Turn streamers into shoppers with action ads.
Action ads bring interactivity to your streaming video ads, letting customers learn more about your brand, product, or service while your ad plays.
Action ads include a clickable overlay with a call to action (e.g., Buy Now, Learn More, Sign Up, etc.) that prompts users to grab their iconic Roku remote and "press OK." They’ll then receive a text message with more info from your brand.
Dive deeper into specific action ads topics:
Additionally, consider reviewing these articles for even more info:
Why use action ads?
Action ads provide potential customers a direct path to engage with your brand by adding interactivity to your video ads. This interactivity encourages action during the critical impulse moment created by your ad.
This interactive capability can help convert more streamers into shoppers by letting your target audience take immediate and simple action while your ad plays. With just a few clicks of their remote, they’ll receive a custom text message from your brand.
With no additional minimums or premiums, action ads are the perfect creative tool for brands looking to directly engage with their streaming customers.
Which brands can use action ads?
Action ads are generally available for all accepted ad categories except:
Alcohol
Cryptocurrency products and services
Over-the-counter Drugs and supplements
Political
[The above list is subject to change from time to time at Roku’s discretion. You remain solely responsible for ensuring your use of action ads complies with all applicable laws].
When and where will my action ads be shown?
Campaigns with approved action ads will air both action ads and standard video ads, depending on which Placement was selected. Learn more Placements here.
The interactive components of your Action Ad -- the overlay, call to action, logo, and text message copy -- will only be shown on ads that run on The Roku Channel.
Ads that run on "Other streaming apps" will run as standard video ads, without action ad components. This placement helps you reach your audience wherever they may be streaming, but note that any ads served in this placement will not include the action ad overlay.
To maximize the number of ads that air as action ads, consider selecting only "Roku" placements and removing "Other streaming apps" placements, as shown in the following screenshot.
[Most action ads served on The Roku Channel will render an interactive overlay, but we cannot guarantee every impression on The Roku Channel will render an overlay. We will endeavor to deliver the interactive components of an action ad as much as possible on any campaign with The Roku Channel inventory.]
What will streamers see when an Action Ad plays?
While your ad is playing, streamers will see a prompt telling them that they should press OK to take some action. The type of action will be defined by you when you create the ad (e.g., learn more, buy now, etc.).
Like the streamer experience for video ads, the streamer will see an ad begin to play. If the ad is an action ad, they will also see an overlay on their TV screen while the ad plays.
This overlay will prompt the user to press OK on their Roku remote. From there, the ad pauses, and the user confirms their phone number to receive a text from your brand. Once they’ve confirmed, they'll jump right back to the ad. Their content will resume when the ad break ends.
If a user never presses OK, ads will continue to play as expected until content resumes.
How to create an Action Ad
For more details on building action ads, check out this article.
Action Ads are created in three simple steps:
Upload a video asset (or select a previously approved video)
Customize your overlay: background color, call-to-action, message, and logo
Enter your text message: choose the text to send to streamers who press OK
Then you'll simply submit your creative for approval, and your campaign will launch once approved, providing it is published and live.