided recall and CTR. Just make sure it feels natural, not like a forced intro.
What works: Product UI early in the ad, brand colors throughout, or logo placement in corners without interrupting the message.
Like something Dropbox’s ad does by starting the ads with eye-catching visuals, quickly showcasing its logo and the product’s benefits and highlights real-world teamwork, reinforcing its brand message “Keep Team Flowing”.
3. Make It Mobile-First
Even on platforms like YouTube or TikTok, over 70% of views happen on mobile. That means your visuals need to be:
- Bright and high contrast.
- Legible without sound (add captions).
- Framed tightly on faces or key UI elements.
4. One Message, One CTA
Pre-roll ads work best when the creative drives users with one clear action, whether that’s “Install Now,” “Watch More,” or “Learn How.” Make sure to pick one key message you want to convey towards your users.
Something that ClickUp’s ad does with a burst of humor. Starting with a frustrated marketing manager hurls her laptop across the room, instantly capturing the chaos project managers face when juggling too many tools.
The message is crystal clear: ClickUp is the all-in-one workspace that replaces that mess. It speaks directly to the pain point, presents the solution, and wraps with a clean, actionable CTA: “ClickUp. Get started.”
5. Use Dynamic Creative (If Budget Allows)
If you’re running across platforms or geographic locations, test dynamic creative optimization (DCO). This lets you tailor the visuals or message to the viewer and increase relevance without producing 20 separate versions.
Targeting and Retargeting with Pre-Roll Campaigns
Creating great pre-roll ads is only half the battle. Getting them in front of the right audience? That’s where the real growth happens.
Here’s how we approach targeting for pre-roll, especially when the goal is app installs or signups.
1. Start with Lookalike Audiences
Lookalikes are your cheat code. Platforms like Facebook, YouTube (via Google Ads), and TikTok allow you to create audiences based on your existing users then find people with similar behaviors.
For example if your audience is usually people who browse tech gadgets, you can create Lookalike Audience based on their behaviours, like following tech influencers or buying similar items.
These platforms will identify new users who share similar patterns and interests, even though they’ve never interacted with your brand before. This helps expand your reach and find people more likely to be interested in your products, without having to start from scratch.
2. Layer in Behavioral and Interest Targeting
Don’t stop only at your users’ demographics. Tap into their behaviors that signal purchase intent or category interest:
- App category interests (gaming, finance, health).
- Platform usage (iOS vs Android).
- Recent app download behavior (especially on YouTube and Google Ads).
3. Retarget Website and App Visitors
Retargeting with pre-roll is an effective way to reach your users who already know your brand, but might need a little push or new sentiment that is valuable for your users.
Here’s the following approach we recommend you to try:
- Video sequences: Show different ads in a funnel: awareness > value prop > call to action.
- Offer-based retargeting: Push trial offers or limited-time promos to abandoners.
- Creative refresh: Use new messaging or visuals for returning users to combat banner blindness.
Platforms like YouTube, Meta (Facebook, Instagram), and TikTok let you retarget based on:
- Website visits
- App installs or actions (via SDK or MMP integration)
- Video engagement (for example, watched 75% of a previous ad)
Key Metrics to Track for Pre-Roll Ad Campaigns
You can’t optimize what you don’t measure. Same goes for pre-roll advertising, where it is easy to fall into the trap of vanity metrics like “views” or “impressions.” But what you really want are indicators of attention, engagement, and most importantly: action.
Here’s what we track closely (and you should too):
1. View-Through Rate (VTR)
VTR = (Completed views / Impressions) × 100
This is your signal of how engaging your ad is. High VTR means people are sticking around. On skippable formats like YouTube, about 10-15% is average, so above 15% VTR is considered a solid good number.
For non-skippable CTV placements, you’re looking at 90%+.
2. Click-Through Rate (CTR)
CTR = (Clicks / Impressions) × 100
CTR shows how compelling your message and call-to-action are. As of early 2025, the average CTR for YouTube pre-roll is around 0.65%, so you aim to beat that.
3. Cost Per Acquisition (CPA)
Whether your goal is installs, signups, or purchases, CPA is your primary metric. It tells you how much you’re spending to acquire one customer or user.
To optimize:
- Compare CPA across targeting segments (for example, new vs. retargeted users).
- Test bid strategies (for example, tCPA vs. manual bids).
- Refine creatives based on highest converting variants.
4. Install Rate
For mobile apps, install rate (also known as CVR or conversion rate) is key.
Install Rate = (Installs / Clicks) × 100
If you’re getting a lot of clicks but few installs, this indicates difficulties users are encountering with your store listing or you have targeted the wrong audiences.
Try aligning the ad more closely with the app store experience (same tone, benefits, visuals).
Common Mistakes to Avoid with Pre-Roll Ads
We’ve seen pre-roll campaigns fail, not because the format doesn’t work, but because of a few preventable missteps. Here’s what to avoid if you want your ads to perform (and not just play in the background).
1. Taking Too Long to Deliver the Message
If your hook takes 10 seconds to get to the point, you’ve already lost. Most viewers decide whether to skip within the first 3–5 seconds. If your product, benefit, or call-to-action isn’t clear by then? You’re just background noise.
How to fix it: Put your key message right up front. Open strong, and make your CTA impossible to miss.
2. Weak or Untested Creative
Just repurposing your 30-second brand film? It won’t cut it. Pre-roll ads live by different rules. It’s fast, noisy, and full of distractions. What works on Instagram Stories won’t always land on YouTube or CTV.
How to fix it: Test multiple versions with different hooks, visuals, and lengths.
3. Ignoring Mobile Optimization
Still using desktop-formatted videos? You’re leaving performance on the table. For example, 70% of Youtube video views happen on mobile, and users won’t pinch and zoom to see your message.
How to fix it: Design for mobile-first from day one. That means vertical or square framing, readable captions, fast pacing, and high contrast visuals.
4. One-Size-Fits-All Targeting
If you’re blasting the same pre-roll to everyone, don’t be surprised when results fall flat. Context matters. New users need different messaging than returning ones. iOS users might convert differently than Android.
How to fix it: Segment your audiences and tailor the creative to their behavior or funnel stage. Even simple A/B tests between prospecting and retargeting audiences can show huge performance differences.
Final Thoughts: Why Pre-Roll Ads Are a Must-Have for 2025 App Growth
If there’s one thing we’ve learned from managing countless mobile user acquisition campaigns, it’s this: attention is earned, not assumed. In 2025, where users are flooded with content, pre-roll ads give you a unique shot at earning it.
Here’s why we believe pre-roll deserves a permanent place in your growth stack:
- It drives real outcomes from app installs to brand lift
- It meets users where they already are: watching video, especially on mobile
- It complements both performance and awareness strategies
- It gives you data-rich insights you can act on across the funnel
Yes, the format can be tricky. But when you lean into the medium, craft purpose-built ads, and match message to mindset, pre-roll becomes a high-leverage channel.
If you’re ready to get more from your video spend or just want a second set of eyes on your current pre-roll strategy, we’re here to help. Contact TyrAds and talk to us about optimizing your pre-roll campaigns now!
