Video advertising offers marketers a great way in which to expand their reach and connect with their target audience. And, they can do it in all kinds of ways.
How so?
More consumers have turned their heads away from traditional media and are using digital video to get their entertainment, to become aware of brands and learn about the world.
According to a 2016 BI Intelligence report, digital video will attain nearly $5 billion in ad revenue because of the delivery channels, high engagement numbers, and 1.84% click-through rate. That’s more than any digital format available.
With cross-channel video ads, brands have changed the way they interact with customers at important junctions of the customer’s journey. In essence, they’ve turned visitors into conversions. With digital video advertising, brands can focus on establishing strong connections with their visitors – offering them niche-focused content that’s available on the various connected devices and digital channels.
Research firms, like eMarketer, have kept track on the value display advertising has had. What’s been seen is that, since 2013, there has been a significant rise in all digital channels
In fact, it’s believed that spending on digital ads – banner ads, video, sponsorships and rich media – will exceed the total ad spent on search advertising. That’s a firm reflection that marketers are going to more visual and connected advertising types – all to fit the change seen in consumers’ behaviors.
Most consumers want targeted advertising – ads that are relevant and convenient. They tend to engage with the material at a rapid pace and will ignore ads that don’t get their attention.
Consumers find that video advertising is much more stimulating because it meets their expectations in regards to content. Brands can quickly let consumers know who they are and visually entertain them, ensuring a strong conversion platform when it targets the right consumers based on their behavior patterns.
Marketers can use the following information that will assist them in using various targeting prospects and delivery methods – to develop highly effective cross-channel video advertising campaigns.
By integrating themselves on content networks, brands can offer highly-relevant and attention-grabbing videos to consumers through traditional, mobile or social methods. And, it all leads to three things:
- Better conversion
- Increase brand awareness
- Better retention
If a brand is to succeed in the market, they must not be willing to share the market with its competitors. It must be willing to expand its digital reach using video advertising that resonates with their audience in the form of digital content they want.
How Cross-Channel Video Influences The Buying Process
With the increase in digital content, there’s a change happening within the organization of video advertising. There are better targeting features and more delivery channels to consider and, because of this, video advertising lets brands reach their target audience through any preferred platforms – to attain a high return on investment.
A brand that uses a cross-channel video campaign will connect with consumers through mobile devices, smart TVs, social networks like Facebook and Twitter and websites. It allows them to show their content throughout the user’s journey. With more brand exposure, the chances of a prospect becoming a customer increase in spite of the competition.
For example:
A person is in the market for a new vehicle. They start the buying process by looking at various brands and models of vehicles that will meet their needs and desires. They gather information about these vehicles through reputable sources and, as this happens, targeted video ads are shown to the consumer in each stage – product information, closest dealers, etc. These ads – TV, mobile and social - help keep the search active in the consumer’s mind even when they quit doing research.
With a successful campaign in cross-channel video advertising, users are targeted with relevant content throughout the buying journey. The campaign will determine when the point of conversion took place.
Actionable exposure helps in the conversion process. How were users exposed? Did they see video display ads on reputable websites? Were they exposed to in-stream videos via their mobile device? Was it sponsored content from social media networks? Was the content shown on their Smart TVs?
Increased visibility ensures users become more aware of your brand and have a feeling of trust. Boost your company’s value by using each video platform
- In-Stream Video Advertising
- Display Video Advertising
- Social Media Network Video Advertising
- Mobile Device Video Advertising
A Closer Look At Each Video Advertising Method
In-Stream Video Advertising
What is in-stream video ads? It’s the ad that’s shown in a video play before the actual content plays. For instance, you see video advertising on YouTube – ads that are shown before a video plays. It’s a great way in which to reach a niche audience who is looking for video content to meet a need.
In most cases, a 15 to 30-second video ad is used before the start of a video. Google notes that these ads are extremely effective when the focus is on branding. Conversion rates tend to be lower than other types.
Your message and value need to resonate with the users with very little disruption as quickly as possible. Many platforms allow for users to skip in-stream ads after five seconds; it’s up to you to convey the message you want and provide a powerful call-to-action in that timeframe.
