Personalised Video Marketing Killed The Radio Star

This article has nothing to do with a song written by Trevor Horn and Bruce Woolley in 1978 for a band called The Buggles and radio is still alive and kicking. However, hopefully the title helped get your attention as there is some relevance here.

Think about the average day for a user on the Internet. What do you think they look at the most? Well, most people will spend their time watching online video content, whether for news, education, sales, entertainment or watching a neighbour’s dog jump into a swimming pool.

Companies create a variety of different videos to promote their products and services, from Instagram videos to Facebook advertorial videos, yet most of these can be categorised as one of two video types, be they branded or direct response videos.

A third of all online activity is spent watching video. Cisco predict that Internet video traffic will be 69% of all global consumer Internet traffic in 2017. A minute of video is worth 1.8 million words (Forrester Research). ReelSEO reported that 73% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase after watching a video.
Videos in universal search results have a 41% higher click-through rate than plain-text results (Econsultancy). Using video on landing pages increases conversion rates by 80% (EyeView Digital). Including a video in an email can increase click through rates by some 200-300% (Forrester). Recent comScore stats show the average user is exposed to an average of 32.2 videos in a month and the average user spends 16 minutes and 49 seconds watching online video ads every month.
Traditional direct response marketers will tell you that display banners are a better option as they are controlled by behavioral targeting and focused on the end user’s intent. As opposed to video ads that often reach a much broader demographic range of consumers even with much improved targeting in terms of granularity.
Let’s be clear here. People don’t hate advertisements. They hate irrelevant advertisements. The relevance of personalised campaigns comes from the user data and what the platform actually does with such data.
However, the simple fact is that audiences want more video content, and have the devices they need to watch it and as consumers around the world are moving their media attention to smartphones and tablets, it is logical that advertising platforms will try and push their messages to this ever growing group.

The only speed bump in this perfect marriage is the uncertainty in the format’s quantifiable impact due in part to the lack of best practices around how to best measure and target performance, which lowers confidence and has a negative effect on available rates offered to publishers. This needs to improve to inspire more traction.
Where will this improvement come from? And what does the future hold for Personalised Video Marketing (PVM)?
Programmatic
Firstly, programmatic has a big part to play in the future of video marketing. Better efficiencies and higher ROI with greater control over inventory have already seen this become a buzz word in 2014. Targeting and measurement have improved, progress on device ID mapping will enable more precise targeting and geo targeting capabilities. This in turn will increase confidence from the advertisers and subsequently increase industry rates and returns.
Personalisation
Secondly, video personalisation is seeing some amazing engagement rates and coupled with the correct delivery platform – could be the next big thing!
Let me explain. A recent Experian report shows that in email alone, a personalised email will gain a six times uplift in terms of transaction rates and revenue per email as opposed to a non-personalised message.
Experian’s research also showed personalised subject lines delivered 26% higher unique open rates overall. Combine this with the statistics I mentioned earlier from the Forrester report that a video in an email can increase click through rates by some 200-300% and that the majority of consumers are opening and clicking from a mobile device, because the consumer want to digest this format in that way and at a time that is convenient for them.
It is an attractive idea, combining the power of video with that of personalisation, be it in an email or a bespoke landing page.
A relevant message in a format that consumers not only like but actually want to receive? What? Really? Is this the Holy Grail of engagement and conversion?
Ad-serving based on a predictive ad platform serving the most relevant videos at exactly the right time may not yet be a science and it may not yet be the answer to personalised marketing at scale across all channels but it has certainly gained the interest of a lot of industry experts.
It is clear mobile video ads are finally coming into their own, with increasing features for publishers and developers. With ever increasing complex algorithms understanding user profiles and interests, it’s becoming easier than ever to target the right users at the right time, and with the right message.
The question I am asking is; can you afford to ignore it?

Grant Saxon Rowe

GM - Clickwork7.com

grant@clickwork7.com