Video boom: Why marketers love moving images
Video is all the rage. Publishers have the opportunity to serve these with their high-quality environments.
One thing is for sure: televisions will not be disappearing from living rooms any time soon. Americans may be cancelling their cable TV subscriptions, and young people here in Germany are watching less and less TV – in the traditional way. But video is on trend like never before. Even Facebook is banking on the big show with Facebook Watch: with the platform currently being rolled out globally, it is looking to transfer the “campfire moments” of traditional television into the digital world.
Joining it in Germany: publishers like Spiegel Online and Zeit Online as well as TV broadcasters like ARD and Arte. They are making their own content available to the blue giant’s new video portal. It is urgently necessary for publishers to increase their activities in the field of moving images: the premium sites still have too little inventory to satisfy the demand from advertisers. These have a growing appetite for video ads – in all forms and facets. There are good reasons for this: according to a study by Social Bakers, video contributions on Facebook have a 135 percent greater organic reach than photos. In addition, moving images are not only paid particular attention – they also remain in the memory for longer.
The ideal length? Depends on the goal
The length of the ad varies from a few seconds to three minutes – depending on the objective. Long formats are particularly good for creating an emotional bond: as a study by Google BrandLab with Mondelez International shows, longer formats were also more effective in the area of “brand favorability” than shorter formats. The depth of the story and the emotions through storytelling create a stronger bond to the brand. This makes the brand message easier to remember – provided the storytelling works and the story is exciting and entertaining. To encourage engagement and involve users, videos between 15 and 30 seconds long that inspire social media sharing and participation are recommended. This content must be prepared in such a way that it fits harmoniously into platforms like Facebook or Instagram. Long formats can also be used and cut to size for the platforms. With the shorter formats, it is important that the suspense curve points directly upwards so as not to lose the user. Even shorter content is ideal for entertainment on mobile phones. Google offers bumper ads for YouTube, which entertain for six seconds. A creative challenge.
Media companies are still lagging behind with their range of video inventory. Although a number of video environments have already been created, the user is predominantly “infotained” via text or image galleries. Even TV stations, which naturally have a larger inventory, are required to develop new offerings that achieve a high reach. To do this, they have to meet the user in his lean-forward mode: people like to consume web videos while traveling especially. InRead videos can also be used to compensate for missing video inventory: the formats can be integrated into a text contribution, too.
The bottom line
Premium publishers should seize the opportunity. They have a decisive advantage over Facebook: they offer brands a safe environment – a major topic that is also one of the central discussions at DMEXCO18. But TV stations and publishers can also score points against Amazon and Netflix – the television of tomorrow: because, contrary to on-demand providers, they offer appropriate advertising environments.
You can learn more about brand safety from the panel “Viewability and Better Ads: How to Regain Trust in Advertising” on September 13 in the Debate Hall. Find out more about video advertising in the seminar on September 12 “Factors for Successful Video Advertising in times of Google & Facebook: The Return of Owned & Operated Inventory”.
