Hulu Advertising: Types, Benefits and More

We hope that this guide will help you be successful in Hulu advertising, whether you are just looking for a small advertisement or planning a big splash to increase sales.

Along with Roku, Netflix, and Disney+, Hulu is a top-ranking television streaming service. Ads have been utilized to promote subscriptions for both live and on-demand streaming.

To help you understand how Hulu ads operate and how to create and run ads using the Hulu Ads Manager, I’ll go over the fundamentals of Hulu advertising 101 in this article.

What is Hulu?

Owned by the Walt Disney Company, Hulu is an American online video streaming service. It provides both live and on-demand access to movies and television. Hulu, which debuted in 2008, is the only service that provides access to all of the major U.S. broadcast network.

Viewers on Hulu have the option of seeing advertisements or not while watching videos. The non-ad-supported plan is $11.99 per month while the ad supported plan is $5.99.

While live TV subscribers have access to extra features like Cloud DVR, Hulu subscribers also have the option to download specific movies and TV shows.

Can You Advertise With Hulu?

Yes, Hulu provides a self-service advertising platform that will enable your advertisements to reach potential clients for your company.

Naturally, there are things to take into account before beginning your Hulu advertising campaign.

For instance, they provide various ad types, and you must consider pricing and budgeting, ad management, and how to reach your target audience.

Read More: Does Soundcloud Have Ads?

What is Hulu Advertising?

Hulu has made a name for itself in the expanding advertising-video-on-demand (AVOD) market in the United States by positioning itself as a front-runner and providing businesses with a broad advertising platform that enables them to reach a new generation of TV viewers. The number of Hulu’s ad-supported viewers has surpassed 110 million, and as the platform expands internationally, that number is expected to rise sharply.

Hulu’s self-service Ad Manager was launched to give advertisers a simple way to connect with this expanding audience. With a low minimum spend of $500, this has made streaming TV advertising more accessible to businesses of all sizes.

Hulu Ad Manager’s main objective is to give advertisers a simple, user-friendly tool for launching, managing, and tracking their streaming ads.

Read More: How To Skip Ads On Hulu?

Types of Ads That You Can Run on Hulu

To effectively target its audience, Hulu offers a variety of ad options. You can choose an advertisement based on the demands and constraints of your campaign.

Here are the top ad choices available on Hulu:

1. Standard Video Ads

When watching any of Hulu’s full episodes, there will be a commercial break. These advertisements can also be seen as companion banners or as pre-rolls for videos hosted by Hulu’s distribution partners.

2. Branded Slate Ads

Branded slate ads are advertisements that are displayed prior to the beginning of the program. There are two types of branded slate ads:

• Branded slate offers a 7-second clip of your brand logo that says “the following program is brought to you with limited commercial interruption by <advertiser name>”.
• Premium branded slate lets you add a 5-second video clip of your ad along with the standard custom title card used in the branded slate.

3. Branded Entertainment Selector Ads

Viewers can choose the length of the commercials they want to watch with the help of the Branded Entertainment Selector (BES). Users can select between long-form and short-form commercials, for instance.

4. Ad Selector

The advertiser can give users two to three options using the ad selector. Any option can be chosen by the user, and depending on that choice, video advertising will play throughout the entire show.

For instance, if a car advertiser gives the viewer a choice between a truck, SUV, or Coupe, and the viewer selects SUV, then ads for SUVs are displayed throughout the program.

Due to this ad selection, users can choose ads based on their areas of interest, giving advertisers the best chance to provide pertinent branding.

5. Binge Ads

During a viewer’s binge session, advertisers can reach the audience with messages that are contextually relevant by using “binge ads.” These commercials assist companies in non-intrusive audience engagement.

A viewer who has watched three or more episodes of a given series is considered to have binge-watched. Binge Ads are already being used to reach consumers by brands like Maker’s Mark and Kellogg’s.

6. Cover Story Brand Placement Ads

For high-end customers with sizable advertising budgets (above $100,000), the cover story brand placement is available. The advertiser can integrate their branding with the homepage of Hulu by purchasing cover story brand placement.

7. GatewayGo Ads

All of the Hulu advertisement types we’ve talked about so far are focused on building brands. GatewayGo, on the other hand, is an option for action-oriented ad placement where brands have the chance to move conversion goals from streaming TV to mobile devices.

In order to motivate audiences to act right away, these advertisements make use of technologies like QR codes and push notifications.

8. Interactive Living Room Ads

Selected advertisers are given the chance to use interactive living room ads to showcase their products. Viewers can learn more about the brand’s most recent goods and services from these full-screen advertisements.

