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Why video outperforms static banners, benchmark CTRs, and how to pitch video placements.
Pre-roll video on the captive portal is the highest-performing ad format in WiFi advertising. The combination of a captive audience (they cannot skip to access the internet) and video format produces completion rates of 85–95% — figures that digital media buyers can achieve nowhere else in their media mix.
Why Portal Pre-Roll Is Different
On YouTube, users skip ads after 5 seconds. On streaming platforms, viewers fast-forward. On websites, they ignore them entirely. On the captive portal, the guest is waiting for WiFi access. They are not in a task-completion mindset — they are waiting. A 15-second video that entertains or informs does not feel like an interruption. It feels like a fair trade.
This is the framing you use with advertisers: "This is not a banner ad they scroll past. This is a 15-second video that plays while they are actively waiting. Completion rate is over 90%. Your message is seen."
Format Specifications
Optimal pre-roll format for captive portals:
Pricing Pre-Roll Placements
Pre-roll commands a significant premium over static banners because of its completion rate and engagement.
Static banner CPM: $5–8 per thousand impressions Pre-roll video CPM: $18–35 per thousand impressions
For an exclusive pre-roll sponsorship at a venue with 6,000 monthly impressions:
Frame the pricing in terms of equivalent reach. A 15-second TV spot in a local market costs $500–1,500 per airing. A pre-roll campaign reaching 6,000 guaranteed, captive viewers per month at $300 is a fraction of the equivalent broadcast cost — and more precisely targeted to people physically present at a specific location.
Pitching Pre-Roll to Local Advertisers
Target local businesses that already run video content: restaurants promoting new menu items, fitness studios running class schedules, event venues promoting upcoming shows, real estate agents running listing videos.
"You already have video content for your Instagram and Facebook ads. We can run that same video as a 15-second pre-roll for everyone who connects to WiFi at [venue] this month — 6,000 guaranteed views, 90%+ completion rate. The exclusive sponsorship for [venue] is $300/month. Your Instagram ad to the same number of people in the same geography would cost [estimate from their ad experience]. This is cheaper and more targeted."
The Sell-Through Strategy
As a new ad reseller, your challenge is fill rate — having enough local demand to fill your inventory. Build fill rate in three stages:
Stage 1: Venue self-advertising. Sell the venue their own portal at $99–149/month. 100% fill rate from day one. Stage 2: One exclusive local sponsor. Find one adjacent business per venue willing to pay $200–300/month for exclusivity. Now you have 100% fill rate from two revenue sources. Stage 3: Programmatic backfill. Connect unsold inventory to a demand network. Any impression not sold directly earns CPM revenue from the network. No sell-through pressure — the network fills what you cannot.