With the recent launch of Google TV bringing online video to living room screens, many marketers are waiting to see if the channel will expand its reach – which is already considerable, with comScore reporting there were 178 million U.S. internet watchers in August 2010. But BrightRoll, the second-leading online video property by ads viewed, released a survey that suggests marketers are waiting less on the consequences of Google TV and more on evidence of the overall efficacy of the channel before investing more heavily in web videos.
The BrightRoll Publisher Survey 2010 shows that 88 percent of online publishers said their clients would spend more on online video if they had more assurance of its efficacy. More than half said clients directly asked for research on the benefits of online video.
Even without hard evidence of the impact of online videos on branding, marketers should make note that content targeting is widely accepted as online video's most valuable trait. For 73 percent of respondents, this was the top targeting technique that publishers are comfortable deploying. Demographical and geographical targeting are also considered high-priority aspects of online video campaigns. Marketers should take this as evidence of the need for relevant content in all internet marketing channels, as well as an indication of the rise of local search.
While it is wise to assess the overall value of video marketing campaigns before investing heavily in the platform, marketers might also want to consider that several major brands are seeing tremendous success with online video ads. At the recent ad:tech 2010 New York conference, Coca-Cola officials explained that adding their videos for the Open Happiness Project to their internet marketing campaign has fueled a significant share of Coke’s overall social mentions on the web, and the content drives traffic to the brand’s main website.
To achieve similar success on the channel, marketers may want to turn to the advice of online video experts. As Brafton reported, Mary Crosse of Lucky Branded Entertainment offered top tips for getting video content to go viral at ad:tech New York.
