You can quickly add text to an ad by including a text overlay in your creative. For example, you can display text that invites viewers to perform a specific action, such as "Click to learn more."

Overlays are text, image, and widget elements that turn a passive ad into a dynamic, interactive online experience. Overlays sit on top of the video or rich media content and encourage viewers to engage with the ad. You can add actions to overlays to make them interactive. For example, you can link overlays to webpages, open panels that include additional interactive content, and so on.

Tip: You can display custom text to each viewer based on their geographic location. For background information and steps, see Targeting ads based on viewer location.

Before you start

• Create an In-Banner Video creative, an In-Stream Video creative, or a Rich Media creative. For steps, see Assembling a creative from a template or Assembling a creative from scratch.
• If you plan to display your ad on smartphones or tablets, familiarize yourself with the best practices in Designing mobile browser ads for the iPhone or iPad and Designing ads for a mobile app.

To add a text overlay to a creative

1. Navigate to the Division, Account, and Campaign of the creative.
2. Click the Campaign Management tab, then click the Creatives tab.
3. Click Edit for the creative. The Mixpo Studio opens.
4. Select the canvas tab that you want to add the text overlay to. If you are adding the overlay to a panel, select the panel (see Adding layers to creatives with panels).
5. Click the Overlays tab, then click Text.
6. Select the shape of the text box that you want to display. A text overlay is added to your creative.
7. In the Overlay name field, type a name for the text overlay. The name is displayed in reports about the overlay.
8. By default, when viewers click a text overlay, a new webpage opens. The webpage that opens is the web address that you specify when you create the creative. You can specify a different webpage, or assign a different action. Expand the Actions area, then select an action. For background information and steps to configure each action, see Specifying what happens when viewers interact with ads.
9. In the Overlay text field, type the text that you want to display. For example, type a call to action such as "Visit our website!"
   Note: If you type a price in dollars, make sure the character after the dollar sign ($) is a number, so that your content is not confused with a geotargeting variable.
10. To change the size of the text overlay, click and drag the sizing handles on the corners of the overlay. You can also specify an exact size and position. To do this, expand the Advanced area, then adjust the Position and size values.
    Note:
    • To make sure that text in the live ad is displayed properly, leave enough space between the text and the boundaries of the text box that the text is not constrained.
    • To make sure that the live ad is optimized for mobile devices, the text overlay should be at least 44 × 44 pixels, so that it is big enough for viewers to tap. If you added the text overlay to the Timeline Canvas tab, leave at least 44 pixels between the overlay and the bottom of the creative, so that viewers can tap the video player controls.
11. To adjust the look-and-feel of the text that is displayed, select the font, formatting, text color, background color and transparency, and so on. To specify advanced text formatting such as margins, spacing, or vertical alignment, expand the Advanced area, then adjust the Text format settings.
12. If you want to add a gradient to the text box, do the following:
    1. Select the Gradient check box. The gradient bar is displayed, with a marker for each color.
       
    2. Do the following:
       • To adjust the position of a marker, click and drag the marker to the position that you want on the gradient bar.
       • To change the color of a marker, select the marker, then click the Background color color picker. Select the color that you want to display, or type the hex value for the color and press Enter.
       • To add a new marker, click the gradient bar where you want to add the marker. A black marker is added. Click the Background color color picker. Select the color that you want to display, or type the hex value for the color and press Enter.
       • To delete a marker, click and drag the marker down and away from the gradient bar.
13. To lighten the top of the text overlay, select the Shine check box.
14. To add a drop shadow to the overlay and its text, select the Drop shadow check box.
15. To adjust the borders of the text box, expand the Advanced area, then do the following:
    1. To display a border around the text box, select the Border check box. Select a border color, width, and transparency.
    2. To adjust the corners of a rectangular text box, in the Uniform Corners area, adjust the curvature of the corners. Select the Uniform corners check box if you want all corners to have the same curvature.
16. ​​If you want to display a glowing shadow around the text box when a viewer moves their cursor over it, expand the Advanced area, then select the Glow Effect check box. Select the color and transparency. In the Strength field, adjust the intensity of the glowing shadow. In the Blur​ field, adjust the width of the glowing shadow.
17. If you added the text overlay to the Timeline Canvas tab, specify how the text overlay is animated. Do the following:
    Tip: You can also drag the text overlay on the visual timeline to adjust the timing. For steps, see Adjusting the timing of video content using the visual timeline.
    1. ​From the Enter and Exit drop-down lists, select the entrance and exit animation effects.
    2. In the Duration field, type the number of seconds that you want the text overlay to appear for.
    3. In the Start time field, type the number of seconds into the video that you want the text overlay to appear.
18. Click Save.
19. To test that the creative appears the way that you want it to, return to the Mixpo Platform and click Preview.