Are Video Ads The Next Video Marketing Goldmine?

There’s a good chance that video marketing is a part of your customer acquisition strategy. A growing number of businesses and marketers have realized the potential power of video.

You may have put in a lot of legwork driving organic and paid traffic (e.g. through Facebook or LinkedIn ads) to a video, but what about using platforms like YouTube and Hulu to place your video ad in front of a specific audience? These ads could be a great way to increase revenue for your business.

For example, MediaMind (a leading digital advertiser) made the surprising discovery that the CTR for online video ads was 27.4 times higher than text/banner ads and – 12 times higher than rich media ads.

Chances are you’ve used both text and rich media ads on platforms that make sense for your brand, but you may not have tried creating a bona fide video ad. Is it really something you can use? What are the potential benefits?

Well, let’s find out how you can use ads as part of your video marketing strategy.

Less Competition (Right Now)

It’s safe to say that tools like Facebook re-targeting and social ad platforms are getting a little crowded. The number of businesses advertising there is growing exponentially.

Then, you go over to YouTube and get bombarded by the same luxury car commercial while you’re trying to do a video research (or just watch funny videos). Am I the only one who’s watched Seinfeld on Hulu – and seen the exact same Android phone commercial enough times that I had it memorized by the end of the episode?

In other words, there’s room for a few more voices in the world of online video advertising.

Right now, the online video space has very few players and is perfect for businesses to target their ideal prospects. It’s growing quickly, though, so you need to start including ads as part of your video marketing mix right away!

Here are a few tricks to help you get started.

1. Keep It Short, Sweet and Compelling

Shorter videos tend to have a better retention rate – which is a crucial metric for ads. While some platforms make you watch them the whole way through, the most popular video ad platform (YouTube) doesn’t always do this.

That skip button is only 5 seconds away, and eyes tend to scan to the left to see how many seconds are left of the ad. If you pass the “how long is this ad?” test, you may just get someone to look at your actual content.

So you’ve got to keep it short, but you also need to open strong. Make your ad irresistible from the beginning and you’ll see more people stick with you till the end. What do we mean by that?

Here’s a great example:

If you see Jean-Claude Van Damme straddling two trucks, you probably won’t be thinking about leaving right away. It’s not loud or obtrusive, but you can’t help but watch.

Key Points: Ads are (usually) better shorter and should be led with an attention getter. Under 30 seconds seems to be the preferred choice of advertisers and 15 seconds may even be better for sites like YouTube.

2. Don’t Overspend

Since there are so few players in online video advertising, you may be able to snag a deal when it comes to price. However, don’t be compelled to spend more to get in front of an audience that won’t benefit you.

A larger audience may increase your views – but not your profit. In a world of detailed targeting and ad customization, there is no need for wasteful spending. Here’s a great read on targeting video ads.

So spend smart! Get your video ads in front a smaller audience of people who will actually be interested in your software or product, and – with patience – you’re sure to see greater results.

Example: The luxury car commercial that’s keeping you from watching a backyard scientist pour molten aluminum into a watermelon probably isn’t going to make you head to a dealership. On the other hand, a GoPro commercial may just encourage you to start destroying produce in your own backyard.

3. Make Sure It’s Professional

This point should go without saying. The compelling nature of video marketing comes from visual storytelling. Wanting a video to use for an advertisement and having the tools and experience to pull it off are very different things.

Often, this means contracting out some help. There are a number of things that go into the overall process of creating a powerful ad:

Crafting the message and the script
Visualization and concept art
Hiring and recording voiceover
Choosing music (music = emotion = response)
Filming, rendering, editing, and everything else!

There’s a huge learning curve if you hope to do a video ad yourself, and it’s something that you can’t afford to mess up.

Explainify loves creating short, powerful, compelling and all around awesome videos. We understand storytelling and can help make sure your potential audience resists the deadly pull of the “Skip Ad” button.

If you need an ad, we may just be up for the challenge. Contact us to find out if we’re the right video marketing partner for you!