By Jack Woods
Without trying to sound dramatic, you’re throwing money away if you’re not embracing the evolution of marketing. Market and consumer behaviors are constantly changing, and as advertisers it is our job to move with the trends. This isn’t a simple fact of keeping up with the Joneses, but instead understanding that buyers respond in new and different ways all the time, so we need to stay one step ahead.
You’ve probably seen a decrease in performance on banner ads of late. This is to do with Banner Blindness. Which is an idea that we’re so accustomed to seeing banner ads that we naturally scroll past them. Or many people see the word “Sponsored” on an Instagram story and will immediately swipe left.
The current trend is video. Plain and simple. The power of video is growing each year, and even business Titans YouTube and Meta (a.k.a Facebook) have bent to the will of the people; seeing the vast growth of TikTok and the trend it has created. Meta has changed their own algorithm for Instagram to reduce the reach of images and prioritize full screen video shorts.
And the next big industry to make this change is the Native Advertising industry.
Video ads are conquering…
We’re far enough into the video generation that studies have been conducted, and the results are clear. Video ads increase your engagement rate and increase your brand awareness. One particular study found that native video adverts increase brand awareness by 26% vs image creatives increasing brand awareness by only 14%.
You’re exposing your brand to nearly twice the audience with a simple change in creative.
But why is this?
It’s the age-old idiom A Picture Speaks A Thousand Words. You can communicate so much more through imagery than text. Grab attention faster and drive interest in the amygdala (where we process emotion in the brain) encouraging action in buyers.
And if a static image can grab so much attention… imagine what a 30second video could do? You can demonstrate key aspects of your product or service in a pleasant way that your audience loves.
Quick question for you…
Think back to any YouTube video that you’ve watched in the last month. Can you recall details about it? Like, specific details. I’m sure you can…
For me, around a month ago I watched a Ted Talk YouTube video about procrastination, and I can vividly recall the imagery of a monkey at the steering wheel of a ship and the childish notation of the pink panic monster (I’m sure that many of you know the exact video I’m talking about!).
We have an incredible ability to remember details of videos.
But now… think back to any picture that your Mom, sister, or colleague put on Facebook in the last month. Whether it was a meme or a picture of them out for dinner. Can you remember any specific details? What color top were they wearing? What cocktail was in their hand? What was the text overlay?
Not so easy is it…
Apply this to your product or service.
Do you think it would be reasonable to assume that if a prospective customer watched your video, that they could remember specific details about it in 30 days time?
I think it’s a reasonable assumption. Don’t you?
Now, introduce a retargeting ad to people who have watched the video and because your customer is brand aware, they’re likely to take an interest, click the ad, maybe even buy. All from that initial touchpoint engraving your brand benefit in the hippocampus of your customer. This leads to another incredible reason for running video adverts…
Video ads increase conversions on image-creative native advertisements.
We’ve already seen that your brand awareness is increased through video advertisement, and this will increase the efficacy of your image-creative ads on native advertising platforms such as Taboola, Outbrain, RevContent, or MGID.
As we know, your brand awareness is higher after running a video ad, and so when you start to run your normal campaigns, your readers will already be accustomed to your brand AND THEREFORE more likely to click through.
They may have spent a little time thinking about the benefits shown in your video, or seeing the happy faces of customers who bought your Japanese knife or mosquito zapper.
Then, given a second opportunity to buy – they are emotionally primed and ready for sale.
This is the power in our hands, today.
You might not get the conversion on the first touch point, but playing the long game with your native strategy will greatly increase your long term conversions.
“This is all great… but how do I start?”
I’m sure you’re asking yourself this question.
Our advice is to run a test. Don’t just abandon your current strategy because you’re read a blog post explaining the incredible opportunity in front of you. Go and prove the point for yourself.
Start to run some video adverts against your control, and watch the impact that it has over the next 2 to 4 weeks. Track both conversions attributed to the video advert itself, and the uplift you will see in your image and retargeting campaigns.
Split test your creatives. Run two or three different video variations in your testing process to see whether a pain-point led video converts better than a product benefit led video. The testing and optimization process is the same here as your traditional image creatives.
Need help in crafting your videos?
If you need help or advice around how to story-board and edit your videos, you can always reach out to the ROI Marketplace Video Division for support. We are here to take away the stress and complication involved in video editing.
We can either take your script and turn it into something special, or help to write the script for you too! Not only that, but we can film, edit, and render the videos for you. Ready for you to upload to Taboola and start printing money.
We can record unboxings, reviews, create special effects, custom video graphics, and even provide new product shots – whatever you need, our team has got you covered!
So reach out today. You’ve seen the power of video advertising, and it’s now time to realize this in your business. You can speak to our team by either clicking on this link, or completing the contact form below. Our team of video specialists will get back to you, arrange a quick consultation call, and plan a motion of action.
Special offer for all existing ROI Marketplace customers: Until July 31st 2022, we’re running an offer, where all existing clients can get one video on their choice of platform whether it be TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, or Facebook for free. Click the button below and contact us today!
