When it comes to digital advertising, a picture is worth a thousand words — but a video is worth a whole lot more.
Research has shown that videos have the power to get a message across 60,000 times faster than text. Video, coupled with sound and movement, are one of the most effective ways to grab consumer’s attention in the increasingly saturated advertising world.
Being able to garner consumers’ attention is one of the most difficult aspects of advertising, and can be a particularly hard feat. This is because the human attention span is rapidly decreasing. In fact, the average human attention span is now shorter than that of a goldfish (9 seconds) — and research has reinforced this. A recent study found that the average human attention span has fallen from 12 seconds in 2000 to eight seconds today. The decrease of the human attention span coincides with the increasing popularly, and seemingly ever-present nature, of smartphones.
This means that the messaging and visuals that you chose to include in your advertising initiatives need to be clear, to-the-point, and unique.
In a video, storytelling is emphasized with human faces, demonstrations, and emotive language — all of which are psychologically proven to produce the maximum level of effectiveness. Videos are intrinsically more engaging than other forms of creative, meaning that users are more ready to consume the advertising message than a person only reading plain text content.
Advertisers have begun to recognize this, leading to a spike in video based advertising. According to a study completed by Forrester research, people retain 58% more in their memories when both the auditory and visual senses are stimulated. Moreover, nearly 52% of consumers surveyed stated that watching company videos makes them more confident when making a purchase online.
This proves that if you aren’t already using videos in your advertising initiatives, it’s time to start.
When it comes to video advertising, the two most common platforms are YouTube and Facebook.
YouTube Advertising
YouTube is the most popular video site and the second most visited website in the world. In fact, almost 5 billion videos are watched on YouTube every day.
YouTube’s advertising platform allows advertisers to reach potential customers when they watch or search for videos on YouTube. Consumers are targeted based on various factors, including location, age, and interests.
Types of YouTube Video Ads
- TrueView in Stream Ads: A skippable online video ad that appears before the main video.
- Bumper Ads: A 6-second non-skippable video that allows you to showcase a short, memorable message.
- TrueView Discovery Ad: This format allows you to show up on YouTube search results, on YouTube’s homepage, and alongside related videos.
Facebook Video Advertising
With 1.49 billion members worldwide, Facebook has the largest user-base in the world. With more than 22 billion ad clicks per year, Facebook has solidified its place as an advertising powerhouse.
On Facebook, you can narrow down who you want to advertise to using factors such as demographics, behaviour, and interests. With Facebook advertising, you are also able to use Instagram as a placement.
One of the most unique aspects of Facebook advertising is that ads are not limited to being horizontal, and can be presented to users in a variety of sizes and formats, such as vertical and square. Not only does this improve the user experience, but it also makes them more likely to engage with the content.
Ultimately, video’s online presence is constantly growing. With people watching more and more online videos every day, advertisers have the increasing ability to both reach and better engage with video viewers.
If you’re interested in incorporating video advertising into your advertising strategy, contact us today. We’ll handle everything from crafting the video to optimizing the campaign and making refinements daily.