Fact: Consumers love watching videos. We spend hours scrolling through TikTok, watching YouTube, and streaming apps like Netflix and Hulu. In fact, on average, we watch 17 hours of online video per week. That makes Paid Online Video (OLV) advertisements a vital part of a brand’s media mix.
Before we go any further, let’s make sure we all understand OLV on a basic level. OLV ads are found across the web including social sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Snapchat in varying lengths that typically range from 5 to 30 seconds. These are placed before, during, or after video web content.
When advertisers are planning awareness tactics, they typically include OLV because video ads quickly tell stories that are more captivating, entertaining, and engaging than static ads. It makes them more memorable. Although OLV is great for building awareness, it can get left out in discussions around conversions. Using OLV in your media mix can increase conversion rates by telling a strong story that connects to the audience in real time, wherever they are on the web. Let’s take a deeper look.
WHY OLV IS EFFECTIVE
Video is a preferred media channel for information and entertainment because it can tell a story quickly and efficiently. Plus, it offers the trinity of sight, sound and motion. Video allows advertisers to use different techniques depending on the message they want to get across. Incorporating different colors and sounds into the video can help grab the viewers’ attention, while music sets the tone of the video clip and provokes emotion. Camera movements direct attention to the most important aspects of the ad. It captures the user’s attention while they wait for their content to begin or resume, featuring the product benefits, highlighting customer testimonials, and building trust with the audience. These storytelling techniques provide an immersive experience that resonates with the audience, leading to higher levels of engagement. Adding a call-to-action at the end of your video encourages the viewer to visit your website for more information, sign up for alerts or discounts, or visit your online shop.
Studies show that video is an effective tool to drive engagement among the target audience. Not only do videos boast a higher click-through rate compared to text or image-based ads, a recent study indicates more than 60% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase after viewing a branded social media video.
THE IMPACT OF OLV ON CONVERSION RATES
Because users are served ads from site to site, they begin to recognize where the static non-video banners are located on a web page. That leads to a decrease in engagement with these ads. To be effective, ads need to reach a consumer through their desired type of media. That’s not static ads.
According to Hubspot, 75% of viewers watch short-form video content on their mobile devices. Additionally, video ads capture audience attention more effectively. Medium.com found that while static ads are typically glanced at for less than a second, video ads play for a minimum of 5 seconds. This is good news for brands since the short-form videos are located on ad-supported platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook, which have large audiences and numerous targeting options. When advertising on these platforms, brands can improve conversion rates by delivering content that feels organic to the site. Video ads should be short and to the point which increases the probability of viewers watching the video to the end and taking the desired action.
The popularity of these video ads is attracting advertisers to increase their video budgets year-over-year. According to Insider Intelligence, programmatic video ad spend is steadily increasing and will reach about $97 billion by 2025, outspending other tactics.
As brands increase their OLV spend they should be aware of the evolving market. More demand for OLV means more publishers will look to add the inventory on their platforms while advertisers seek out valuable placements. IAB cautioned that the market can include inconsistent viewer metrics, transparency, and definitions of key concepts. Brands must communicate with publishers while also staying up to date with industry standards to ensure they are receiving quality placements.
REACHING THE AUDIENCE PROGRAMMATICALLY
It’s important to understand your target audience when using OLV to increase conversion rates. To ensure the ad is served to those most likely to benefit from your message, you need to keep your target audience in mind when creating the video. Programmatic advertising is the process of automizing the bidding process between advertiser and publisher. Combining this strategy with OLV makes your ads hyper-targeted. The transaction happens in real-time and runs anywhere the target audience is found. This ensures the video impressions are relevant to the viewer, which leads to higher engagement.
AUDIENCE TARGETING
While programmatic advertising reaches your audience where they are on the web, utilizing the correct audiences can help drive conversions. Two possible audiences to include to optimize video conversions are retargeting and lookalike audiences.
As media dollars continue to increase online, video becomes increasingly important to the media mix. Utilizing OLV correctly can significantly increase conversions by reaching the right audience, with the right message, at the right time.
While we’re on the topic of digital advertising, check out the lessons that ag marketers can take from the consumer space. From short-form video ads to artificial intelligence to shoppable ads, check out ideas and get inspired from our blog Digital Learnings From the Consumer Space For Effective Farmer Marketing.