Feb 29

Context Determines Online Video Success

By Ervin Draganovic Digital Media Trends Comments Off

While most marketers are trying to understand how to increase brand exposure outside their owned destinations, some marketers have discovered how online video deployment can generate high exposure and engagement rates within paid and earned media. Well knowing that the increase in video frequency squeezes the already limited attention span, marketers need to add the contextual element in which their video assets are deployed in the video program equation.

In the latest online video rankings report indicating unique views from comScore, Facebook ranks as number 5, in front of companies such as Microsoft, AOL, Amazon, Hulu and NBC Universal. It is thus evident that online video content is flowing onto the online social sphere at a rapid rate. As a result of this, pushing branded video content to Facebook without any contextual bundling will result in minimum engagement without any organic distribution. According to recent academic research, brands active on Facebook had on average, over a period of 4-6 weeks, an increased brand engagement with 14%, growth in fan base by 10%, and an improved organic reach by 24%, after incorporating the following measures in their online video activities:

  • Added video campaign within the context of e.g. competition or seasonal promotions
  • Only released videos as part of an already running or newly established campaign
  • Mixed a range of high-end and low-end produced videos
  • Included a minimum of two CTA’s in every video
  • Nurtured engagement with give-aways or financial incentives
  • Treated video as social currency

In relation to paid media, marketers have to start buying solutions that deploy their online video content within the right context. This is crucial as placing video in the ad-space undermines and undervalues the branded value of rich media compared to video deployment in the editorial-space. According to a study performed by Yahoo!, 57% of online video viewers say they enjoy watching a video next to an article as shown in the chart above. Moreover, the study also found that in cases where a video is played within the article, viewers are more likely to watch the video to get more information or to receive extended entertainment on the topic. Contextual placement thereby increases the likeliness of viewer engagement via rich media exposure.

The results of integrating, deploying and distributing online video assets can be improved if the context of where the assets will operate is considered. To learn how to incorporate contextual video into your online marketing strategy read more at previewnetworks.com or send me an e-mail (ed@previewnetworks.com) to find out how we can help you with context empowered video deployment.

About Preview Networks

Preview Networks is a platform for brands and content aggregation and syndication platform for publishers. We provide the tools for brands to centrally distribute and manage marketing and PR content across media destinations, devices, and commerce platforms; allowing media partners to automate content acquisition delivering audience and advertising revenue growth.

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Feb 23

Video by the Numbers

By Heather Timmerman Digital Media Trends Comments Off

Each February numbers from the last quarter of the previous year are released, analysed, and discussed and if you are comScore, January’s results from the current year are also released for a nice comparison. The type of numbers we are talking about aren’t financial (in the direct sense anyway) they are online viewership numbers, and in particular online video rankings and trends. As per usual, we take the opportunity to round up all these different facts and figures into one blog post to help compare and contrast and perhaps bring a little context to the trends.

Overall Numbers
2011 ended with 85.3 percent of the U.S. internet audience viewing video online in December. That translates to 182 million U.S. internet users viewing 43.5 billion videos. However, in January 2012 that number has decreased to 84.4 percent of the U.S. internet audience or 181 million U.S. internet users viewing 40 billion videos. Compared to the end of 2010 where the U.S. internet user number was 172 million and 30.1 billion video views, there is still a growth trend in year-over-year numbers (Source: comScore).

Device Trends
According to Ooyala’s Q4 2011 Video Index Report, non-desktop video viewership – or video on mobile, tablet, connected TV, and gaming console devices – doubled in Q4 compared to Q3. More specifically, tablets led the trend with 22% growth driven by users clicking “play” more often in addition to watching video longer (Source: VideoNuze). The data for this report was collected from 100 million viewers and 5,000 domains in over 130 countries.

Social Works
Another report published by Visible Measures focusing on social video campaigns in 2011 shows that online video on social networks works. Using their own data, the report shows that over 500 branded social video campaigns gained more than a million views each, and the average campaign received 765,000 views. This indicates the trend of brands using content-as-advertising by creating engaging and entertaining material (#2 on the Video Prediction Mashup for 2012). Using humour is key and launching on Thursday certainly helps as well (Source: ReelSEO).

