Pre-Roll Video Advertising | Local Advertising & Marketing

Put your video in front of the people who already know you, and the people who should.

Pre-roll video is a 15- or 30-second video ad that plays before, or during, the videos people watch on news sites, content publishers and video streaming sites across the open web. It is bought programmatically, so the targeting is by audience rather than by place: people who visited your website, people in your service area, and people who match the age, interest and behavior profile of your customers. In the planner, pre-roll works mainly as retargeting: it follows up with people who already visited your site, at any budget above its $600 monthly minimum. At larger budgets, about $10,000 a month and up, it also starts reaching new audiences. It is a different product from GeoVideo, which targets phones seen inside a fence you draw, and from YouTube, which runs only on YouTube.

Built on real rate cards — every number sourced. See the references →

Best for

Auto dealers
Restaurants
Real estate
Tourism
Healthcare clinics
Dental practices

Pre-Roll Video Advertising questions

How is pre-roll different from GeoVideo?

GeoVideo picks its audience by place: it serves video to phones seen inside a fence you draw around a competitor, a venue or a neighborhood. Pre-roll picks its audience by who they are and what they did: your website visitors, or people in your area who match your customer profile, wherever they are watching video online.

How is pre-roll different from YouTube ads?

YouTube ads run only on YouTube. Pre-roll runs on the rest of the web: news sites, content publishers and video streaming sites. Many plans use both, because they reach people in different places.

How is pre-roll different from CTV?

CTV plays on the television screen through smart TVs and streaming devices. Pre-roll plays on phones, tablets and computers inside online video. CTV is the stronger awareness channel and costs more to start ($1,500 a month versus $600).

What is the minimum monthly spend?

Pre-roll starts at $600 a month on our rate card, priced at about $20 per thousand impressions. The budget calculator shows whether it earns a place in your plan at your budget.

Do I need a video commercial?

Yes. Pre-roll needs a 15- or 30-second video. If you do not have one, we can produce it; production is a separate one-time cost.

When does the planner recommend pre-roll?

Mostly as retargeting, to follow up with people who already visited your website, once the budget clears the $600 minimum and you have video. For pure lead generation on a small budget, search usually comes first. For business-to-business audiences, LinkedIn video is usually the better place.

A young tree being planted beside a small business sign post

Pillar 1 · Advertising is an asset

Advertising is an investment, not just an expense.

The IRS treats advertising as an ordinary and necessary business expense under Internal Revenue Code §162 — meaning it is 100% deductible in the year you spend it (per Publication 535). Unlike trucks, equipment, or furniture, you do not depreciate it over five or seven years. Every advertising dollar reduces your taxable income the same year.

Tax-favored capital deployment. A $10,000 truck depreciates over 5+ years. $10,000 in advertising deducts in full this year. After tax, every $1,000 of ad spend effectively costs $700–$750 in most brackets.
Builds brand equity over time. The audience you reach this quarter is still in your retargeting pool next year. Brand recognition compounds. Cost per acquisition typically falls in year 2+ as the audience warms.
Recorded as goodwill at sale. When a business is acquired, the brand premium is recognized as a real intangible asset (§197). The value was always there — selling the business just makes it visible on the balance sheet.
Pausing has a long tail. Businesses that stop advertising "for one quarter to save money" usually see results lag 2–3 quarters afterward — not from the pause itself, but from the equity that bled out during it.

Read the full breakdown →IRC §162 · IRS Pub 535 ↗

Several streams converging into one river in the hills

Pillar 2 · Diversified channel portfolio

One channel is fragile. A portfolio is durable.

Putting an entire ad budget on one platform is the marketing equivalent of putting an entire 401(k) into one stock — it might work, but it is exposed. A diversified mix across complementary channels reaches more of your audience, hits the 5–7 exposure threshold consumers need before they act, and protects against single-platform risk.

No single channel reaches everyone. Facebook, Google, radio, CTV — each touches a different slice of your market at different times of day. A diversified mix covers more of the day, more devices, and more decision contexts.
Effective frequency without burnout. Stacking radio + audio + search + retargeting + geofence delivers 6–8 weekly touches across fresh contexts — without one channel becoming repetitive enough to annoy.
Channels compound each other. Radio raises branded search volume — making Google Ads cheaper. Display retargeting converts better on audio-warmed audiences. Geofencing converts better when followed by search. The portfolio is worth more than the sum of its channels.
Platform-risk reduction. Algorithm shifts, ad-account flags, CPM spikes, policy changes — any of these can cut a single-channel program off overnight. Diversification means a bad month on one platform is tolerable, not a crisis.
Full-funnel coverage. Every channel does a different job: brand-equity (radio, streaming audio, CTV), audience-building (geo, social, display), and conversion (search, retargeting, email). A real plan funds all three layers.

Read the full breakdown →Krugman · Nielsen · Westwood One ↗

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Real rate cards. Every number sourced. See the references →

Put your video in front of the people who already know you, and the people who should.

The full pre-roll video advertising toolkit

Want to know if pre-roll video advertising is the right fit for your business?

Pre-Roll Video Advertising questions

Advertising is an investment, not just an expense.

One channel is fragile. A portfolio is durable.

Often used alongside

Geo Video Advertising

YouTube Advertising

CTV & OTT Advertising

Retargeting Advertising

Creative Services

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