Video Marketing And Advertising Then Now And The Incredibly Promising Future

Why marketers and brands love video

There are many marketers who believe users don’t pay attention to video advertisements. However, despite this belief, users do pay attention to video advertising, they’re just selective.

If you’re using video wisely, and you understand how your target audience engages with online video, you can see its many benefits.

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Cross-channel benefits are high

Today, people are nearly always connected online, which means brands have plenty of opportunities to reach their consumer. Enter the cross-channel video campaigns.

Cross-channel video campaigns help connect users across

Websites  Social networksMobile devicesConnected TVs

These campaigns deliver the content fluidly through the many touch points of the customer journey. Thus, exposure increases by engaging with content positioned brands for purchase in the competitive segment.

Videos are shareable and sociable

Today’s users expect advertising to be brief, targeted and convenient because they love to share what they like and video advertising has this shareability. In fact, 76 percent of users say they would share a branded video with their friends if it was entertaining.

Part of this is thanks to social networks that encourage video content from brands.

Facebook launched 360 Video and Live VideoInstagram launched 60-second videos and Instagram storiesTwitter launched Periscope

Not to mention, YouTube is the second most popular social network in the world.

Here’s the key thing to remember with social media — people want to share stories and emotions.

The more social shares you get on your videos, the more you can increase traffic to your site.

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Mobile users love video

Video and mobile have become a “hand in hand” situation in recent years. In fact, 90 percent of consumers watch videos on their mobile device.

People like being able to watch videos while they’re on the go. As the number of mobile users increases, the audience your video can reach will increase as well.

Mobile users also feel more connected to video content. According to Google, mobile users are twice as likely as TV viewers, and 1.4 times as likely as desktop users to feel a personal connection to brands that show video content or ads on their devices.

Brands have also become aware that they need to be sensitive to the user experience when it comes to mobile devices, which is why vertical videos have become such a thing. It makes consuming video content on mobile even better for the consumer.

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Great resource for your audience

Videos are the excellent format for informing and educating. Incorporation of audio and visual elements appeal to multiple senses. From school going little kids to old aged customers, video ads perform well as an educational and informative tool too.

They’re especially effective when used for product demonstrations or in as How-To guides, as viewers can actually see how certain things work or learn a new skill.

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Why marketers and brands struggle with video

Video advertising has transformed from the old school television advertising system to becoming a key part of the digital ecosystem.

While it's become much easier to include video in brand campaigns, there are still challenges that lie in the way.

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Consumer experience is still lackluster

A recent survey revealed that 41 percent of consumers think the biggest thing advertisers can do to improve their experience is matching ad loads with viewing time. Consumers are more likely to view ads to completion when they’re watching long-form content rather than short-form content.

The other aspect that many feel needs improvement is the “clutter” around digital advertising in general. Removing the clutter around pages and sites would greatly impact the experience, according to 31 percent of respondents.

Advertisers feel that poor creative is the underlying issue to bad ad experiences. There’s a lack of diversity for a single campaign — think of how you end up watching the same ad over and over again alongside different videos.

These are big issues that need to be addressed and fixed in order to improve the consumer experience. A video is only worth when your audience finds it useful or interesting.

Inadequate measurement/cross-screen metrics weighing marketers down

The challenge to find the best way to measure video content, especially across screens, has plagued marketers for some time. You need to be able to track and monitor your video content through the customer’s journey.

Setting hard objectives for your video content can help. You should track and attribute clear numbers and goals to:

Ad viewsAd clicksConversion rateEtc.

Have relevant numbers and goals in place and make sure you communicate them through the entire team.

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Stop ad blocking me

Ad blocking has been a burden on marketers for a while, but it might be hitting the video ad industry the hardest. Surveys show that most users are aware of ways to block ad interruptions while they watch videos.

It seems that autoplay with sound is one of the biggest annoyances for users. The excessive data usage that comes with video ads on mobile doesn’t help either.

This is a unique level of intrusive behavior that makes video so likely to suffer from ad blocking.

However, marketers can take steps to reduce ad blocking.  These include focusing on improving video ad quality and exploring alternative formats.

How can we expect video to change for marketers over the next 3-5 years?

Ten years ago, brands likely didn’t anticipate how much video content would change not only in how it’s made but where and how it’s distributed. Advancements in technology plus new trends that come along will only continue to see video content evolve.

We asked some experts to provide their thoughts on where video is headed for brands and marketers.