2012 Forecast
comScore has released their 2012 U.S. Digital Future in Focus report and supplementary video which indicates trends in branded channels on platforms such as YouTube. This leads to a continued increase in user engagement, based on a 2010 to 2011 increase in user engagement of online videos by 43%. They also note that online video ads are actually 38% more memorable than TV ads, which supports the multi-screen/multi-platform trend we have reported in the past.  “comScore expects the number of videos viewed to continue to increase in 2012 with one of the primary driving reasons being an increase in quality, original, created for-the-web content syndicated across platforms.” To conclude, online video growth is still very positive, and only the channels and methods of viewing them will change throughout 2012.  To read the full comScore report, download it here.

About Preview Networks

Preview Networks is a platform for brands and content aggregation and syndication platform for publishers. We provide the tools for brands to centrally distribute and manage marketing and PR content across media destinations, devices, and commerce platforms; allowing media partners to automate content acquisition delivering audience and advertising revenue growth.

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Feb 15

Device Usage Increases Viewer Engagement

By Heather Timmerman Digital Media Trends Comments Off

One of the predictions for 2012 was an increase in cross-platform and cross-device campaigns and after nearly two months into the new year various studies, reports, and research have surfaced to support the reason for that claim.

Image courtesy of thetechjournal.com

The first being a joint study by YuMe and Nielsen indicating online video advertising is actually complementary to TV advertising.  Next, came a report by Videology indicating multi-screen campaigns increase brand recall. The latest research is by Discovery Communications indicating that simultaneous usage of digital platforms increases many viewers’ connection to programs and advertisements.

According to this latest study, nearly half of those who use digital devices while watching TV, said they are more likely to search for a product they see advertised on TV, and one-third said they pay more attention to what is on TV.  That contradicts earlier studies which indicate that TV advertising is losing its effectiveness, and one even stating that online ads beat TV ads in viewer recall.

This study by Discovery Communications had a strong focus on iPad users, who are unique consumers to consider. They exhibited notably different behaviour than the general population in that they are much more attentive and responsive to programming and advertising compared to the average consumer. They also exhibit social influence often sharing opinions in real time via social media.

Since iPad ownership has not become entirely mainstream yet, these consumers could be considered early adopters according to the technology adoption lifecycle. As such, this provides a unique marketing opportunity for brands and TV show producers to personalise, enhance, and engage their fans which could have profound lasting effects. If marketers are able to cross the chasm between early adopters and the early majority then a bandwagon effect creating a media engagement standard could be in the works. Creating a cross-platform and cross-device campaign is the first step.

About Preview Networks

Preview Networks is a platform for brands and content aggregation and syndication platform for publishers. We provide the tools for brands to centrally distribute and manage marketing and PR content across media destinations, devices, and commerce platforms; allowing media partners to automate content acquisition delivering audience and advertising revenue growth.

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Feb 09

Social Media is Here to Stay: 10 Things You Should Know

By Heather Timmerman Digital Media Trends 1 Comment »

According to a recent study done by comScore, social networking is ranked as the most popular content category for worldwide engagement, with market penetration of 85 percent in 41 out of 43 markets. That’s a pretty powerful statement to soak in, yet comScore continues to dissect the data even further in their 69 page whitepaper labeled It’s a Social World: Top 10 Need-to-Knows About Social Networking and Where It’s Headed.

Image courtesy of vabulous.com

Data was collected from 2 million people and sourced from 171 countries with data reported specifically for 43 countries. Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, LinkedIn, MySpace, SlideShare and many more were included in the analysis.  We realise not everyone has the time to read the entire report, so the top 10 noteworthy trends and points to consider are highlighted for convenience below.

#1. Social networking is the most popular online online activity worldwide. That translates to 19 percent of all time online. To break that down even further, it means that 1 in every 5 minutes is spent on social networking sites globally.

#2. Social networking behaviour both transcends and reflects regional differences around the world. Although social networking engagement varies per country (93 percent in the U.S. compared to 53 percent in China) it is pretty safe to say that in general, over half of local online populations are actively using social media.

#3. The importance of Facebook cannot be overstated. Not surprisingly, Facebook (launched in 2004) reaches more than half of the world’s global audience (55 percent) and accounts for approximately 3 in every 4 minutes spent on social media and 1 in every 7 minutes spent online around the world.

#4. Microblogging has emerged as a disruptive new force in social networking. This is in large part due to the Twitter phenomenon that began to emerge significantly in 2009. Twitter now reaches 1 of 10 internet users worldwide and grew 59 percent in the past year.