Motivate your traffic from the ads to other video content you have on your website to boost their video experience and increase the engagement. You want to be sure that the experience is a positive one by landing them on the relevant pages that correlate to what initially triggered them to watch the video. Implement remarketing code on the landing pages to ensure targeted ads are still delivered. This helps to boost awareness and leads to conversions even as users browse the Internet.
Display Video Advertising
With advanced audience targeting, your brand can show the relevant video material in text links and banner ads on sites users are already on and find trustworthy. By doing this, you’re using their authority to establish trust and lead to conversions through targeted solutions.
For instance, a person visits a website to read about designer shoes and finds a shoe retailer’s targeted auto-play video instead of the usual banner ad. This can get their attention at a key moment in their research process.
For effectiveness, you and the media buyer need to understand the audience that you’re targeting. Make sure the video content is relevant to the users’ interest and websites to boost the investments’ impact. In order to retain your audience and have a high ROI, you want actionable content that has a powerful call-to-action and clear message at the beginning of the ad.
Display ads are useful to bring in engagement using expandable, interactive media, rewarding users who decide they want to learn more and click on the ad.
Social Media Network Video Advertising
There’s no doubt how unique a platform social media networks are, especially when it comes to offering video content that extends beyond the promotional advertisements. Social media network video advertising isn’t like display and in-stream advertising methods. The videos of social media can be shared with other users, which means more people see them.
On top of that, sponsored videos are quite similar to organic content and come with additional specs that let people like, share and talk about the content.
The majority of social media platforms lets markets to share their videos right in the news feeds of their targeted market. This can generate an organic reach. Develop video content that’s focused on users’ interests and demographics and then use paid measures to boost the exposure, so there’s a higher engagement.
Marketers can opt for silent auto-play videos. Make sure to provide something eye-appealing and valuable.
A Locowise study found that Facebook viewers would watch a video for 18.2 seconds even with the average video being 55.3 seconds long. When you add persuasive, captivating content and pictures in the first three seconds, you increase your brand awareness and retention rates.
You also want to be sure that the thumbnails are persuasive enough to keep people from still scrolling so that they’ll take time to engage with your material. By using these strategies, you can reduce your cost-per-acquisition rates and boost the conversion rate.
Mobile Device Video Advertising
eMarketer believes spending on digital video advertising will double by 2019 due to the rise of mobile video. With more and more people using mobile devices to access the Internet, content consumption trends have changed. Mobile consumers want relevant material quickly so they can continue with their business.
According to recent information from Cisco, mobile users would rather view content in video format. In order to stay visible, brands will need to change with the consumers’ behavior.
Mobile device video advertising offers the same kind of options as seen on the desktop but it has two key advantages to them.
Research by both Ipsos and Google noted that mobile video keeps people’s attention longer and leads to more engagement in real-time.
68% of mobile device video cannot be skipped, which means more valuable mobile views that can lead to higher click-through rates and video completion.
Brands should take advantage of this by ensuring they have actionable videos that last between 15 and 30 seconds long and responsive design content – content that will change with the various screen sizes. They should also use coding videos in HTML5 VPAID to help them to use interactive pre-roll/mid-roll/post-roll video no matter what screen size, device or in-application.
Source: Mobile Marketing Association
Programmatic TV is regarded as the most exciting video advertising advancement, as it lets marketers send digital video advertising via people’s Smart TVs. Rather than the conventional show ratings, the programmatic TV advertising platform lets brands use the audience data to show videos that relate to them through linear TV, addressable TV outlets and connected TV. It ensures both operational efficiency for marketers and value for consumers.
It’s important for brands to develop video content that can be adapted to any screen size since users may watch the material on mobile devices or smart TVs. Programmatic TV advertising lets brands target users already used to watch video advertisements. It also lets marketers refocus on website visitors who didn’t make a purchase, their competition’s consumers and users who move from one device to another.
How To Effectively Carry Out Your Video Advertising Campaign
In order to make the most of a video advertising campaign, it’s imperative you come up with a cross-channel strategy that uses all forms of delivery methods. This will help you to engage with users at all buying stages and on all devices.
