What are video ads? Formats and value for B2B

Video ads are paid advertisements in video format that you show to an audience, mainly on YouTube but also on the Google video partner network and on social platforms. Put simply: instead of a text ad or a banner, you pay to put your message in moving images in front of the right people. For a B2B company, video ads are rarely where the deal is closed, but they are a strong way to get decision-makers to know your brand and to move them towards a request.

We are a Belgian B2B growth agency, a small team that would rather steer on pipeline than on viewing figures. Video ads are often judged on the wrong numbers (views, watch time) while the only thing that counts is what comes out at the bottom of the funnel. In this article you will read what video ads are, which formats exist, and when they pay off for you.

Checking returns: see whether your ads are profitable with the free ROAS calculator.

What exactly are video ads?

Video ads are advertising units made up of video that you buy through an advertising platform and target at an audience. The best-known channel is YouTube, which offers enormous reach as the second largest search engine in the world, but video ads also appear on apps and sites in the Google video partner network and on platforms such as LinkedIn and Meta.

Unlike a classic search engine ad, where you capture existing demand (someone is actively searching), a video ad interrupts someone who is busy doing something else: watching a video, scrolling, doing research. So you are not capturing existing demand but trying to create demand or keep it alive. That distinction, which we explore in our article on what search engine advertising is, determines everything about how you deploy and judge video ads.

Which video ad formats exist?

On YouTube and its associated network, these are the main formats:

• Skippable in-stream ads. They play before, during or after a video and can be skipped after five seconds. You only pay when someone watches or interacts. Room for a more elaborate story.
• Non-skippable in-stream ads. Short spots (usually up to fifteen seconds) that are watched in full. Aimed at message delivery and reach.
• Bumper ads. Non-skippable and no longer than six seconds, ideal for one sharp message or to stay in memory through repetition.
• In-feed video ads. They appear between search results and recommended videos; people choose to click themselves.
• Shorts ads. Vertical, short videos within the Shorts feed, built for mobile scrolling behaviour.

On social platforms you come across comparable variants: in-feed video, stories and short vertical clips. Alongside video ads there are also visual banner formats on the Google Display Network, but those are static or lightly animated, not full video.

How do you use video ads for conversions?

For a long time, video advertising was mainly about awareness: reach and frequency. But you can also steer video ads towards action. In Google Ads, that happens through Demand Gen since 2025. Google upgraded the former video action campaigns to Demand Gen: a campaign type that combines video and imagery across YouTube (including Shorts), Discover, Gmail and the Display Network, with conversions as the goal. If you want the background to that conversion-focused approach, our article on video action campaigns on YouTube goes into more depth.

Regardless of the campaign type, three things determine whether you get leads or burn budget:

• The hook. The first few seconds decide everything. Start with the pain or the promise, not with a logo intro.
• The offer. Give a concrete, low-threshold next step: a demo, an audit, an advisory call. Vague brand messages do not convert.
• The call to action. The button, the headline and the spoken prompt all point the same way. One action per video.

On top of that: let the campaign optimise on a real conversion, make sure your landing page repeats the promise of the video, and work with intent-based audiences instead of fishing broadly.

When do video ads pay off for B2B?

Honestly: video ads are not a quick win for every B2B company. They work best as an amplifier in the middle of the funnel, not as a starting point. The typical B2B buyer journey takes weeks to months: someone searches around a problem, reads, compares, and only decides much later. During that period, video ads keep your brand warm and push decision-makers towards a request, while your search campaigns capture the purchase-ready demand.

Video ads pay off if you:

• already have running search campaigns and some brand recognition to build on,
• have a concrete offer that is worth a click,
• can measure on pipeline instead of on views.

They do not pay off (yet) if you have no acquisition base or no reliable conversion measurement. In that case, invest in your SEA fundamentals first. And the crucial point: never judge video ads on impressions or watch time. A video with a million views and zero requests is a loss. Feed offline conversions back from your CRM and measure lead-to-deal, only then do you know whether YouTube really delivers pipeline. That is how at Facilicom we steered on quality instead of volume and achieved 25% media savings, precisely by not chasing vanity metrics.

Frequently asked questions about video ads

Where do video ads appear?

Mainly on YouTube and the Google video partner network (apps and sites), but also on social platforms such as LinkedIn and Meta. Within Google Ads, conversion-focused video ads also appear via Demand Gen on Shorts, Discover and Gmail.

What is the difference between video ads and search ads?

Search ads capture existing demand: someone searches actively and you appear. Video ads interrupt someone who is doing something else, to create demand or keep your brand alive. That is why you judge them differently: on their contribution to later requests, not on direct clicks.

How am I billed for video ads?

That depends on the format and the goal. With skippable in-stream you often only pay when someone watches or interacts; with conversion-focused campaigns the platform optimises on your chosen conversion. Always steer on cost per qualified request, not on cost per view.

Do video action campaigns still exist?

Not as a separate campaign type. Google upgraded video action campaigns to Demand Gen in 2025. Today you set up conversion-focused YouTube videos through Demand Gen.

Want to know whether video ads fit into your growth engine?

Video ads only become a serious B2B channel when you build them for conversion and measure them on pipeline instead of on views. We help Belgian B2B companies assess whether YouTube and video ads really deliver leads within their Google Ads approach, or whether the budget is better spent on your search and demand layers.

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