Video has always been an effective way to advertise, but until lately, that power was confined to driving mass reach, brand awareness, as well as consideration. For entrepreneurs looking to inspire activity -- a click on, a sign-up, sale -- email and search would be the go-to channels.
But this year, we've seen video advertising strategies thrive across the entire customer journey. In 2018, brands used video advertising to drive everything from driving awareness to direct reactions. Read on to know what's behind that shift and how it could inspire your video advertising plan in the coming year.
Why Video Advertising Evolved In 2018
If video advertising became action-oriented last year, it's in large part because of evolving consumer behaviour. UX study at YouTube carried out in 2018 revealed that, contrary to popular belief, people are not always on the lookout for a leaned-back, lively screening experience. In fact, as we found, many video audiences crave something more interactive.
The next cause behind this shift in video advertising strategy is the way in which platforms have evolved in reaction to this new consumer behaviour. Since YouTube's product manager Nicky Rettke clarified earlier this year," Historically, video advertisements haven't been actionable, optimizable, or quantifiable against direct response goals. The only way somebody could 'act' on a video was supposed to watch it." That changed in 2018. On YouTube, for instance, brand new video formats such as TrueView for action allow marketers to start optimizing for a particular user action, like enrolling in service or purchasing a product.
Three Lessons To Note Before Developing 2019 Video Marketing Plans
How do brands adapt their video plans from 2019 to capitalize on those new consumer behaviours and technologies? Here are 3 hints, proven effective by other manufacturers, to assist you started.
Tap Into An Audience Insight To Inspire Activity
In accordance with the American Marketing Association, the average U.S. consumer is subjected to 10,000 brand messages each day. So how do you cut through the noise to ensure your video ad stands outside and pushes actions? It all starts with consumer insight.
Take Good Net-A-Porter, one of the world's largest online luxury outlets. It understood that its customers were urged buyers that appreciated exclusivity. So it generated a pre-roll video effort that played with all those tendencies, offering viewers the chance to get a one-of-a-kind product.
Readers had before the end of the 25-second advertisement to click on a link that directed them to a landing page where they could purchase the special item. If they didn't see, the offer was gone forever. The feeling of urgency action and resulted in substantial lead sales during the crucial holiday season.
Reach The Right Audience Using Multipurpose Creative Strategies
You can have the most compelling, action-inspiring advertisement, but if you're not serving it up to the proper people, it is not likely to get the direct answer goals you are after.
So in 2019, take a leaf from Overstock.com's novel. At a 2018 video marketing campaign, the online home products and furniture retailer blended brand innovative with functionality formats, setting a clickable "Shop Now" or "Save Huge" call to act on an advertisement that took viewers straight to the Overstock website.
The marketing team subsequently utilized YouTube's custom goal audiences to reach people who had recently clicked on one of their product-related search ads. Since audiences had shown interest in the product, the effort spent was highly effective -- in fact, return on ad spend was 3X its additional efforts.
Repeat the Message Throughout Formats, During The Customer Travel
Whenever the Google Pixel group analyzed a full-funnel video promoting the campaign in 2018, they had one big takeaway: Repetition doesn't spoil the prayer. In reality, quite the opposite. "Repeating the concept is your perfect way to move the audience from awareness to act fast," clarified Jabari Hearn, that led the Pixel effort.
To reach its objectives, the group developed a video promoting strategy that featured its message across multiple formats to reach users at several touch points. It began with a YouTube Masthead advertisement, a format meant to reach a wide audience and begin a dialogue about the Pixel. Users who had visited the Masthead and seen with the Pixel page on the Google Store were then served six-second and 15-second advertisements. Eventually, for interested users who turned to search to find out more about the Pixel, the group conducted search advertisements, that drove them back to the product website.
Sure, this approach drove both performance and brand objectives. Results contained a 20% lift in fresh awareness along with a 113% higher clickthrough rate to the buy site than the average of earlier campaigns.
Today that video advertising can work harder for your new than previously, make it a wish to leverage its whole value in 2019. These suggestions will help set you up for success.