Although the pre-roll ad is the most used format in online video advertising,consumer engagement is still pretty low and marketers must make efforts to adapt and improve this valuable tool. A more interactive and dynamic format could just solve all of the problems but where should we start this perfecting procedure?
One good starting point would be the basics. It is a good opportunity to benefit from the rising levels of interest in the viewer who is online looking for something and who is growingly responsive to every search result. This selective mode can really get viewers to engage when the right type of information is presented to them. Their attention can span from one particular thing they are searching for to other concentrated results with valuable information. The brain can recognize anything relevant in that state.
We keep hearing the word “interactive” thrown in a lot in talks on the matter. And this is why: they are similar to TV ads, but it is the interactive feature that tells them apart. Why copy TV when the age of TV advertising is almost over? Online video advertising is an attempt to better, not to replicate. This format allows marketers to make their ads as interactive as they wish; the more interactive they are the more they can benefit from rising viewer interest.
One way to make this online video advertising format better is to make it even more personalized and interactive: if a user goes online to look for a video on how to style hair, a car oil pre-roll ad would probably be the less advised option. Since we have the option of hitching our ads to some other form of video content, the best way to tie it to the mind of the consumer is by connecting it to some piece of information he/she had a vivid interest in. We can hitch a ride to the subconscious with anything that sparks their minds.
As far as presentation goes, some sites allow users to skip ahead whereas some do not. The best bet in both cases would be to captivate the viewers with the ads presented since they have to sit through them. Studies in online video advertising have shown that 45% of viewers give up on the content they were going to view. But this choice depends on what that pre-roll was preceding: an online episode of the favorite movie, the latest video of some famous singer or simply a funny video on Youtube which was only going to last for a few seconds and sitting through commercials is simply not worth it.
The click-through rate is very low: 0,1%. This happens in both cases: skip ahead options have users’ eyes pinned on the time left until they can watch whatever it is they came to watch online. Full ad options have them steaming that they cannot skip ahead. They either sit through the commercial and then immerse themselves in the video and completely forget about the ad, or give up completely, both the ad as well as the content they were there for. Either way, this is bad according to the opinion of online video advertising specialists.
Although one of the most used online video formats, the engagement levels are still very low, allowing for a palpable discrepancy. The creative challenge lies with the transmitting of a very concentrated message and information which must keep viewers interested and away from the skip button. One clear option would be to make them more interactive by putting at the disposal of online video advertising viewers shortcuts to buying, downloading, signing up etc.
