This morning we released a new report entitled The State of Opt-In Video and Consumer Engagement with some counterintuitive data that bucks popular beliefs about online video. Looking at the report, which is the third in our series on opt-in video, we’re seeing some important shifts, both in how advertisers are thinking about online video and how consumers are responding.
Here’s just a sample of the findings, which are based on a sample of 7.7 million user-initiated video ad views between May and August of this year:
- Facebook engagement is on the decline. While visiting a brand’s Facebook page is still the most popular post-view activity, it has declined 9% over the past year.
- Finding the right consumers is critical. Using a pre-screening question to identify an individual’s interests or affinities makes them 13% more likely to engage in a post-view activity.
- Made for the web isn’t always the way to go. The difference in engagement rates between repurposed TV commercials and ads specifically created for the web is negligible.
- Shorter isn’t always better. Ad length doesn’t have as much of an impact on completion rates as is commonly thought. 70% of all views came from ads over minute in length, while ads over two minutes were still completed 87% off the time.
- Gen Y is the least likely to engage. 18-34-year-olds are the least likely to take an action after viewing.
One of the reasons that we’re really excited about this data is that clearly shows that the video marketplace is maturing from a focus on “viral buzz” into a consistent and reliable tool for driving tangible ROI. We’ve been at the heart of the online video industry since 2005, and we’re big proponents of anything that helps bring more credibility and success to the space. Hey – that’s why we’re putting out this report! If you’d like to grab your own copy, feel free to click here.