Look around you. Or rather, look at the multitude of screens around you. You scroll through your Facebook page and if you’re connected to WiFi, videos play automatically, and sometimes, if they are interesting enough, you watch them. The same goes for YouTube advertisements. Sometimes you’ll countdown to the seconds till the “Skip Ad” button appears, but other times, you watch them.
Why should you be setting aside a portion of your marketing budget on video advertising? According to Business Insider, revenue from online video ads will reach nearly US$5 billion in 2016, an increase from US$2.8 billion in 2013. During the same period, TV ad revenue will decline by 3% every year.
You got the hard facts. So really, why video advertising?
1. Video is everywhere, and so is native
Videos allow marketers to exercise flexibility and creativity in planning out their advertising strategies. With a whopping 4 million daily views, YouTube certainly hasn’t lost its charm. YouTube advertisements are one way of engaging an audience within your selected demographic. In addition, an increasing number of businesses are also tapping into Snapchat to reach out to their target audience. Instagram has launched a new Snapchat like Instagram Moments. A large potential lies in the combination of native advertising via video content in order to improve users’ ad experiences.
2. Shortening human attention spans
Let’s face it: our attention spans have been shortening. We get distracted so easily… is that a bird outside my window? A video advertisement would capture viewers if it is interesting and creative. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video is worth a million. Marketers today should leverage on this fact by producing shorter commercials in hopes that viewers soak up as much information as possible, and covert into consumers.
3. Interactive video advertising is in
Facebook recently launched Facebook 360, a video format that comes alive as users get to explore every angle possible. They also rolled out Canvas ads, an interactive and immersive form of advertising that allows businesses to convey their key messages through story-telling. I’ve seen these ads and boy, are they intriguing! Interactive video advertising isn’t the future. It is the present.
4. Go mobile
I bet you pick up your smartphone the minute a television ad rolls in during the intermission. With the shift in user consumption habits and the increase in the usage of smartphones, mobile video advertising is becoming one of the most effective ways for businesses to reach out to their target audience, more so than traditional television advertising.
5. Video Marketing Can Be Cost-Effective
Video advertisements used to be very expensive to produce, but the truth is you do not always need a professionally shot video. Especially with Snapchat and Instagram Moments, followers and fans want instant updates without any editing. They want to feel connected to the real life of the people or brands they are following. While there is certainly planning involved in the content, timing, etc. the cost of production is rarely more than the cost of just a mobile phone.
If you haven’t invested in video advertising or included videos into your marketing strategy, you’re already late! With most of your audience on devices such as smartphones and tablets where network speed is increasingly fast, it makes sense that video is becoming more popular.