When consumers are exposed to a brand through videos, it increases their awareness and betters the conversion rate. No matter what advertising platform you choose, there are some key points to remember:
- Make an investment in quality production
- Create content that’s relevant to your target audience and devices
- Use the audience data to ensure content is relevant to the right people
- Use retargeting to track consumers on all devices
- Pay by completion or views to keep high conversion and impression numbers
- Watch the site traffic, channel subscribers and video shares
- Set up goals within the analytics platforms to watch the online conversions
- Show powerful calls-to-action at the start and end of the videos
- Inform people of your story, using sound or not.
- Use attention-grabbing content and pictures in the first three seconds of the video
6 Key Methods To Attain High Facebook Rates Of Video Play, Engagement and Conversions
If you're one of the 1 billion active users on Facebook, then you’ve likely noticed a recent surge of video content taking over your News Feed. And if you’re anything like me, you’ve found this content shift enhances your Facebook browsing experience in most instances.
Display Videos That Don’t Need Sound
It may seem odd that a sound with no video can make an impact. However, if you think about how you watch Facebook videos, it’s not that difficult to understand. People are using browsing their news feeds to kill a little time – during a commute, at a public location, work break, etc. Sound is generally not necessary in these cases, and the chances of them listening to video ads on Facebook are low.
If your video needs sound to make sense, consider adding captions. According to Facebook, it will let advertisers easily add captions on their videos because they know sound is an issue. Facebook noted their own internal tests show that video ads that have captions increase the video view time by 12%.
Use CMP Bidding To Make Sure You Have Autoplay Ads
Advertisers avoid using autoplay in many locations, but Facebook is the one location you don’t want to do this. Facebook is a place of distractions, and you want your ads to be seen. If you play the video right away, the chances of them stopping and watching the video are higher. If you want autoplay, you’ll need to bid on a cost-per-impressions method instead of the cost-per-click one.
Immediately Make Your Point
Did you know that some video ads on Facebook can last up to 120 minutes or two hours? That’s a relatively long time, and it’s unlikely anyone is going to watch that long of an ad, especially on a social media site.
Video length is important when you’re talking about business videos. According to Wistia, people will watch 80% of a 30-second video. The longer the video is, the less people will watch. Therefore, take the traditional media route of adverting – short, sweet and right to the point.
Advertise Well-Performing Video Content
Before you run ads, ask yourself which videos are doing well on Facebook or your website? What webinars do you have that are leading to higher engagements? By looking at the metrics and knowing what the video content’s play rate is, you can find out what videos are worth the investment. The best thing you can do for your brand is to promote the best material you have.
Be Tough and Clear With The Audience
When it comes to your video ads, you want to be tough and clear with your audience. Since there is so much going on in the social media world, you need your video ads on Facebook to get through the clutter and engage with the folks on points that matter to them.
Be Mindful Of Video Stats
Once you notice your video ads on Facebook have resonated fairly well, you need to determine if the money you spent is giving you any kind of return on the investment. Are people watching your videos? If so, how many people are watching them? Are they click on the ads? Are they coming to your website after they watch the videos and ads?
By learning how your video ads on Facebook are impacting the target audience, you can better the production and advertising campaign to ensure a positive response for your business.
What You Should Understand About Video Ads On YouTube
The online video ads that show up on YouTube when a person streams videos may appear to be only from well-known, international, corporate brands with experienced marketing teams. However, did you know that small businesses and individuals can also get in on the YouTube ad service Google provides? That’s right!
Anybody can use the Google-provided service to raise an awareness of their brand – to help them increase conversions and sales. How can this be done?
Start With The Basics
It’s important to remember that YouTube is a video-dedicated platform, which means your ad must be in video format to work. The task might feel a little overwhelming at first, especially with so many technological resources at your disposal. The good thing is that the task isn’t as bad as it once was 10 years ago.
To create a video, you just need some creativity, computer smarts and a free editing software that can be done with your smartphone. While you could hire someone to assist you, you don’t have to go that route to make a positive impact. It’s more important that your message is clear and simple.
