App commercials, made from a brief
An ad for your app: the moment it helps, your app's screens on screen, and a download call to action. Free storyboard, pay once for the finished ad.
What an app promo video needs to show
- The moment the app helps: on the course, in the kitchen, at the gym, wherever it gets used.
- Your app's real screens. Generated footage cannot draw your interface, so a screenshot or a short screen recording, uploaded to your media library on a paid plan and picked in the brief, becomes the product shot that shows it.
- One thing it does well, not five.
- The download call to action, which is what you ask people to do at the end, and where to get it.
- A clean end card, the last screen with your name and the store badge words you give us.
A 30-second app commercial, beat by beat
Most good app ads follow this plan. It is practice, not a rule, and the storyboard (a shot-by-shot plan with a picture for most shots) shows you yours before you pay.
| What | Seconds | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Hook | 0 to 3 | The moment of need, up close: the hook is the first two seconds that make someone stay. |
| Problem | 3 to 8 | Two shots of the old way: guessing, scribbling, forgetting. |
| Meet the app | 8 to 12 | Your screen recording on a phone, the app's name on screen. |
| How it helps | 12 to 22 | Three or four shots that alternate your screens with the person using it. The screens are yours; the person is B-roll, the footage that plays while someone talks. |
| Proof | 22 to 26 | One fact you can back: downloads, a rating, a number from the app. |
| Download and end card | 26 to 30 | The end card with the app's name, where to get it and your web address. |
What to put in your brief
- What the app does, in one sentence a friend would say.
- Who it is for and the moment they reach for it.
- One screenshot or a 20-second screen recording, uploaded to your media library.
- One fact you can prove.
- The exact call to action and where to download.
A worked example, for the free score tracker from our sister product GolfTracker.ai: "A free app that keeps your own golf rounds. For weekend golfers. The moment: walking off the last green, wondering how the round really went. Screen: one of the app's own screens, uploaded. One fact we can prove. Call to action: Download it free." That is the shape of a brief, written from the product's own one-line description, not a finished ad; when its commercial is produced it will appear in our examples.
Which format fits
For app-install ads on Meta, TikTok and YouTube, a short video ad: 15 seconds, vertical first, the screen in the frame by second four. For your App Store page or a launch post, a 30-second commercial. For your own channel, a short: a vertical video that shows one thing fast, with a soft ask at the end. Every commercial is delivered in all three shapes from one approval.
15-second social ad
0:15Short enough for a feed, long enough for a problem, a product and a reason to tap.
- Hook 0–2 s
- Problem 2–4 s
- Product reveal 4–7 s
- Benefit 7–11 s
- Offer and call to action 11–15 s
Short
0:15 to 0:45A vertical video that shows one thing fast, with a short "Link in bio" at the end.
- Hook 0–2 s
- Payoff, a new shot every 2 to 3 seconds 2–27 s
- Soft call to action 27–30 s
The times are the storyboard's. The finished file also opens on a short title card with your title and logo, and closes on a card where the voice says your call to action, what you ask people to do next. Those cards are not billed.
What it costs
The storyboard is free and you pay once, for the finished length, when you approve it. New screens after an update can be swapped into the product shot in the editor and re-rendered, within the included render time; uploading media needs a paid plan.
Commercials open soon
Email us and we will tell you the price before anyone pays.
Commercials aren't taking new orders right now. Email support@customcommercials.ai and we'll tell you when they open.
Email us- Done-for-you, taken together (human creators, AI services, freelancers): $60 to $250 per ad (billo.app pricing, checked November 4, 2026).
- Small agency or production company: $5,000 to $50,000 and up per 30-second commercial (vidico.com, video production cost, checked November 4, 2026).
Commercials open soon
We are not taking new orders yet. Email us and we will tell you when they open, and what the price is before anyone pays.
Questions
Can the ad show my real app screens?
Yes. Add a screenshot or a screen recording to your media library (uploading your own media needs a paid plan) and pick it in the brief. It becomes the product shot, and the storyboard puts the app's name on screen beside it. A photo or screenshot is cropped to fill a wide frame (and again for vertical and square), so use a landscape image with the product in the middle, or a screen recording, which is shown whole on a blurred backdrop. The storyboard writer is told not to show readable screens in generated footage, so check every B-roll preview still before you approve.
How long should an app ad be?
Fifteen seconds for an install ad in a feed, 30 seconds for YouTube or your store page. Shorter ads show the screen sooner.
Do I need a presenter?
No. Many app ads work with a voice, music and the screens. Add up to 2 AI spokespeople, realistic presenters who say your lines on camera, if you want a person to carry the story. Either way you see the plan, with a preview still (one picture of the shot) for most shots, before you pay.
What does an app commercial cost?
A set price for each format and finished length, shown on the storyboard before you pay, with the storyboard free. For comparison, done-for-you options run $60 to $250 an ad, and an agency charges $5,000 to $50,000 and up for a 30-second spot (checked November 4, 2026).