It is also worth calling out the equally tired habit of the opening card. The five to ten second logo animation before anything meaningful happens. In paid media, this is often worse than a clunky end card. You are effectively spending the most valuable seconds of your ad showing a brand mark that, on its own, carries no context, no benefit and no reason to care. Attention in digital environments is fragile and front loaded. If your opening frame does not immediately signal relevance, the viewer scrolls. Nobody opens LinkedIn, YouTube or Meta hoping to admire a static logo. They are looking for insight, entertainment or a solution to a problem. Your brand should be woven into the story, not announced like a corporate title sequence. In most performance campaigns, an indulgent opening card is not brand building. It is paid for drop off.
End cards also create unnecessary friction. They interrupt the tone and momentum you have built, they feel formulaic, and they rarely add anything the platform is not already doing better. On social platforms, a viewer can click straight through to a profile or a landing page without ever needing to squint at a static card. Yet many brands continue to tack on a website and email address as though this is the only way someone could possibly find them. platform environments where content needs to feel native, natural and modern, a big, branded splash screen can instantly make your ad feel dated.
These issues are reinforced by evidence from video ad analysis. Studies focused on the structure and attention patterns within ads show that performance is driven far more by the opening seconds, visual context and pacing than by what happens at the very end. When attention is dropping off, placing your key message on a final frame that fewer people will reach can limit impact. Creative agencies also note that many brands treat end cards as a default even when the majority of users never reach that point in the video.
But that is not the full story. Despite all the problems with default end cards, there are situations where a final frame still plays a useful role. Some industry data suggests that end cards can improve outcomes in direct-response campaigns where the viewer is highly engaged, has watched to the end and is actively considering a next step. Certain ad formats, particularly performance-led mobile ads, still use end cards as a structured cue for the user journey. Agencies such as Singular have even reported uplift in engagement when end cards are designed for very specific outcomes.
Academic research into video ad effectiveness also supports the idea that structure matters. If an ad is built to maintain attention and the viewer reaches the final moments with interest still high, the last frame can become a valuable point of reinforcement. It can remind, nudge or direct the viewer with clarity. For certain B2B audiences where purchase cycles are longer, a clear end frame can aid recall even if the conversion does not happen immediately. In other words, the usefulness of an end card depends on the wider creative strategy and the intent of the viewer at that moment.
This is where nuance becomes essential. At Ginger Digital, we do not believe every video needs an end card and we do not believe every end card needs a website and email address plastered across it. If a viewer is on social media, your link is already one click away. If your ad is part of a retargeting sequence, the call to action may be better delivered earlier or mid-video where attention is higher. And if your creative relies on tone, storytelling or immersion, a jarring corporate splash screen can undo the work you have just done.
End cards are not inherently bad, they are simply overused. They should be chosen, not assumed. When used deliberately, for the right audience, in the right context, they can support performance. When used by default, they often add nothing and can even reduce the quality of the experience.
The smart approach is to design with intent. Ask what the viewer will actually do at that moment. Consider whether the platform already provides a better interaction method. Test variations with and without end cards so decisions are based on results rather than habit.
A modern video strategy is not about following old templates. It is about understanding behaviour, removing friction and only adding elements that genuinely improve performance. And that starts with letting go of the idea that every video needs an end card just because it always has.
