You may or may not have noticed, but there has been a seismic shift in video ad investment over the last year. Digital continues to grow, but reports suggest that video ad investment is rising at a rate that is nearly double that of overall digital advertising investment.
This is particularly interesting as for many Google Ads purists then video campaigns have often been viewed as an afterthought. The challenges around attributing value have always been a huge hindrance and having the video campaigns sat next to the hyper efficient and super trackable Search and Pmax campaigns only made matters worse.
So why the change? How has video gone from being the black sheep in a ‘performance’ focused platform to such a hotbed for extra investment? Well, in our opinion, the answer is in the timing.
Over the last year tracking across the board has been thrown up in the air. The promised but now abandoned loss of 3rd Party Cookies, greater focus on personal data privacy and the introduction of GA4 have all completely transformed how we attribute performance. Modelled results and utilising AI to fill the gaps has become an accepted norm and the byproduct of this is a lot of change in how the ‘success’ of campaigns is perceived. A lot of the typical ‘high performers’ have taken a hit (unlike Video), which has undoubtedly helped, but more significantly it has generated a greater level of uncertainty in measurement overall that has paved the way for increased willingness to embrace the imperfect measurement that video has always offered.
Secondly, the rise in TikTok has forced businesses to embrace video. The need to not be left behind has pushed advertisers to invest in video assets which has not only normalised video, but it has also enabled an improvement in potential returns-per-video investment – something that has been a stumbling block for clients for many years.
So, with all of this in mind, let’s dive into how you can make the most out of video for the remainder of 2024.
DELIVERING EFFECTIVE VIDEO ADS
Creative First: Truly Commit To The Video Asset
This should perhaps go without saying, but for video to thrive then the video itself needs to be as strong as possible. As anyone who has experienced the ‘joy’ of having auto-generated Pmax videos knows, not all video is good video… so it’s worth pushing it to be the best that you can create.
Typically, In this arena, you have four options:
- Glossy, big brand style videos
- Rough and ready low-fi video
- User Generated Content (UGC)
- AI generated video
Considering the glossy, high end videos normally come with big brand costs then this may be prohibitive, but low-fi and UGC are not only realistic options, but have also proven to be incredibly effective. UGC in particular typically generates the highest level of engagement across all digital platforms (which is an added benefit from a versatility perspective) and doesn’t need to break the bank.
Finally, AI generated video. This is something that hasn’t been great, but with Google’s Creative Studio set for a revamp then the potential here for high quality, low cost video is massive and could be a game-change in the space.
Target Your Audience: Reach Actual Potential Customers
Identifying who will see your ads is the next step. A lot of the changes in the platform/s recently have been built around the idea of broadening your audience and trusting Smart bidding to refine this to those that are most responsive. However, although this is perfect for lower funnel, high conversion ads, it runs into challenges when it comes to mid-upper funnel video.
Instead, you need to identify who your audience is and this requires some old school research. You want to truly understand the profile of who your video would ideally be seen by (age, gender, location, affluence, interests etc.) and build your audience (or, ideally, audiences) from that.
The best results come when your creative and audience are totally aligned irrespective of platform or campaign type. Get that right and you will be well on your way to delivering top tier returns.
Campaigns, Formats & Placements: How Your Video Is Seen
There are more options available than ever to showcase your video and this is a great thing to have, however it does mean that you may need to edit your asset to the respective objective in order to get the most out of each format and campaign type available to you.
Long form (30s+) – Upper funnel focus with YouTube ads. The video should be engaging, tell a story and encourage buy-in to the brand and product. This should make your audience feel positive about interacting with you whether it be for the first time or the fifth.
Mid form (10-30s) – Mid funnel focus with YouTube ads. The idea here is to drive engagement so your ad should be focused on stimulating interaction. The content needs to capture imagination and create a desire to find out more or share thoughts.
Short form (<10s) – Lower funnel focus with YouTube ads (and potentially Pmax). This will never be as effective as any intent led campaign type, but is super helpful for setting up the action before. Short term opportunities that create urgency (e.g. sales, limited stock, new releases) should act as a great feeder for your standard Search or Pmax campaigns.
Measurement: Assessing The Effectiveness Of Your Video Ads
Despite all of the recent progress, this remains an imperfect area. However, the same ‘old school’ routes that are used to measure the effectiveness of the less-trackable offline media (TV, Print, Billboards etc.) are absolutely applicable here.
The primary focus has to be on identifying correlating benefit. We are looking for signs of uplift that align with the activity windows. Econometrics, MMM and uplift studies will all serve as great tools for identifying whether your video ads were worth the investment.
MAXIMISING YOUR VIDEO POTENTIAL WITH EVERYSEARCH
We understand that reading about how to be successful with video ads is one thing, but actually realising that potential is another thing altogether which is why we created Everysearch™.
Everysearch™ is our proprietary tool that was built to help our clients maximise their digital potential in the new world. It is able to identify trends and patterns that can inform creative, analyse customer patterns to generate appropriate audience targeting, decipher platform opportunity to reveal activation recommendations and realise value through proprietary measurement tools.
Getting the most out of video in 2024 is essential and if you address the 4 key steps outlined then you should be well on your way to getting the most out of your ads.
If you have any questions though or would like assistance with creating video ads moving forwards then the Found team would be more than happy to help!
