Skip to main content

Upload a video creative

Add or embed a video to your creative library, and add custom tracking solutions to it such as a click URL or impression tracking URL.

Written by Team IQM

On this page:

Video creative overview

Advertisers rely on video creatives to encourage brand recall with rich storytelling content that leaves a lasting impression. You can add video creatives to your creative library in the IQM platform one by one or in bulk, and from the following locations:

You can also choose between video creatives and VAST extensible markup language (XML)/URLs, or use a combination of the two in your video campaigns. Refer to Creative ad specs to confirm that your creatives follow IQM and industry requirements before you add them.

Video tutorial: Upload a video creative

Add a standard video creative

Add video creatives from the Creatives app

Follow these steps to add video creatives from the Creatives app:

  1. Open the Creatives app.

  2. Select Video.

  3. Click + Add new. This will open the Video Creative pop-up window.
    ​

  4. Choose which method you’d like to follow to add the video creatives:

    1. Upload them from your computer’s local files.

    2. Drag-and-drop them from your computer’s local files.

    3. Upload them from a Google Drive or Dropbox account.

  5. To upload a creative from your computer’s local files, select Upload Video, choose one or more video files, and click Open.

  6. To drag-and-drop a creative, open your computer’s local files, choose one or more video files, and drag your cursor from those files to the or Drag and Drop section of the Video pop-up window.

  7. To upload a creative from an external Google Drive or Dropbox account, select the corresponding company’s icon.

    1. A pop-up window will open and prompt you to log in, accept any applicable privacy settings, and select the files from the online drive.

  8. Play the video to confirm that it renders and plays as expected.

  9. Enter a name for the creative.

  10. In the Click URL field, enter the full URL address where users will be directed to when they click on the creative.

    1. To apply the same click URL to each of the creatives you’re uploading, use the Click URL field found in the Apply to all section instead.

  11. Complete the 3rd Party ID, Custom Tracking, and/or Pixel URL fields, if desired.

    1. Refer to Add custom tracking to a video creative for more details and instructions.

  12. Select Add Creative to save the creative(s) to the Creatives app.

Add video creatives from the Campaigns app

Follow these steps to add video creatives from the Campaigns app:

  1. Select the Campaigns app from the homepage.

  2. Choose an insertion order (IO), then filter or search your campaigns to locate the one for which you want to add a new creative.

  3. Locate the Campaign Name column and click the campaign’s name. We’ll redirect you to a landing page for the campaign, where you can add or update its details and targeting parameters.

    1. Select + Create Campaign instead if you’d like to add the new creative to a new campaign.
      ​

  4. Locate and expand the Video Creatives section.

  5. Select + New Creative.

  6. Follow steps 4 through 12 of the Add video creatives from the Creatives app workflow.

  7. Save the creative(s) to the campaign.

    1. If this is an existing campaign, click Save on the campaign’s landing page.

    2. If this is a new campaign, click Save as Draft on the campaign’s landing page, or click Run if you’ve completed all other required and applicable sections of the campaign.

Add a VAST XML/URL

Add VAST XML/URLs from the Creatives app

VAST XML/URL template: Select Sample File in the Video pop-up window to download a spreadsheet template if you plan to add one or more VAST XML/URLs via a spreadsheet upload. Follow its formatting guidelines:

  1. Add the Creative Name to Column A.

  2. Add the XML or URL code to Column B.

  3. Add each additional creative via a separate row.

You can save and reupload the spreadsheet to easily add your video creatives individually or in bulk.

Follow these steps to add VAST XML/URLs from the Creatives app:

  1. Open the Creatives app.

  2. Select Video.

  3. Click + Add new. This will open the Video Creative pop-up window.

  4. Choose which method you’d like to follow to add VAST code:

    1. Manually paste the code.

    2. Upload a spreadsheet that contains the code from your computer’s local files

    3. Drag-and-drop a spreadsheet that contains the code from your computer’s local files.

    4. Upload a spreadsheet that contains the code from an external Google Drive or Dropbox account.

  5. To manually paste the code, select + Add VAST XML/URL and enter the code into the VAST XML/URL field. Complete this process for each additional creative, if applicable.