#5. Local social networks are making inroads globally. Most of the Top 20 social networking sites may be based in the US, but in many cases the majority of the audience now reside outside of the U.S. For example, LinkedIn’s highest market penetration is from the Netherlands.

#6. It’s not just young people using social networking anymore – it’s everyone. In the last 18 to 24 months since comScore released this report the audience has been quickly changing from young to everyone. In fact, the fastest growing age segment is the over 55 crowd.

#7. ‘Digital natives’ suggest communications are going social. Social networking is the norm for digital natives between the ages of 15 and 24 that have grown up with the internet. In fact, most communication is now over social media versus email and mobile. The highest average engagement worldwide is with this age segment, which is an important indicator for the future.

#8. Social networking leads in online display advertising in the U.S., but lags in share of dollars. Social networking sites account for 1 in 4 U.S. display ad impressions. However, even though more than a quarter of ads are seen on social networking sites, they only attract 15 percent of U.S. display ad dollars.

#9. The next disrupters have yet to be decided. Social networking audiences gradually shifted from MySpace to Facebook who has remained on top for several years. Google+ is showing traction as it surged to over 25 million users in less than one month, which is the fastest any social networking site has grown, but whether it continues its popularity remains to be seen. However, the numbers are still impressive considering it took Facebook 36 months and Twitter 33 months to gain that kind of audience.

Social sites to keep an eye on are microblogging sites such as Sina Weibo, Tumblr, and Badoo. Social content-sharing site Pinterest’s engagement skyrocketed 512 percent over the course of six months in 2011, which is a sign of the overall increase in social media interest in general.

#10. Mobile devices are fueling the social addiction. Mobile devices represent the future of social networking from a technology point of view. In October 2011, one third of the U.S. population accessed social networking sites on their mobile phones at least once a month. Across the five leading European markets of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and United Kingdom, that number was nearly 25 percent.  Of special note is the increase in smartphone usage and popularity of tablets as an influential factor on  mobile social media engagement.

To Conclude

If social media is here to stay, then it’s imperative for brands to determine which social networking sites are relevant for its customer segments. ComScore’s report talks a lot about the numbers which indicates which social networking sites are the most popular, and therefore the minimum to be engaged.

However, there are social networking sites that are segment specific, indicating the ever growing fragmentation of social media. In fact, additional research suggests the number of  mentions or likes doesn’t necessarily determine the popularity of a brand, but dispersion amongst the various social networking sites does. In other words, the wider and broader the discussion of a brand or campaign within online social media, the more likely it will become popular (Source: avc.com). Something to consider for the ever evolving social networking strategy.

About Preview Networks

Preview Networks is a platform for brands and content aggregation and syndication platform for publishers. We provide the tools for brands to centrally distribute and manage marketing and PR content across media destinations, devices, and commerce platforms; allowing media partners to automate content acquisition delivering audience and advertising revenue growth.

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Feb 02

Multi-screen Video Campaign Strategy Increases Brand Recall

By Heather Timmerman Digital Media Trends Comments Off

Audience fragmentation is the #1 problem for online marketers trying to understand which platform is best to use when determining a digital strategy. Websites, mobile phones, tablets, and connected TV all play a role in the online video space, but knowing which devise to use for what end goal is key to understanding the best return on value.

Image courtesy of the Video Convergence Whitepaper by Videology

New research from Videology indicates that multiple platforms or screens actually increase brand recall. They measured this by studying 8 campaigns where video ran online on some, while others ran video across online, mobile, and connected TV. Of those that ran on multiple screens brand recall increased by 70-300% compared to online only at a 15-130% increase in brand recall.

However, if click through rates (CTR) or video completion rates (VCR) are the end goal then different platforms apply. This study, also done by Videology, included data from 378 campaigns and taking into account 184 million video impressions, 2.1 million mobile video impressions, and 360K connected TV impressions. Mobile seems to be the platform to use if CTR is what marketers are after, but connected TV is the platform to use for VCR. The whitepaper study, cites various reasons for this, one being the fact that connected TV does not allow viewers to click through or bypass a video advertisement.

If reach is what marketers are after, then going after the online video population (and platform) is probably the best bet given that is the largest of the three at 182 million compared to 91 million smartphone users, and 10.5 million connected TV users (in the US). However, if getting the most ‘bang for your buck’ is ultimately what it comes down to then a multi-screen campaign is probably the way to go due to a 9x higher average brand recall, and decrease in cost per incremental brand lift by 55%. Support for this multi-screen campaign approach was also done by a YuMe study that indicated online video ads actually complement TV ads (Source: VideoNuze). That is, of course if budget is not an issue.

