8_five1. Keep it short

A 30 second video ad is too long already. Most online videos are between 2 to 5 minutes, making it difficult to pack a 30 second spot in that. Fact is that most internet users accept shorter spots easier. According to smartclip’s video advertising report 2012, about 83% of users will watch a video ad till the end, if it is just 10 to 15 seconds, compared to a view through rate of 79% in average for all online video advertising. Therefore, it is definitely worth to produce separate spots for the internet, as higher efficiency is the reward.

2. Measure results

Measurable interaction is one of the most valuable aspects of online video advertising and you should take advantage of this potential. Market research utilizes surveys to measure hard to evaluate values such as brand awareness, ad recalls, or buyer-readiness after viewing video advertising. A survey conducted by Dynamic Logic and DoubleClick, for instance, found out that In-Banner and Pre-Roll-Videos are the most effective to influence the buying decision. In addition, user interaction, pauses and even the viewing size (e.g. full screen) can be measured.

3. Content is king

Using well established and re-known websites to place video advertising might guarantee a large audience, but the costs will be high. Websites with strong content are more efficient and there is a higher acceptance if the ad is relevant. A study by advertising.com examined how the Click-Through-Rate (CTR) for video ads is related to the content of the page. News channels and entertainment channels reached the highest number of users, but sites with specific content (e.g. games, cars or career) had the highest CTR with 87%, 67% and 64%, which proves that very well-known sites bring a large audience, but sites with specific content will bring higher ROI.

4. Consistency

Successful cross media advertising requires finesse. You need to create consistency without just distributing the same ad across different advertising channels. Each channel has it‘s specific principles which will lead to success, and need to be considered when planning a campaign.

5. Take advantage of online advertising networks

With all the advantages of video advertising everyone is talking about, there are also disadvantages: limited video inventory, high costs and complex implementation. This is the reason why more and more marketers make use of video advertising offers through online advertising networks. These buy inventory from a lot of different sites and enable marketers to reach their target groups through a variety of quality web sites. Networks buy inventory through different channels, and can do so at much lower costs. Easier realization also speaks in favor of these networks, which are able to centralize and standardize a lot of processes, and offer detailed reporting, saving time and costs.

By Roger Stadler