SocialDisplay and Video / November 05, 2013 / By Erin Martin
Cheat Sheet: Video Advertising on Social Networks
Originally posted on the WTIA’s Community Blog
Interestingly, 32% of agencies believe that they’re already extending video ad campaigns to Facebook, according to recent Mixpo Report. Why is this interesting? It’s not yet possible to purchase video ad inventory on Facebook. Facebook doesn’t offer it yet.
Yes, there are ways to shoehorn rich media into the newsfeed, but agencies aren’t yet able to purchase video ad inventory from Facebook the way they could, say, from a video ad network or premium content provider. That’ll happen. And when it does, the impact will be huge. Marketers will benefit from an enormous increase in quality inventory, a welcome relief from the presently constrained pool of supply.
As we all know, consumers appetite for online video and marketers’ use of video advertising is growing exponentially. So is their use of social marketing. The two atomic streams – video and social – are colliding to create immense opportunity for advertisers. Rapid change, though, results in questions, even confusion.
It’s no wonder since video and social go together great!
- Consumers are more likely to enjoy a branded video and remember the brand involved if they come across it thanks to a social media recommendation.
- A branded Vine video is four-times more likely to be seen than a regular branded video.
- Instagram videos are creating two-times more engagement than Instagram photos.
- Lululemon, one of the first brands to use Instagram video, earns seven-times as many comments on its Instagram videos as it does on its photos.
- Completion rates for socially-referred video are higher than those for video views that aren’t shared.
First a quick step back, video advertising is easy to conflate with the practice of branded video. Video advertising is the kind of video advertising you pay for, not just positing a YouTube link to your Facebook page.
For our recent report, Demystified: Video Advertising Across Social Networks, we surveyed over 100 agencies and learned that most plan to run video advertising campaigns across social channels.
Conclusion: Now is the time to get started
It’s clear that marketers want to extend video ad campaigns to social media, paid and earned. Who wouldn’t want to expand the reach and frequency of any video ad campaign to the millions of fans and followers that brands – and their agencies – have earned?
The key thing is that it has to be easy. Video is already challenging enough, particularly as you need to be executing video that works across screens (video will break on different screens depending on the approach). No one needs another headache.
The opportunity for video campaigns on social is here - it’s within grasp. Agencies and marketers just need the right technology or technology partner to grab hold. The good news is that the technology is there. And it’s approachable, not confounding.
Soon, more video ad inventory will pour in from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and the like. Don’t get caught flat footed. You will at the very least want to have gained experience. Your brands will ask for it.
Have your technology partners show you how to extend video to social. If they can’t do it – or can’t do it without hassle – then find one that can.