  6. To upload a spreadsheet from your computer’s local files, select Upload Video, choose one or more files, and click Open.

  7. To drag-and-drop a spreadsheet, open your computer’s local files, choose one or more files, and drag your cursor from those files to the or Drag and Drop section of the Video pop-up window.

  8. To upload a spreadsheet from an external Google Drive or Dropbox account, select the corresponding company’s icon.

    1. A pop-up window will open and prompt you to log in, accept any applicable privacy settings, and select the files from the online drive.

  9. Play the video to confirm that it renders and plays as expected.

  10. Enter a name for the creative.

    1. The Creative Name field will auto-populate if you added the VAST XML/URL via spreadsheet upload and indicated a creative name in column A.

  11. Select Add Creative to save it to the Creatives app.

You’ll notice that, unlike standard video creatives, VAST XML/URL creatives don’t include the option to add URLs to a Click URL or Custom Tracking field. That’s because those tracking events can be embedded directly into the XML code.

Add VAST XML/URLs from the Campaigns app

Follow these steps to add VAST XML/URLs from the Campaigns app:

  1. Select the Campaigns app from the homepage.

  2. Choose an insertion order (IO), then filter or search your campaigns to locate the one for which you want to add a new creative.

  3. Locate the Campaign Name column and click the campaign’s name. We’ll redirect you to a landing page for the campaign, where you can add or update its details and targeting parameters.

    1. Select + Create Campaign instead if you’d like to add the new creative to a new campaign.
      ​

  4. Locate and expand the Video Creatives section.

  5. Select + New Creative.

  6. Follow steps 4 through 12 of the Add VAST XML/URLs from the Creatives app workflow.

  7. Save the creative(s) to the campaign.

    1. If this is an existing campaign, click Save on the campaign’s landing page.

    2. If this is a new campaign, click Save as Draft on the campaign’s landing page, or click Run if you’ve completed all other required and applicable sections of the campaign.

Add custom tracking to a video creative

Tracking URL overview

Tracking URLs are strings of HTML code that load when a user visits a particular webpage, completes an action, or converts.

Depending on the creative format, you can add the following tracking URLs to a creative in the IQM platform:

  • Impression URL: Calculate the number of times the ad displays, and measure post-view attribution based on a conversion time frame that you define.

  • Click URL: Calculate the number of times a user clicked on the ad, and complete post-click attribution based on a conversion time frame that you define.

  • Conversion URL: Calculate the number of times a user completed a particular action after clicking on the ad, such as purchasing a product or service, or completing a contact form on the website.

  • Pixel URL: Calculate the number of times a one-pixel-by-one-pixel image loads. Advertisers typically embed the code into their website’s header to measure page visits, or in an email marketing message to measure its open rate. Up to five Pixel URLs are supported per creative.

Add a 3rd Party ID, Custom Tracking URL, or Pixel URL

  1. Go to the desired third-party system to create the tracking event and obtain a URL or ID.

  2. After opening the creative in the Creatives app, use the scroll bar to reveal the 3rd Party ID, Pixel URL, and Custom Tracking fields.

  3. If desired, enter the applicable ID in the 3rd Party ID field of each creative.

  4. If desired, expand the Custom Tracking section and enter the applicable ID to each respective field.

  5. If desired, add unique Pixel URLs to each creative.

    1. Expand the Pixel URLs section.

    2. Add the first Pixel URL.

    3. Select + Add More to add up to four additional Pixel URLs.

  6. If desired, add the same Pixel URLs to each creative.

    1. Select Add.

    2. Add the first Pixel URL.

    3. Select + Add More to add up to four additional Pixel URLs.

    4. Click Update.

  7. Once you’ve completed all other required and applicable fields, click Add Creative to finish.

Locate additional creatives resources

Return to the top of this article

Did this answer your question?