Video Ads More Effective than Images

Doubleclick issued a research release about how inline video ads are clicked on more than twice that of banners and images. The report also says that the overall interaction rate is 8 percent! 8 percent! That's a huge number. A number that includes mouseovers, expansions, clicks etc. That number could also be pretty misleading. I've run into a ton of video ads that pop up right when you get to the webpage and you might have "interactions" with it when looking for that hidden "close" button. Unfair you might say. Well, I think that after hearing about this next statistic, which is 0.32 percent press the play button, you'd think otherwise. While this 0.32 percent is double a banner ads click through rate, this is a huge drop off from 8 percent. If the video isn't playing then what? Most likely you're trying to close it, or find the "stop" button. Then Doubleclick says that most videos on average are played 2/3 of the way through. OK, not bad. It could take anywhere from 10-20 seconds to find the close/stop/destroy button. Doubleclick's overall message: Video is twice as effective as Images....

But images aren't really effective. We know that. Whenever we go to a page, we automatically tune out those banners on the top and the skyscrapers along the sides. (Google Adsense speak there.) So what should you do? I've said it once, but I'll say it again, and even Mashable echoes me on this one. Embed your message within your content! A UK boxing promoter is suing YouTube for $1 million. (Rounding error for the Google guys, and a tenth of a percent of what Viacom wants.) The promoter was selling PayPerView subscriptions through his website. But as Mashable states"[the industry] need[s] to adopt a model that provides unlimited syndication, with watermarking and embedded ads, so the business model remains while users still get access to the content. This model would also solve the issue of unauthorized fan footage: rather than keep your version locked up and fight an endless battle to keep cameraphones and video cameras away from sporting events, just offer a higher quality version for free with an ad attached."

People don't want to be sold, but they do want to buy. Advertisements are an opportunity to sell. Embedded content makes them want to buy.