What should a car video ad show, and in what order?
A 20-second car video ad shows six things in a fixed order — the car, its headline number, the mileage, one standout option, the price, and the dealer — one per scene, each with the number set in large type. That order answers the buyer's questions in the order they ask them.
This is an example structure for a social ad. VanillaSky offers several listing and social styles with different scene orders and durations; listing styles omit the price.
The six scenes
- The car. Front three-quarter, moving. The year, make and model in type. One to two seconds. If the car is not recognisable here, nothing after it matters.
- The headline number. The one figure that makes this car interesting: 630 hp for a performance estate, 2021 for a nearly new hatchback, 4WD for a mountain-town pickup. One number, big.
- The mileage. Buyers ask it second. Show the odometer figure from the listing, unrounded.
- The standout option. Panoramic roof, Bang & Olufsen, tow bar, the paint. Pick the one the listing photos actually show and let the camera find it.
- The price. Large, alone, held for two seconds. The exact price from the listing.
- The dealer. Logo, name, phone or city. This is the call to action.
Twenty seconds, six scenes, one fact each.
Why this order
It is the order a buyer walks the car: what is it, what is the thing about it, how used is it, what else does it have, what does it cost, where is it. Moving the price earlier makes people judge the car before they have seen it; leaving it out makes them scroll on.
Every number comes from the listing
Do not round the mileage, do not write “from” before the price, do not add a feature that is not in the listing. A buyer who comes in from the video and finds a different number leaves. VanillaSky reads the numbers from the listing and sets them as they are; the only things a model writes are the model line and the feature headline, and those are checked against the photos.
What to leave out
- The full spec list. One option per scene, the rest in the caption.
- Stock footage. It is not this car.
- Slogans. “Drive your dream” tells the buyer nothing.
- Your address as text. The city is enough; the phone number does the work.
Questions
Should the price be in the video at all?
For a social price-led ad, show the confirmed price clearly. VanillaSky leaves prices out of listing styles so the video does not carry an outdated price when the listing changes.
Should I add a voiceover?
Optional. Most viewers watch with sound off, so the type has to carry the message on its own. A voiceover helps with the people who turn sound on and with accessibility; keep it to one short line per scene.
What about a call to action?
The dealer card is the call to action — logo, name, phone or city. "DM us" and "link in bio" are fine in the caption; on screen they date fast.