Ecommerce video ads

The five formats and what each needs

Every format is cut for vertical placements first. TikTok ad specs and Meta ad specs give the ratio, length and safe zone for each placement.

Product demo

A demo answers “does it work?”. A hand picks the product up, uses it and shows the result in the first seconds. You need the real product and a clear angle, and a phone is enough. AI tools make a version where an avatar holds the product from your photo: MakeUGC and Tagshop list product-in-hand video, and CreateUGC lists it from its Scale plan.

Talking head

A person speaks to the camera in a casual voice, as a customer would. Ad people call this UGC, short for user-generated content. UGC video examples shows the common scripts. An AI tool can make this format: an avatar reads a script written from your product page. Creatify lists 300 AI actors on Standard.

Before and after

This format shows two states of the same thing, such as a stained shirt and a clean one. It needs two honest captures made in the same light. An AI-made “after” stops being a result, so the ad proves nothing.

Founder story

The founder tells why they made the product. The format works because the face is the founder’s, so an AI presenter standing in for a founder undoes it. JoggAI’s terms add a rule on this: you may not represent that AI output “is entirely human generated”, which a founder story played by an avatar would do. AI UGC and the law covers the presenter rules.

Offer to past visitors

This ad goes to people who already looked at a product, with the product they viewed and an offer. It needs the shop’s tracking tag. Meta’s Pixel guide says three events must be tracked first: a product view, an add to cart and a purchase (ViewContent, AddToCart and Purchase). Shoppable video ads covers the product list and the placements.

What one 30-second ad costs

Three routes make a 30-second ad: a filmed creator, an editor who cuts footage you shot, and an AI tool. Creator ranges come from Insense’s rate guide, editor rates from Upwork and AI figures from each tool’s price page. None includes ad spend.

Insense’s guide gives its creator ranges per video, with no sample or method stated and no length. Upwork’s page publishes hourly rates from active contracts, and the median for each tier is the figure above. An editor’s bill is the rate times the hours one ad takes, and no source publishes the hours.

The AI rows are the plan price divided by what the plan gives. They count credits spent on one render, so a version you throw away costs again. The AI UGC price per ad page works the same sum for more tools and adds the rounding rules.

A filmed ad has two costs the AI rows do not: shipping the product to the creator, and the days it takes. An AI ad has one the filmed ad does not. The avatar is not a real customer, and platforms label AI content: see TikTok AI labels and Meta AI disclosure.

Making one from a product link

The shortest route has five steps. It needs a product page with clear photos and a description.

1. Choose the product page. A page with several photos and a plain description gives the tool more to work from.
2. Paste the link into a link to video tool, such as Creatify’s URL to Video page. URL to video AI tools compares eight of them on the stores they read and what they cost.
3. Choose a presenter and read the script against your page. Fix any price, claim or size the tool got wrong.
4. Make three versions with different openings, so you can see which one holds a viewer’s attention.
5. Export vertical and check the safe zone in the spec guide before you upload.

Creatify’s free plan has 10 credits a month. Its help centre says a video bills 5 credits per 15 seconds, so 10 credits make up to two 15-second videos. Those videos carry a watermark. A watermarked draft shows what the tool does with your page, and a paid plan makes the version you run.

For several products, Zeely’s page says a Shopify store can upload up to 10 in one go.

For real shop ads to study before you make your own, search a brand in the Meta Ad Library. It shows the ads a page is running, so you see which formats a shop keeps.

Questions shop owners ask about video ads

Which ecommerce video ad should I make first?

Start with the product demo or the talking head. Both need only a product and a script, and both can be made by an AI tool from a product link. The founder story and the before and after need real footage you hold.

Do I need a creator to make a video ad?

No. A creator costs more per video and takes longer, but a creator’s real face is the point of some formats. An AI avatar is cheaper per video and reads any script you write.

How long should a video ad be?

No platform sets one length. TikTok’s In-Feed page recommends none and allows up to 10 minutes. This page prices 30 seconds so the AI routes compare on one length.