The future of advertising has been digital video for so long it is safe to say the future has arrived. Significant indisputable data proves the rise and dominance of digital video advertising isn’t a trend but the new cornerstone of any compelling marketing mix.
Five reasons video ads are the future of advertising:
- People like video ads.
- Reach.
- Measurable analytics.
- Options.
- Video is the perfect vehicle for emerging marketing trends.
People Like Video Ads
Online marketers know that digital video has demonstrable positive ROI because prospects engage at higher rates with video than any other medium. Video elevates the user experience. Statistics, surveys, and studies continue to validate the power of video marketing and the online digital landscape in which it lives:
- 85% of people feel more connected to a brand through video. (Renderforest)
- 69% of people prefer video over text when learning about a product or service. (SmallBizGenius)
- Video ads are the primary way prospects discover a new brand. (Renderforest)
- Online video’s global popularity continues to increase. By the end of 2021, Zenith Media predicts the average person will watch 100 minutes of online video per day. That equals twenty-five days of watching online videos. (Zenith Media)
- People watch four billion YouTube videos a day.
- 81% of people prefer video content on social media. (Renderforest)
- TikTok has 689 million active users. (DataReportal)
- Marketers’ ad spends on video have steadily increased and will continue to do so. (Wyzol)
- One-third of consumers purchase a product after seeing an effective video ad.
- Businesses reported video ads increased conversion rates by 31%, sales by 34%, website traffic by 51%, and brand awareness by 70%. (Renderforest)
The list of statistics that support video as king of the digital marketing domain could go on for another ten pages. The more ubiquitous online digital video becomes, the more it becomes a regular familiar feature of a prospect’s virtual world.
For example, it is hard to imagine an online search for a recipe that does not include an instructional video on preparing it. The recipe video is now standard, increasing a brand’s marketing real estate. For example, the brand can be The Food Network, which created and posted the video on their recipe page, or a kitchen knife company that runs a 30-second ad before the instructional video begins.
The result is a more significant number of people who see your video ad and an elevated customer experience that increases retention and brand loyalty.
Reach
The universe is infinite, and so is the world wide web.
Digital video has a reach hitherto unknown in the epic history of global communication. Like the spokes of Rome’s Via Appia stretching out to connect the furthest corners of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, the internet has increased the number of people a message can reach in a transformative way.
Advertising channels optimized for video dominate the internet.
- A brand or business’s website.
- Video-friendly social media channels such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and LinkedIn. A brand is likely to have a presence on multiple social media platforms, giving their videos a direct connection to their customers.
- Video creation and sharing platforms such as YouTube, Vimeo, and TikTok.
- Audio streaming platforms like Spotify and Pandora.
Other factors that increase digital video’s reach include:
- Content sharing. The digital age’s word of mouth is content sharing. When people like a video, they share it with their friends. For example, almost 1,000 videos are shared on Twitter every day. That costs the brand $0. Each time a video is shared, the ad’s ROI increases.
- Mobile advertising. People watch more videos on their phones than anywhere else, including tablets. Video ads optimized for smartphones create another opportunity for brands to reach their target audience. Nationwide 5G networks will accelerate mobile use.
- Email marketing videos. Direct email marketing is an effective way to connect with customers and drive action. The introduction of video into email marketing is new. However, 44% of people surveyed responded that they would view a video ad included in an email.
- Hyperlinked video ads. Hyperlinking video ads to post-click landing pages gives marketers a boomerang effect. The digital ad pushes across multiple online marketing channels. Still, with one click, the brand can direct prospects to a personalized web page designed to convert views/clicks to sales or some other desired action.
- Search Engine Optimization. The algorithms used by the major search engines favor video. A business website that includes video has a higher search ranking and leads potential customers to spend more time on their website. Win-win.
Measurable Analytics
In 1946, The Ford Motor Company hired ten World War II Air Force veterans called The Whiz Kids to apply military “operations research” and “management science” to its business. The Whiz Kids transformed Ford’s Planning Department into the first full-time private data science center.
The analytics research the department conducted resulted in, among other things, the design and manufacture of cars with safety features that made the death rate from auto accidents plummet.
The automated real-time data analytics at the modern digital marketer’s fingertips is beyond The Whiz Kids’ wildest dreams. Every online advertising platform offers advanced marketing analytics to track results like Google Analytics, Facebook Analytics, etc.
Digital video benefits from these tools because the data supports its preeminence. Numbers tell a story, and digital video’s story is one of absolute supremacy. Almost 90% of digital marketers are happy with the ROI their video ad campaigns generate.
Options
Not all digital video ad campaigns are created equal.
There are so many types of digital videos that the options may seem overwhelming. Like an all-you-can-eat-buffet, there is something for everyone:
- Brand marketing videos
- Explainer videos.
- Corporate videos.
- Educational videos.
- Animated videos.
- 15-second videos.
- 30-second videos.
- 1-minute videos.
- Long-form videos.
- Logo animation.
- Entertaining
- Stories
- Reels
- Carousel ads
- Video discovery ads
- Bumper ads
- Masthead ads
- Collection ads
- Instant Experiences
The list goes on. Digital video’s flexibility and customization allow marketers to create the perfect type of ad that’s the ideal length for a specific audience on a particular channel. The number of creative options and video formats a brand can choose to advance its message is one of the primary behind-the-scenes benefits of video marketing.
The hypercompetitive online marketing world is ever-evolving. Marketers invent new types of videos to stay one step ahead of competitors and the marketplace.
Digital Video is the Perfect Vehicle for Emerging Marketing Trends
The future of advertising has many facets, only one of which is video. However, video is a medium that can leverage the full potential of significant emerging marketing trends.
The future of video advertising will incorporate storization, personalization, branded programmatic advertising, and psychological marketing, rolled into one mega term yet to be coined. Integration as content strategy aligns with an overall move toward marketing techniques that produce a positive emotional response with the viewer.
The idea is that marketing efforts that create lifelong loyal customers are a more noble and cost-effective use of advertising dollars than a quick one-time sales conversion.
Video with great storytelling that conveys a relatable message is ideal for advancing digital advertising devices designed to form a long-term emotional bond with the customer.
Conclusion
The digital video wars have just begun. Video as a marketing kingmaker is a foregone conclusion, yet its future is more powerful and complex than previously predicted. Competition to produce video stories that resonate with viewers and allow a brand to stand out is intense, leading to innovation and heightened out-of-the-box creativity that benefits businesses and consumers alike.