Online video is a great way to capture your customers’ attention, but how do you know if it’s working? Ryan Van Fleet, director of insights and analytics at Tremor Media, has produced a video and Dan Ruch, VP Europe at Tremor Media, produced the accompanying text about the importance of using the right metrics when assessing effectiveness of online video advertising.
Online video advertising is a rapidly growing industry, but is still in relative infancy in the UK. According to recent IAB figures more than two thirds of UK marketers are planning to increase their online video ad spend in 2011. Many have observed the potential shown by the online video industry’s success in the US.
Online video can engage customers with short and informative ads that make the often complex messages of B2B marketing more compelling. Rather than trying to drive customers through to a B2B marketer’s website, online video ads can bring the brand and product experiences to the viewer in whatever online environment they happen to be in at the time. Through a range of interactive elements online video can directly address customer concerns and queries and provide additional information, like product demos, image galleries, and access to LinkedIn profiles.
To best utilise online video, marketers must look not just at whether their online video ad campaign is successful, but what makes it successful to capitalise on successes and address any underperforming features. Research and data provides the feedback marketers need to optimise their ads by examining exactly how their customers are engaging with the video.
Here is how to use research to make the most of your online video ads:
1. Have a campaign large enough to measure
Gathering research and data from the largest possible sample size is vital to ensure a thorough understanding of the target market and its segments. Online video uses a wide range of metrics which measure the numerous functions of the ad, and enables marketers to analyse the data with the audience and its various segments in mind. Feedback from viewers seeing the ad on a website targeted at global corporate CEOs may differ wildly from those interacting with the ad on a site aimed at small and medium enterprises. Analysing factors like behavioural impact over a large sample size enables marketers to reliably assess the areas of a campaign which are driving success, as well as potential weaknesses, in specific and illustrative detail.
2. Ensure that research aligns with campaign goals
Marketers need to know what they want to achieve with their campaign and adjust their data collection and analysis accordingly. Depending on whether the goal of the ad is to boost brand awareness, generate customer action, or educate prospective customers on various product options, marketers need to decide how best they can measure success, and which metrics will deliver the results they need. To make the best use of research, marketers must align the strengths of specialist research partners against specific campaign goals. Products from companies like Nielsen, comScore, Vizu and Dynamic Logic are just some of the tools that can be used to inform campaign success. Each has different strengths. Naturally the research and analytics strategy should adjust to the key performance indicators of each specific campaign.
3. Measure each element of the video unit
Using video with interactive elements makes B2B marketing more entertaining. Incorporating features like vouchers, special offers, sampling and trials; showroom and branch locators; and promotion of and access to special events, online video ads grant B2B marketers key insight into what can drive further action in the offline environment. Measuring how interactive elements perform enables marketers to see not just what kinds of interactivity customers are drawn to, but how these elements are helping customers to engage with the brand and take action.
4. Effective measurement
The interactive features of online video elicit informed actions by involving the customer in a selection environments rather than a ‘push’ environment. Rather than focusing on simplistic measurements like click through rates or video views, marketers need to focus on aspects like engagement rates, time spent with the ads, and what specific products or services viewers are interested in. The problem with an over reliance on click through rates is that such evaluation fails to convey the extent to which an ad is involving the customer with the brand. A ‘click’, if properly used, can be of remarkable value. However, instead of focusing entirely on the quantity of clicks marketers should also look to the quality of those clicks, as the interactive formats of online video can elicit a wealth of information regarding informed actions, engagement and user preference. By combining awareness, engagement and intent metrics marketers can measure, develop and enhance the depth of the relationship with the customer.
5. Using the data
Marketers need to be proactive rather than reactive with the data they glean from their campaigns, and not simply evaluate end results. Collecting data is a start, but pointless if the data isn’t used to optimise current campaigns and improve insight into customer preferences. Only when the data is properly understood can efforts be taken to capitalise on successful elements, address any underperforming tactics and inform the creativity of the next campaign.