After all the data outlined above, it’s clear to see how and why marketers can easily be confused by all the options, so here is a quick recap: CTR=Mobile, VCR=Connected TV, Brand Recall & Performance vs. Cost=Multi-Screen Strategy.

About Preview Networks

Preview Networks is a platform for brands and content aggregation and syndication platform for publishers. We provide the tools for brands to centrally distribute and manage marketing and PR content across media destinations, devices, and commerce platforms; allowing media partners to automate content acquisition delivering audience and advertising revenue growth.

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Jan 26

Create Your Brand-Owned TV Channel

By Heather Timmerman Digital Media Trends Comments Off

One of the multiple video predictions of 2012 was an increase in branded-content production, and early research into 2012 has proven that to be true. Many retailers and major brands are moving beyond publishing videos on websites and media outlets to creating their brand-owned TV channels online. This move is allowing these brands to increase consumer engagement, track behaviour and ultimately increase online sales (Source: MarketingWeek).

Image courtesy of PinkTV

Case examples from brands such as Thomas Pink, Marks & Spencer, LookFantastic, and BrandAlley talk about their experiences with this form of online brand building in a recent article by Marketing Week. Many brands begin by posting videos on YouTube or brand websites and eventually evolve into an online TV channel platform as a testing playground. The results have included consumers spending longer amounts of time on the online TV channel, looking at three times as many products compared to non-viewers.

Instructional  or ‘how to’ videos seem to be the most popular form of online TV content, particularly for the fashion or beauty brands mentioned above. For example, a popular strategy for Thomas Pink has been to post videos on how to tie a bow tie or Windsor knot, building their brand equity and expertise online. Brands such as BrandAlley have identified that this form of content platform attracts a younger audience which has allowed them to cater different content to their male and female viewers.

With these mass customisation strategies, an instructional tool-set for how to create engaging product videos is necessary. Luckily due to the popularity of online video, these best practice guides are beginning to pop up all over the internet. Below are a couple for your reference. In addition, check out a previous post describing how product videos improve consumer decision accuracy.

Product Video Guides:

How-to Product Video Examples from 5 E-Commerce Businesses
Product Video Best Practice Guide 2012

About Preview Networks

Preview Networks is a platform for brands and content aggregation and syndication platform for publishers. We provide the tools for brands to centrally distribute and manage marketing and PR content across media destinations, devices, and commerce platforms; allowing media partners to automate content acquisition delivering audience and advertising revenue growth.

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Jan 19

Branding Techniques for Digital Campaigns

By Heather Timmerman News we can use Comments Off

When it comes to delivering a successful online campaign in the digital age, it appears that some old school rules of thumb may also apply for advertising. This insight comes in part one of a five-series blog post from comScore which says including traditional branding elements in digital executions improve offline sales.  As marketers increase their online brand ads in 2012 (Source: eMarketer), this insight is good to keep in mind for future campaigns.

According to years of research and one recent analysis by comScore and dunnhumbyUSA, usage of the following five branding elements in digital campaigns showed a positive lift in offline sales, when compared to those campaigns that did not include these elements:

1. Brand Differentiating Messaging
2. New Product/Feature Information
3. Convenience Demonstrations
4. Competitive Comparisons
5. Superiority Claims

The article is quick to point out the challenge digital faces, which is lack of real estate to include all of the above branding elements in a tiny online display ad. It’s easy enough when you have a large landscape to work with (as in print) or a captive audience (as in TV), but digital advertising often happens in the flash of an eye, with ads competing amongst many moving parts and pieces on a web page.

This is good news for video advertising which has the interactive element noted by this study, as well as others, to overcome the digital branding challenge. Not to mention the size of most video players which addresses the real estate issue, and the opportunity to captivate the audience. According to Turner Broadcasting and Magna Global, this is easier than you think given the fact that research shows people are willing watch ads online if it means access to programming. Willingness is one thing, whether or not the message sinks in, comes down to quality content and basic branding principles.

About Preview Networks

Preview Networks is a platform for brands and content aggregation and syndication platform for publishers. We provide the tools for brands to centrally distribute and manage marketing and PR content across media destinations, devices, and commerce platforms; allowing media partners to automate content acquisition delivering audience and advertising revenue growth.

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