Choose The Kind Of YouTube Ads You’ll See
After you’ve developed a campaign ad for YouTube, you’ll notice the two key options to choose from for your ads:
Non-skippable Ads – These video ads should run no more than 20 seconds long. They will cost you per impression, meaning every time the ad is viewed, you’ll be charged as the users can’t stop it. While they tend to have good engagement rates, users don’t like them because they’re intrusive. Don’t send the wrong message to visitors about the brand.
Skippable Ads – These are called TrueView ads, which means they don’t force the viewer to watch them. You only pay for them if a particular action has taken place. These are two ways in which these ads can be seen – in-stream or in-display. For both types, YouTube doesn’t impose a maximum length, but they should be less than three minutes.
When you want an ad that’s not very invasive, then you want the in-display advertising form. If you’d rather be subtle about your ad and are focused on quality interactions, in-display ads are what you go for. The ad shows up in thumbnail format with text at the bottom left-hand corner. There’s a link to the content at the top right, which gets their attention when they’re looking at related videos. The only time you’re charged is when users hit the link and view the ad.
Should You Skip or Not Skip Your Ads
The most popular kind of ads streaming on YouTube is the in-stream ads. They tend to play at the start of or during videos, which can interrupt the content the viewer was watching. The viewer can skip the video after five seconds – the critical time for the ad to be effective.
While there is no time limit for these kinds of video ads, 51% of all advertisers go for 30 seconds. Again, you’re only charged when there’s interaction. If the viewer:
- Clicks the link in the ad
- Watches at least 30 seconds of the video
- Watches the entire video
This tends to mean that viewers had an interest in your ad that could have a positive effect on your budget.
Targeting Your Ads
Your ad’s effectiveness and how much you pay for the YouTube campaign is going to be determined by the quality in your targeting. If you create a campaign with various version, you’re ensuring that your ads are seen by folks who have a particular interest in what you’re offering.
When it comes to the cost of the interaction, AdWords will determine what the payment amount is based on the keyword you choose along with placement, demographics and varying factors. Be aware that you’re charged more for specific targeting – you pay more to advertise to the entire world, not just your town. Competition for keywords may be slight in some parts than in others, and that can affect the cost-per-view.
With complex algorithms by YouTube and AdWords, it’s difficult to know what your cost will be. Instead of focusing on cost-per-view, look at it as return on investment. You may pay more for certain targeting, but if it’s leading to more conversions, you’re really paying less to attain higher quality viewers – viewers who could become a customer.
What Are The Targeting Methods?
YouTube has a plethora of targeting methods that will ensure your brand’s video ad reaches the right audience. With these methods, you can meet the goals and objectives of the advertising campaign. What are the methods?
·Demographics – Pick your viewer based on their age, gender, parental status, relationship, etc.
·Interests – Choose the audience based on their interest in certain subjects. There are subtypes of this category like in-market audiences, custom affinity audience and affinity audiences.
·Video Remarketing – This lets you interact with viewers based on prior interactions of your video ads.
·Placements – You can target certain YouTube channels that you don’t own or websites that are shown on YouTube and the Google Display Network.
Topics – Target ads to hit on certain subjects on both YouTube and the Google Display Network.
Keywords
Putting It Together To Create Your YouTube Ad
That’s the basics! Now, if you like the idea of your videos ads running on YouTube, it’s important you develop a plan and carry it out. The key point of any plan is to know what the end result is to be. Do you want more traffic on your website? Do you want people to subscribe to your mailing list? Would you like to increase the sales?
No matter the reason for your campaign, you want to be specific enough so that you can create a worthwhile approach to meet the goals. Learn who your target audience is and do research on how to interact with them. The point to remember is to tell a clear story that entices viewers to take some action. If you go with the In-Streaming method of advertising, use the five-second rule to get their attention quickly.
One Last Point
It’s important to remember that a successful video advertising campaign isn’t going to happen right away. In fact, it’s all about trial and error – what works and what doesn’t? If you see your ad failing miserably, don’t give up. Try something else. With pay-per-view, you can afford to try various formats to find the format what’s right for you and your brand.
Have you done any video advertising? Do let us know in the comments below.
