Video Advertising
Video advertising refers to advertising on the Internet with video media.
Use of video advertising
Advertising videos can be integrated into webpages in a variety of ways, for example in an editorial environment or another video. The proliferation of video advertising has only been made possible by the increasing availability of broadband Internet access in most homes, with short loading times for video.
On the Internet, video advertising is often used to refinance other, often free business models at least in part. A typical example of this are free TV streaming offers of well-known television personalities. They make large portions of their broadcast programs available online as streams. Some such broadcasts are available free of charge and are financed by the display of paid advertising.
Types of video advertising embedment
There are several ways to integrate video advertising.
In-stream video ads
Similar to TV spots, they are shown before, during or after other videos, for example, before YouTube videos or as an interruption of TV streaming. Depending on the time of the circuit, one also speaks of pre-, mid- and post-roll ads. The advertising videos are kept very short and usually last only 15 to 20 seconds. This form of video advertising is generally accepted and viewed by the user as “payment” for the free video content.
In-banner video ads
These special advertising videos are integrated into other advertising media. Especially advertising media with large advertising space is suitable for this purpose, for example medium and large rectangles. Since these advertising videos are displayed parallel to the actual content, it is never possible to ascertain to what extent the user’s attention is actually directed to the video.
Video interstitial
A video interstitial is an interruption in the use of a webpage. It is brought to the foreground by darkening the rest of the webpage. Similar to layer ads, they are only partially accepted by users, since they are interrupted by the ad in their current activity. At the same time, their attention is focused, since the user can no longer view the rest of the content at that moment. In the worst case, video interstitials can even have a negative impact on the advertised brand.
In-text videos
These videos are embedded in the editorial content, but are initially not perceptible. Only when users move the mouse pointer over appropriately underlined keywords will a video layer open. If the mouse pointer remains hovering over the video layer, it will zoom out and gets played.
Technology
In most cases, videos are still being integrated using Flash. A flashplayer, which is available on most common devices, is required to show the video. Only Apple mobile devices do not support the Flash standard. An alternative is the HTML 5 standard, which allows videos to be compatible with all platforms.
Relevance to online marketing
Video advertising is a fast-growing market that shows the importance of the advertising sector. In 2013, approximately 4.14 billion US dollars were invested in video ads. However, experts expect an increase to more than US $8 billion by 2016. Video advertising is becoming increasingly successful especially with regard to the extensive use of video platforms.
- The top 500 brands reach an average of more than 884,000 video calls per month
- 60 percent of Internet traffic in 2012 was video content
- Every US citizen consumes an average of 19 hours of video content per month
- More than half of consumers secure purchase decisions through video
Any video that users see is generally suitable for video advertising. In practice, however, you have to pay attention to the fact that both the topic and the target group fit in with your advertising message and brand. It is possible to address the target group emotionally when it is particularly attentive and receptive. This is important in branding when it comes to anchoring consumer awareness. But even when it comes to specific sales, video ads are a good choice. They can increase the likelihood of spontaneous purchases and readiness to buy.