Video advertising has transitioned from an experimental and uncertain method of connecting with customers. It’s no longer the latest fad; it has become a powerhouse that most consumers interact with daily. The majority of individuals use their smart devices like phones and tablets regularly. As they gaze at their screens, they encounter many content including blogs, social media, websites, and advertisements.
The trend of preferring video content over written material is growing. This means consumer engagement with advertising is also evolving. While 81% of businesses utilized video for marketing purposes in 2018, this figure rose to 87% in 2019.
Many businesses understand the benefits of video advertising. However, there remains some reluctance to embrace it fully. Concerns about effectiveness and the risk of producing subpar videos linger. While each business has its unique characteristics, the principles for successful video ads are applicable across various industries. Below are some guidelines to ensure you are heading in the right direction.
Display Your Product in the Initial Three Seconds
The initial moments of a video ad are undeniably critical for capturing your viewer’s interest, especially within the first three seconds. As per the three-second social media rule and related research, viewers make a swift judgment within this short time frame on whether to engage with your content or scroll past it in their social media feed.
Certain advertising approaches gradually progress, enticing potential customers subtly until reaching a peak. However, video advertisements deviate from this pattern. They require immediate attention-grabbing elements; otherwise, viewers will swiftly bypass the ad.
Video experts have enhanced their strategies in various ways to promptly captivate audiences. Screenwriters employ captivating narratives to seize viewers’ interest and evoke a desire to witness the conclusion.
An increasing number of companies are forming partnerships with renowned celebrities who leverage their fame to attract viewers. By incorporating a current celebrity into a relevant advertisement, brands increase the likelihood of viewers watching the entire video ad.
While it’s common to attribute our diminishing attention spans solely to the need for rapid engagement, the reality is more intricate. The sheer volume of daily content creation floods viewers’ feeds, competing for the same limited attention.
Given the abundance of content and viewers’ ability to ignore ads, individuals are becoming more discerning about their viewing choices. Users will simply scroll past if an ad or content fails to captivate them immediately.
Showcase the Excellence of Your Brand
Recognizing the critical significance of the first three seconds in video creation represents a significant part of the challenge. Ensuring viewer engagement remains paramount. Effectively communicating your brand’s distinctive qualities or problem-solving capabilities through compelling storytelling and visuals is essential beyond showcasing your brand’s product or service.
Given that social media videos are frequently viewed without sound, it’s vital to use clear visuals and provide captions. In CTV advertising, where viewers encounter non-skippable content, leveraging the full impact of television to exhibit your brand’s range of products or services is key. A video commerce platform can help by allowing you to showcase product details and additional content alongside your brand’s video advertisement.
Keep It Real
You’re equipped to monitor a specific audience and are eager to begin. Tailor your video creation and editing to resonate with this audience. While polished video ads were once the go-to standard, the landscape has evolved, ushering in changes in advertising norms.
Witness how individuals engage directly with brands on social media, valuing humor and authenticity. Surprisingly, unfiltered video content can outperform high-budget productions. An exciting shift is that online video ads no longer require the same level of polish as TV commercials. You can eschew stock imagery for a more authentic feel.
If suitable for your brand, consider leaving content minimally edited to humanize your ads. Many successful brands have featured “real” individuals, those outside traditional TV norms, with great results. By showcasing diversity in age, ethnicity, size, etc., you broaden the appeal of your video content.
Quality Matters
Photo by Seth Doyle on Unsplash
Compelling video content of excellent quality is essential for attracting and retaining your audience’s interest. It can sway viewers towards following your brand for more high-caliber content or blocking you if the content does not align with their viewing standards.
Poorly lit or distorted video clips are no longer tolerated today. The industry standard now leans towards “Full HD” 1080p (1920 x 1080 pixels) for producing clear, high-definition horizontal videos that maintain quality without consuming excessive storage space.
Select the Appropriate Video Ad Format
A diverse selection of video ad formats is accessible. This encompasses:
- Skippable in-stream ads
- Non-skippable in-stream ads
- Video discovery ads
- Out-stream ads
- Bumper ads
Nevertheless, certain formats may be better aligned with specific objectives. For instance, skippable in-stream ads are frequently favored for lead-generation purposes. Non-skippable in-stream ads and bumper ads might be more appropriate for amplifying brand recognition and expanding outreach.
