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When it comes to video, is shorter sweeter?

 

Written on 04/30/19 6:15 AM

 

When it comes to video, is shorter sweeter? In its “Digital Video Advertising Best Practices 2019” report, eMarketer recently shared a number of useful trends and information pertaining to any channels that serve up video advertising and content digitally: advanced TV (connected, addressable, programmatic); VOD; social; YouTube; full episode players; and programmatic, PMP, and publisher-direct video. Of note here are some best practices specific to digital video creative.

From the report:

“For mobile video in particular, moving the brand message to the front is important. And for direct-response brands where the video is driving an acquisition KPI [key performance indicator], putting that call to action right up front is critical. IAB did a study recently on mobile shoppable video, and that 3-second sweet spot is super important so that the consumer knows there’s an opportunity to engage. It might use a call-to-action like ‘shop now’ or ‘learn more,’ but putting that up front is a best practice.”

—Eric John, Deputy Director, Video, Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB)

What’s our take on this? As production budgets allow, videos should be customized to the platform:

1.) Video ads should be short—ideally, not longer than 15 seconds, and consider shorter ads, such as 6-second ads when appropriate for the message and the platform

2.) The brand and CTA (call to action) need to be front loaded—unlike TV ads, where the critical information appears later in the ad, digital video ads should feature the logo, URL and/or CTA within the first three seconds of the ad starting because significant ad drop off can occur within four to five seconds of play.

3.) Don’t assume there will be sound—Closed captioning should be employed in case sound isn’t on. This function works best when captions are embedded into the creative asset itself, rather than relying on CC functions in platforms.

4.) Consider vertical video in the asset development process—Consumers generally do not want to have to turn their phones 90 degrees to what a video in full screen when in social platforms. Filming with vertical dimensions in mind can better enable content adaptability into tactics and platforms that use vertical video.