What is video advertising?
With all the video content currently available online, it’s no surprise that video advertising has become one of the most powerful and cost-effect forms available. It offers the opportunity to target a specific brand of content and therefore the typical viewer, exposing them to products and services they are open to.
Video advertising has become an exceptional market. As of 2013, it accounted for almost 10% of all digital spend.
The main reason video advertising seems to have attracted so many large brands is not just because of the low cost but also because of the measurable data that comes with it – further improving the return on investment with every future campaign.
How to Advertise a YouTube Video?
In 2014, after their acquisition by Google, YouTube became the world’s second biggest search engine. The video sharing platform generated over $850 million in video advertising in 2013.
The reason for their success is because of how easy YouTube make it to understand who is watching the ads and how they’re reacting. Thanks to the algorithms used by Google, YouTube can also provide instant metrics on all video advertising.
Pre Roll Advertising – What are the benefits?
There are many advantages to digital video advertising that were previously unavailable through other forms of media, such as television, radio and print – for instance, the opportunity to only pay when users watch your ad. This means less guess work and more interest in what you’re trying to promote.
The second greatest benefit, apart from cost, is just how targeted video advertising can be. With all the content available, video advertisers can see exactly who is interacting with the content and what kind of products/services they are most intersected in.
The boosted popularity of phones and tablet devices has also increased the popularity of mobile content. Over a quarter of YouTube browsing is done on a mobile device, and video advertising allows brands to penetrate this huge market.
Why doesn’t everyone use video advertising?
Much like any other form of media advertising, digital video ads don’t suit every industry. It may be that your particular audience are not active online, which doesn’t justify the investment. The best way to ensure your particular audience is online is to conduct some research.
The second reason some companies don’t invest in video advertising is they can’t afford the creative costs involved. Again, just like any other form of media, digital video advertising needs to be engaging and interesting in order to make an impact.
If companies just flood the internet with boring ads that no one watches, then they’re not going to have very good results. Thankfully the costs and availability of mobile cameras and video editing software has reduced production costs.
At the end of the day, if video advertising isn’t planned and executed to the right audience and with the right content, then the investment is not worth your money.
Where can you start?
As usual, the best place to start is with research. Take the time to understand your audience and discover the kind of videos and ads that are driving traffic and generating results.
