Streaming services like Hulu have become some of the most popular ways for people to watch their favorite shows and movies. And their capabilities when it comes to targeting are detailed and specific — meaning you can more accurately reach the people you want with your ads.

So what questions should you consider if you want to put your ads on Hulu? And what should you think about if your agency recommends it?

We’re so glad you asked.

Where Will You Get the Content to Put on Hulu?

You have to have some kind of video content to upload into Hulu — it is a streaming service, after all — but you can use video that you’re already running on other digital marketing platforms as long as it fits the requirements, like:

• Your video must have an audio file.
• Your video must be 15-30 seconds long.
• Your video file has to be smaller than 10 GB.

Hulu also prefers that your video dimensions are within certain aspect ratios. A good agency should be able to review the video content that you have and suggest which might perform best, or offer services or partners that could create new video for you to use.

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Is There Anything I Can’t Advertise on Hulu?

Your agency should be able to give you some information about the policies and restrictions of any advertising platform.

A few of Hulu’s restricted topics include:

• Political or electoral branding
• Ads with obscene language
• Illegal gambling or substance use

Hulu also has to approve all content that gets advertised on their platform, so if anything gets missed by your agency’s team, Hulu should be able to catch it. That being said, if your agency doesn’t know or says you can run just anything, maybe you should consider a different team to put your ads in place.

How Often Will You Review My Ads?

Ads on Hulu are unique, because there’s not much you can do to change the way it’s shown without uploading a new video or a new version of the current video to be advertised.

That doesn’t mean your agency should wander away scot-free! If your agency is correctly managing your Hulu ads for you, they can adjust things like the targeting you use or the ad placement locations to affect how your ad performs. 

They should also be keeping an eye on how much your ad is spending and how many impressions your ad is getting to help you get a bigger picture of your return on investment (ROI)!

How Much Should I Expect to Spend on Hulu Ads?

Hulu requires a $500 minimum lifetime budget for your ads. While that may feel like a large number up front, you can actually set the lifetime of your ad anywhere from three days to three months, so it doesn’t​ have to be such a big spend up front.

You should ask if the agency in question charges any kind of setup or maintenance fees, in addition to the ad spend that’s required.

While we’re on the subject of ad spend, another question to add to your list is if your agency charges a commission on your ad spend. At 9 Clouds, we’ll never take commission on your ad spend, but that’s not a universal practice — so it’s important to ask.

Why We Don’t Charge Commission on Your Ad Spend

How Do I Know How Well My Ad Performs?

Hulu provides some great metrics that you can use to analyze your ad’s performance. A few of the metrics that are available to you include: 

• Impressions: How many times your ad was shown
• Reach: The number of times your ad was viewed in its entirety 
• Frequency: The average number of times one person viewed your ad. 

A good agency should be periodically reporting on your ad performance. If they’re just telling you that things are going well without providing proof, consider that a red flag. 

We provide our clients with monthly reports that include the above metrics, as well as metrics from Google Analytics like:

• Total Users: How many people actually made it to your website via your Hulu ad.
• Average session duration: How much time your Hulu ad viewers are spending on your site.
• Completed conversions: The actions that your users took when they reached your site.

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Let’s Get Your Brand on a (Streaming) Screen!

Whether you want to sell a unique product or increase brand recognition for your company, Hulu streaming ads can be a helpful component for your digital ad strategy. 

Do you want to dive deep in the vast world of streaming advertising together? Let’s make it happen!

Take advantage of our free digital marketing assessment to see how you can enhance your current strategies and discover new ways to expand your business.

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