Marketers face constant pressure to develop campaigns that have the greatest impact on customers, while minimizing any negative effect on brands’ bottom lines. What if they could create online content that elicits emotional responses better, requires shorter attention spans and demands minimal investments. A recent Nielsen report asserts incorporating neuroscience into advertising can help brands create more effective video marketing campaigns that cost less.
Art or science?
The report brings up the ongoing battle between marketers who think art is the intangible that generates campaign success and those who err on the side of science.
Neuroscience could put the issue to rest by providing brands with hard data about which ad elements cause prospects to react. By honing in on the exact moment that a video ad triggers memories, the second when attention is lost and the components that create emotional engagement, marketers can compress the length of digital content and cap spending.
“There is a significant difference between this scientific approach to ad compression and current industry practice. The latter involves shortening a 30-second ad by applying experience and personal judgment to trim the story line, reduce repetition and so forth. Scientific ad compression is quite different,” the report states.
Creating short video content that packs a punch
The former allows companies to pinpoint the moments when audiences are most engaged, so ineffective parts of videos can be cut and marketers can shorten their ad spots from 30 to 10 seconds. This might seem too quick for an engaging message, but Nielsen’s studies suggest 90 percent of ads can be effectively relayed in 10 to 15 seconds. Moreover, scientifically compressed ads are stronger than the first versions in 95 percent of cases.
90 percent of ads can be effectively relayed in 10 to 15 seconds.
This could have a significant impact on brands’ bottom lines, considering video content consumption is quickly becoming part of internet users’ daily lives. Vine is gaining momentum with both consumers and brands as a platform that helps share unique perspectives in six seconds or less.
Brafton recently reported a rise in online video marketing ad spend. This year, budgets are expected to reach $4.14 billion, as 75 percent of brands recognize that internet campaigns are equally or more successful than traditional TV strategies.
While marketers might not have access to data from their target audiences’ brains, they can turn to content analytics for metrics about which practices are most effective, when they drive traffic back to home pages and where conversions take place.
