Online video has been extremely popular since the start of the internet for commercial use. For a long period of time, the focus was mostly on the video content itself. Business owners and fame seekers turned to internet video to get their name out to the public. While there were often ads on the web page with the video, it wasn’t until recently that technology and internet speeds have converged to make popup ads and full video ads a major force in internet marketing. Even Facebook is doubling down on video ads with its acquisition of LiveRail. Business owners and marketers need to consider these new technologies when developing a comprehensive marketing strategy. Here are seven reasons backed with stats that show why marketers should consider using video ads.
In its State of the News Media 2014 report, Pew Research noted work by eMarketer, who found that the digital video advertising in 2013 accounted for nearly 10 percent of the overall digital advertising market. This may seem like a small amount, it should be noted that digital video ad revenue reached $4.15 billion in 2013, which represents a 44% increase from 2012 and almost a tripling of the revenue from 2010.
As cable subscription rates have dropped (and with it the value of the traditional channel for video advertising), digital video consumption rates have grown dramatically. Pew notes that almost two-thirds of U.S. adults now watch videos online and 36 percent of these adults watch news videos. In 2007, 40 percent of U.S. adults watched or downloaded any kind of video in 2007 and 26 percent of these watched or downloaded news videos.
Young adults, a key target audience for most businesses, are the most likely to watch video online. In a study noting the decline of TV viewership, Pew noted that 18-29 year-olds tend to watch less television news than any other age group. Millennials are more likely to get their news from online sources.
Online video ads have a way of going viral that television ads don’t. Digital video is far easier to share than televised content, so any ads attached to a popular video go along for the ride. According to a report from iLab, 92 percent of viewers share mobile video they have watched on their phone with others.
New technology has also made it harder for viewers to skip ads in certain cases. Most famously, users can only skip some of the ads on YouTube. The same is true for many apps and games. According to research cited by Adobe, Social and mobile gaming video ads have a 91 percent completion rate.
According to a recent report from CITRIX, just 20 percent of US smartphone owners watch mobile video on their devices. However, Nielsen reports that US smartphone owners aged 18 and over use video, audio, and gaming apps for an average of 10 hours 34 minutes per month, which is an increase of 71 percent from 2012.
It’s clear that when marketers use multiple channels to spread the same message, more people are going to hear the message once. However, it’s also the case that many people will hear the message multiple times and that repetition could lead to action. According to a Nielsen report on cross platforming, the average integrated marketing campaign including TV and online video reaches 7.6 percent of its intended audience via both.
The growth of the mobile internet has changed how and when we access video entertainment. Besides creating new opportunities to reach audiences with direct video content, digital video creates new ways for marketers to advertise to their target demographics. Business owners need to change their tactics to suit these changing times and consider using interactive ads that can be shown to online video audiences.