Video & Connected TV

Mobile advertising with online videos

Whether smartphones, tablets, or laptops – the sustained growth of mobile usage has fueled mobile advertising. Videos in particular are incredibly popular snackable content among users, and there’s a simple reason for this: visuals can be processed more quickly by the human brain than pure text, and they’re easy to digest on the fly during your lunch break, on the train, or in a waiting room. Video marketing works across all sectors and offers the advantage of quickly forming a connection between the product’s manufacturer and the end consumer by emotionally reaching out to the latter. Videos build trust and create the feeling of being addressed personally, thereby breaking down the barriers presented by online buying.

Video marketing and social media: short videos currently on-trend

Whether YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, or the TikTok video app, marketing in the form of videos is common across all well-known online platforms. Short videos are particularly popular because they are brief and snappy, and as snackable and sharable content, they can generate a wide reach. Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube focus on stories in this respect. With this format, images and videos can be shared that have a limited duration and are only visible to users for 24 hours. Marketing content can therefore be displayed in small, appealing doses, making it easy for users to consume. The main priority here is entertaining users in order to grab their attention and encourage them to share the stories with other users. With this approach, trends and news can be distributed more quickly and more people reached. By inserting hashtags and links (to online shops, for example) in the stories, companies can immediately raise awareness of their own online presence.

The video app TikTok is also being increasingly used for content marketing. Masses of mainly young people are making their mark here by entertaining their followers with dance moves, tutorials, and other original ideas in short videos they have produced themselves. Some companies have discovered the platform as a recruiting tool and are drawing attention to themselves through hashtag challenges. As with Instagram and similar platforms, the social media marketing in TikTok clips must be original and authentic to win over the intended target audience.

Good video content has substance behind it

The attention span of online users is dwindling by the minute, and that goes for texts and videos alike. Users want to grasp the key information as quickly as possible, otherwise they lose interest. To really engross users and keep their attention, some points need to be taken into account:

• Duration: With short videos, it is less likely that consumers will lose interest. One minute is ideal; any longer than five minutes and only one in ten viewers will still be watching. Lengthier topics should therefore be split into short video clips.
• Target audience: Even video content should be optimized for the target audience and meet user expectations. For this purpose, it is essential to conduct a target audience analysis beforehand.
• Suspense: Building an element of suspense makes users stay tuned until the end of the video.
• Emotions: As with TV advertising, feelings trigger actions among consumers and help them connect with the product.
• Authenticity: Believable video content is appealing and leads users to appreciate it and recommend it to others.

Video SEO for increased website traffic

Websites that incorporate video content invite users to stay a while and thus achieve a longer “time on site”. This indicates to Google and other search engines that the website is delivering good content to visitors, which is rewarded with a higher ranking. Video SEO can be used to increase the visibility of the video format and generate more traffic on the website. SEO involves observing certain rules:

• Keywords: To facilitate the search process, optimization should be aligned with one main keyword and one to three sub-keywords that can be used to find the video.
• Title: This should reflect the content concisely and contain the main keyword.
• Position: The video should be placed between thematically relevant texts on a website or on a platform. Hashtags related to the video can also be used to generate more reach.
• Format: It must be possible to play the video on any device, and the content should adapt to the screen format being used.
• Thumbnail: A preview image, known as a thumbnail, encourages users to click on the video. Keywords should be incorporated here, too.
• Subtitles: Subtitles or a transcript of the video content are also captured by search engines, making it easier for users to find the content.

CTV: marketing via TV

Digital advertising is booming on all channels – connected TV included. Connected TV, or CTV for short, refers to Internet-enabled TV devices, ranging from smart TVs and streaming devices right through to game consoles. A vast array of content can be shown on these devices. For example:

• Linear TV: traditional content that is broadcast by television networks
• Over the top: TV-like formats that are distributed online by video providers
• Video on demand: video formats, such as movies and series, that can be streamed whenever viewers want

From a marketer’s standpoint, CTV combines the best of a digital platform and traditional TV. CTV marketing enables brands to transmit digital campaigns to multiple target groups in their living rooms and precisely target their advertising. At the same time, a creative commercial inspired by linear TV can strengthen brand attachment and encourage viewers to buy products.

However, advertisers need to make sure they keep the needs of CTV viewers in mind: when they switch on a smart TV, they’re after entertainment rather than interaction. Interactive advertising content is therefore less appealing than high-quality, creative, and emotional commercials.

CTV is the future of video advertising

The CTV market is currently exploding in Germany. According to research conducted by the advertising platform Xandr in collaboration with the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the number of CTV users is expected to climb to 52.3 million by 2024. Furthermore, 86% of marketers intend to increase their budget for CTV advertising. An innovative CTV marketing strategy presents enormous opportunities for brands and companies to optimize their reach, analyze their advertising impact by means of data-based targeting, and ultimately enhance their digital campaigns.