Note: For more information about interactive living room ads, get in touch with your Hulu sales representative.

9. Promoted Content Marquee Ads

Entertainment companies looking to publicize the start of a new series can use marquee ads for promoted content. These advertisements mimic the appearance of episodes or full-length movies on Hulu.

10. Pause Ads

When a viewer pauses the video while still viewing it, pause ads are shown. It provides a user-initiated ad experience that is not intrusive. Advertisers can own a satisfying viewer experience by owning the ad that is displayed on the bottom right side of the screen.

11. Sponsored Collection Brand Placement Ads

Advertisers can place their logo next to a group of shows in a sponsored collection on Hulu’s UI across all devices. These advertisements are simpler to run because the creative brief only calls for the company’s primary logo.

Why Advertise on Hulu?

Nowadays, advertising is not just limited to television and word-of-mouth.

Since the introduction of various streaming services, television advertisements have, in a sense, changed.

Customers can watch live TV, movies on demand, Hulu originals, and other network shows on any of their electronic devices as a result.

Your company has the chance to market and expand its clientele if it can run ads on Hulu.

Hulu’s ad manager makes it simple and accessible for you to manage advertisements for your company.

As a result, it works extremely well to reach your target audience and increases the likelihood that they will engage with your content later on.

Wide Reach

With Hulu’s steadily rising popularity, more people will have access to its programming, which is good for business.

Large businesses create its advertisements because they are more well-known.

Advertising can, however, help diversify and grow your company by sales and customers due to the large number of users Hulu has overall and the fact that its advertising service is open to smaller to medium-sized businesses.

Hulu Users

Don’t worry if you have doubts about whether your advertisements will effectively reach a large portion of your target audience.

Approximately 45.3 million paying customers are currently using Hulu’s streaming service as of right now.

Consider that one of the advertisements on Hulu is for your own company since you are probably already aware of how frequent the commercials are.

Hulu Ad Selector

The ad selector is one of the most well-liked features that Hulu provides.

The procedure is as follows: first, a screen will ask which commercial you would like to view and present you with two to three options.

If you do not choose an ad within 10 seconds, it will choose one at random. The ads last for approximately 15 seconds.

The Ad Selector feature is advantageous for your company because it gives potential customers the chance to actively engage with your advertisements if you use one.

Also Read: Whatsapp Advertising

Creative Guidelines and Best Practices for Hulu Ads

Hulu offers a wide variety of various advertising products, each with a special function and goal. The standard video ad format that can be utilized by Hulu Ad Manager is the subject of this article, though.

Basic Technical Specifications for Hulu Video Ads:

• Dimensions: 1920×1080
• Display Aspect Ratio: 16:9
• Duration: 15–30 seconds
• Format: QuickTime, MOV, or MPEG-4
• File size: Max. 3 GB

Creative Best Practices for Hulu Video Ads

In order to get the most out of your Hulu Ad Manager campaigns, ensure that your ads follow these six key creative best practices:

1. In the first three to five seconds, grab viewers’ attention with powerful images.
2. Give your advertisement a logo and branding at the start and the end.
3. Keep your attention on a single, distinct message. Keep things from becoming too complicated.
4. To reinforce the message, use both voice-over and text.
5. Let your brand’s personality speak for itself.
6. Adapt your creative to the needs of your target market.

How Much Does Hulu Advertising Cost?

The question of how much your business will spend on advertising arises now that these different forms of advertising are in mind.

The various rates for advertising on Hulu will be discussed here.

When it comes to setting a budget for advertisements, Hulu ad pricing is flexible for both large and small businesses.

The least expensive form of advertising costs about $500.

A cover story or brandslate are examples of more expensive advertisements that cost $100,000 or more.

Of course, there are factors to consider:

• limitations based on your ad marketing settings.
• Whether you access Hulu directly or via a different side platform.
• which types of advertisements your business uses.
• quarterly advertising-based seasonal costs.

Final Thoughts on Hulu Advertising

Hulu is one of the many streaming services that provide live TV and on-demand content, which are primarily viewed on gadgets with an internet connection.

It’s a great idea to run commercials for your company on Hulu. Not only that, but Hulu also uses over-the-top advertising (OTT) to get around limitations or schedules imposed by TV providers.

Therefore, it makes sense for every small to medium business to give Hulu a shot at least once. Hulu provides a range of ad formats and advertising targeting options for businesses with bigger advertising budgets. To make your advertisement look professional, Hulu representatives collaborate with you.

Utilize the effectiveness of Hulu advertising to effectively reach your target market on a budget.

Read More: Are Google Ads Worth It?

FAQs