Video now takes majority of display advertising budgets
You were browsing through your social media feed today and a new product caught your eye. Was it a video ad? Chances are it was. The sound or movement may have caught your attention.
Where do you search for knowledge when you want to troubleshoot an issue? Or when you want to learn how to build, fix or use something? What about when you want to try a new product, but want to validate quality claims? Or how about streaming your favorite shows?
All of this content is found on video and often only accessible following a video ad. These days, video is not just a tool to bring your brand to life in front of the consumer; it is an integral part of the customer experience (CX). Consumers seek video content to help inform, validate, educate, and decision-make. And video ads play a critical role in engaging prospective customers.
A recent “The State of Video Marketing 2021” survey from Wyzowl found that:
- 94% of people have watched an explainer video to learn more about a product or service.
- 79% of people say they’ve been convinced to buy or download a piece of software or app by watching a video.
- 84% of people say that they’ve been convinced to buy a product or service by watching a brand’s video.
- People watch an average of 18 hours of online video per week.
- When asked how they’d most like to learn about a product or service, 69% of survey respondents said they’d prefer to watch a short video.
It’s no wonder then that video advertising is flourishing, with marketers allotting a larger share of their marketing dollars to it. The latest US Digital Ad Spending by Industry 2021 report by eMarketer indicates that marketers will spend 56.8% of their budgets on display. And within that spend, 51.0% will go to video. As a result, 2021 will mark the first time that video will account for most of the display category.
Brands should avoid using video as just another marketing tactic and instead develop a strong video marketing strategy to maximize return on investment. An effective video marketing strategy takes a holistic approach to market a brand with plenty of entertaining, educational, problem-solving video content through the right digital channels at the right stage in the customer journey.
When you’re ready to concept your content, don’t forget these top video trends to develop the most effective video marketing strategy.
- More brands are leveraging user-generated content (UGC): UGC is content created by people buying or consuming your product. Surveys have credited its effectiveness with consumer-perceived authenticity, which subsequently drove purchase decisions.
- Vertical video ad use is rising: Google found that 70%¹ of total watch time on YouTube occurs on mobile devices. Since people innately hold their phones vertically, vertical video ads are developed in portrait format, so viewers don’t have to switch to landscape orientation. They also provide more screen space than square video format.
- Interactive video ads capabilities continue to evolve to offer richer insights: Interactive overlays allow a viewer to select different information about a brand, service or product, giving consumers the power to engage with content relevant to them, on their own terms. Digital Display and ConnectedTV providers are constantly investing in developing new forms of interactive video features that offer brands more engagement opportunities such as store locators, carousels, content downloads, polls, and even ad selection capabilities that provide viewers the ability to choose between ads. Inherently, interactive video elements will provide brands a method to offer consumers the personalized experience they desire.
- Popularity of instructional videos will continue: More than 85%² of U.S. viewers say they often use YouTube to learn new things. Brands should seize the opportunity to position their products or services as solutions in instructional, problem-solving videos.
- 360-degree video is quickly evolving: This spherical video medium offers viewers the opportunity to explore video content in 360-degrees. It attempts to give the user the feeling of being there in person. This medium is quickly being adopted by event, concert, and venue marketers to provide their audience an immersive experience.
- In-stream and interactive pre-roll ad spend on the rise: In-stream ads are the 15- to 30-seconds that play before, during, or after a program. They come in non-skippable and skippable formats. With pre-roll ads, viewers can interact with the ad and click through to a landing page.
Rhea + Kaiser works with video production and paid media partners to stay on top of everchanging digital trends. When you’re ready to engage prospective customers with a strong video marketing strategy, Rhea + Kaiser is here to help. Check out examples of our latest work.
Contact our Business Development Director to see how we can partner with you to achieve your business goals.
- YouTube Internal Data, Global, April 2017 – March 2018, Mobile includes mobile devices and tablets
- 2and2/Google, “The Values of YouTube Study,” n=1,006 consumers between the ages of 18–54, with 918 monthly YouTube users, Oct. 2017.