Working with our local media publisher partners, over the past several months, we’ve run thousands of ad campaigns delivering tens of millions of VideoAd impressions. In the process, we’re learning a lot about what makes for an effective VideoAd campaign.
At a macro level, we know that video display ads act totally different from regular display ads. Regular display ads provide a click. VideoAds not only offer sight, sound and motion, but ways for viewers to engage with the ad and get more from it. Viewers can get the full brand’s message in one place. They get the value proposition, the offer or the promotion. They also control the experience, how and when to interact and, yes, even click.
At a more measured level, consequently VideoAds provide richer metrics on effectiveness. What ‘effectiveness’ means, however, varies based on the objective of the advertiser. VideoAds show advertisers how viewers respond and interact, how much they watch, if their interest goes up by expanding the player to full screen. And when clicks are measured, VideoAds again go beyond regular display ads ─ not just measuring if a click occurs but when it occurs indicating a better or more qualified lead.
Taking a sample of our case study work for advertisers in automotive, travel, events, and sports we’ve seen how VideoAds help advertisers reach their advertising objective driving average engagement rates (ER) 5X that of the clickthrough rate (CTR) of regular display ads and brand exposure (represented by average view time) where viewers on average watch more than 70 percent of the total video.
A MLB team swings for the fences
Case in point: A major league baseball team, in the dark days of January, wanted to get people excited about the upcoming season. Running a VideoAd campaign, the MLB team achieved an engagement rate that was nearly 7X the CTR of a regular display ad.
Download Ad-0403-baseball_generic-1
A local television station sweeps up success
Oftentimes, advertisers just want to ‘get the message’ out and drive offline activity.
Case in point: A western U.S. local television station wanted to promote some special news programs to drive viewership up during the critical sweeps week. In one week, over 660 minutes of the VideoAd was watched.
Download Ad-0403-tv_station_generic-1
An auto dealer drives clicks
And of course, some advertisers want to drive clicks and interactions ─ especially important for “tough times” categories like automotive.
Case in point: A luxury auto dealer wanted to increase visits to a website where it was promoting a new “affordable” luxury SUV. A VideoAd promoting the new model generated more than 90 clicks and 100 interactions in just one week.
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A Ski resort takes viewer on a long run
Finally, video – even short 15 second ones – tell a story that regular display can’t. Advertisers can make their case for their business and viewers get more information.
Case in point: A ski resort in Colorado, where some of the best resorts in the world reside, wanted to differentiate themselves from the pack. Their VideoAd campaign not only generated high ER but also brand exposure. On average, viewers watched over 70 percent of the VideoAd, and 54 percent of the viewers watched it all the way through.
Download Ad-0403-ski_resort_generic-1
There’s lots of debate going on about the true value of display and how insufficient the click has been as the metric for success. Video changes that. Video affords advertisers more flexibility to meet different objectives and the Internet acts as an enabler for measuring success across those varied objectives. Engagement and brand exposure capture the value of video advertising. Clicks are just a part of the value – with their importance dialed up or down based on the advertisers’ objectives.
So does engagement trump clicks?
We believe it does. Engagement tells a better story than clicks alone do about what is going on in an ad, whether the message resonated or not, and when the viewer took action and what those actions were – all benefits to the advertiser who wants transparency on performance. Similarly, video tells a better story to the viewer, providing them better information that they digest without clicking away, and letting them choose how and when they engage – with the benefit of control and choice being theirs.
In this new world of video advertising, value goes both ways.
