Like the Clicks objective—which launched in March this year—the Video Views objective is designed to drive mid-funnel outcomes for advertisers, increasing consideration for their product, service, or brand.

Today also marks the launch of Opt-In Video—a new, non-interruptive video ad format available on Spotify Ads Manager.

Below, we explain the details of these two new features and the opportunities they can bring to advertisers running campaigns on Ads Manager in 2023 and beyond.

What is Opt-In Video and how does it work on Spotify?

Opt-In Video is a new, non-interruptive video ad format that Spotify users will encounter on the Now Playing View (NPV), when they are engaging with the app. By leveraging the power of machine learning to understand listening habits—combined with the scale unlocked by the NPV—Spotify can target listeners who are in-view and likely to watch your video ad.

When an ad-supported listener enters the NPV while streaming music, a video ad is rendered after two seconds, in place of the audio artwork. Ads will autoplay with the sound off as music content continues to play on mobile with the screen in focus. They’ll have a choice of three actions to take at any point while the ad is playing:

• Click the ad to unmute and expand the creative to full-screen, pausing the current track
  
• Click the CTA button to trigger a visit to an-advertiser specified URL in our in-app browser
  
• Dismiss the ad and return to the standard NPV to continue listening

If the listener doesn’t take any action, the ad will play to completion with the sound off. Check out the demo of Opt-In Video in use, below:

What is the Video Views objective and how does it work?

Ads Manager’s Video Views objective breaks new ground for self-serve advertisers on Spotify, making it possible to reach listeners showing intent to engage and interact with a video ad. The Opt-In Video ad format means you can now deliver your brand message with video at scale, as listeners engage with the Spotify app in-focus.

The Video Views objective optimises campaigns for three-second views of video ads—a marker that we believe is a reliable signal of intent. The objective is the fourth to launch in Ads Manager and the second that’s designed to drive mid-to-lower funnel outcomes (like website visits) for advertisers. Learn more about advertising objectives in Ads Manager here.

What benefits do these updates unlock for Ads Manager users?

Today’s launch introduces new benefits to Ads Manager users in the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom.

1. Delivered in the Now Playing View (NPV) when we know the app is in-focus, Opt-In Video ads allow your brand to be front and centre, alongside the music content listeners have chosen to stream.
   

2. Opt-In Video ads are optimised to reach listeners who are more likely to be receptive to your brand message.
   

3. Opt-In Video ads are served only when the app is in-focus, to deliver high viewability and increased consideration.
   

4. Responsive design puts the listener in control to drive more qualified engagement.
   

5. Greater reach enabled by Opt-In Video increases the supply of video inventory available to Spotify Ads Manager campaigns.
   

6. Non-interruptive video provides you with richer signals of engagement and success of your creative assets through measurement of opt-in views.

How are video views measured?

By optimising for video ad views in Ads Manager, you’ll increase your chances of listener engagement and consideration; a video view will be counted once your video plays for at least three seconds.

You can also measure listener engagement of the Opt-In Video format with the 'expands' and 'expand rate' metrics provided in Ads Manager's reporting tool. Video expands are the number of times an in-focus listener has tapped your ad to expand it, while the expand rate is the number of ad expands divided by the number of ad impressions.

Creative best practices

You can start leveraging the Video Views objective from today—but before you do, consider some of these best practices in order to maximise performance.