Keep it Concise
Strike a balance with the length of your ads to avoid losing viewer interest. Longer videos are more suitable when crafting a brand positioning video to narrate your brand’s story. The recommended duration for video ads falls between 15 to 30 seconds. This guideline should inform your video ad strategy. Trim any excess content and deliver your message promptly to maintain viewer engagement throughout the video.
Include a CTA
Ensuring that individuals are guided towards a specific action upon reaching the end of your advertisement is crucial. It’s imperative to avoid a scenario where viewers are led to your ad, watch the video, and then move on without any clear direction.
Explicitly communicate the subsequent steps for the audience, whether directing them to your website, encouraging a purchase or donation, or prompting them to schedule a consultation. Include a compelling call to action, whether by integrating one within the video itself for viewers to act upon directly or by incorporating a CTA overlay using TrueView ads. While calls to action are a well-known marketing and sales aspect, they can sometimes be underestimated in digital video advertising.
Avoid Too Much Text
As an advertiser, ensure your message is easily and clearly understood even without sound. Text, captions, and subtitles are key in providing viewers with the necessary information to link their video content to your brand. However, excess text can clutter the message, leading to viewers skipping past it.
Remember that sound is integral to TV advertising when creating a CTV ad. Incorporate impactful keywords into your script and prominently feature your brand name, website URL, and tagline in the final three seconds of the ad. It’s been observed that ads with minimal text overlay tend to perform significantly better than those overloaded with text.
Using smaller font sizes can make it challenging for viewers to read and may lead to them skipping or muting the ad. The ultimate aim is to seamlessly integrate the video ad content within the native ecosystem of your chosen platform. This delivers a more personalized and engaging experience to the viewer.
Make It Relevant
An issue inherent in traditional TV advertising is its disruptive impact on the viewer. Imagine immersing yourself in the latest episode of your favorite show. Then you are abruptly transitioned to a commercial for laundry detergent. This interruption not only challenges capturing interest but can also foster negative sentiments.
TV advertisers have heightened their awareness of this interruption and are enhancing their efforts to align commercials with the TV program and the audience’s demographics. Despite these endeavors, viewers often still encounter frustration with certain advertisements.
Video advertising presents an avenue to create ads seamlessly integrating with the video content, transforming ads from interruptions to value-adding elements. In practice, some advertisers generate multiple slightly varied versions of the same ad to better complement the accompanying video content. Though seemingly daunting, modern tools are streamlining this process significantly.
Personalize It
Many believe online video advertisements resemble traditional television commercials, yet significant distinctions exist between the two mediums. One of the most notable contrasts lies in the scope of targeting. While TV ads typically target a wide audience, some demographic information about viewers of specific shows may be available.
For instance, data from Nielsen reveals that around 79% of viewers of the TV series “This is Us” are white, with a predominance of female viewership. However, due to the vast viewership numbers, achieving the same level of specificity in other areas like behavior or psychographics can be challenging.
In contrast, online video advertising allows for highly detailed targeting. This extends beyond basic demographic factors such as age, gender, and location to delve into individual passions and interests. By leveraging this granular approach, advertisers can tailor their messages precisely to individuals rather than broad and varied audience segments.
Align Your Strategy with Your Sales Funnel
The sales funnel visualizes a customer’s path from their initial engagement with your brand to the ultimate purchase and subsequent interactions. A properly organized sales funnel is a key component of every marketing strategy. Develop social media video ads corresponding to each phase of the sales funnel to effectively steer potential customers towards conversion.
On most social media platforms, you can select campaign objectives that align well with the distinct stages of the sales funnel. These objectives range from boosting brand awareness and fostering engagement to promoting app installations and ultimately driving conversions or sales.
Endnote
Crafting an engaging video ad is a skillful endeavor. Understanding your audience is key to excelling in your video ad campaigns. A winning video ad communicates a distinct message through a captivating narrative rich in emotion, tailored to resonate with the target audience.
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