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Digital Video Landscape — Where to Reach Your Target Consumers


Online video continues to be one of the most dominant tactics in the marketing space, both from a paid and an organic standpoint. This year, people will be spending more time online than watching TV, so the importance of creating great digital video content and serving it in the right places to reach the right audience is paramount to a brand’s success moving forward.

Some of the Best Places to Reach Consumers With Online Video

  • YouTube
  • Facebook
  • Instagram Stories
  • Video Ad Networks

YouTube — YouTube is a powerhouse in the digital-video space and has become one of the largest search platforms across the internet. It has over one billion users, which is almost a third of all internet users across the world.

YouTube is arguably the best platform for not only pushing out organic video content if you’re a brand with curated channels, but also one of the best for placing paid video ads. There are three basic types of YouTube ads:

  • TrueView Ads — These ads display as video pre-roll or in the results section after a YouTube search. Advertisers only pay for these ads when a consumer interacts with them — by clicking out to their website, etc. These ads can be purchased as skippable or non-skippable when in the pre-roll segment. Non-skippable ads must be 20 seconds or less, and skippable ads can be up to six minutes in length.
  • Pre-Roll Ads — These ads are all non-skippable and can air before, during or after an organic video plays. As with the TrueView non-skippable ads, the length of these cannot exceed 20 seconds. These ads are sold on a pay-per-click basis, so best practices for creative are to provide a clear, motivating call to action for the consumer.
  • Bumpers — Bumpers are the shortest type of video ad on YouTube and are only 6 seconds in length. These ads are best for clear, concise messaging, since 6 seconds isn’t long enough to tell a complete brand story.


Facebook
— Facebook has also grown to be another powerful video hub over the past few years. Facebook receives over 8 billion video views per day, with total watch time accumulating to over 100 million hours. It has become a leading platform for placing both organic and paid video content to reach target consumers. In terms of organic social, uploaded videos can be up to 45 minutes long; however, the options for paid social content offer users a variety of experiences to choose from. All videos should also include captions, as users do view videos with the sound off. Facebook offers a dedicated video ad type, but the platform also supports video in a variety of additional paid opportunities with video as the creative component. These ads include:

  • Get Video View ads — This ad type highlights video completion as the KPI for the ad. All Get Video View ads optimize toward a completion rate and a cost per completion rate. These ads can be up to 240 minutes long, however, a video of that length typically sees lower engagement and is not recommended.
  • All other ad types (i.e. Drive to Website, Lead Ads, etc.) can accept video as a creative type, but it will optimize toward the KPI of that ad type, and not video completions.
  • The average person’s attention span is now 8 seconds, so highlighting the most important pieces of information earlier in the video is key.


Instagram
— Instagram has over one billion users worldwide, with 500 million active users per day and 500 million active on Instagram stories every day. Despite Instagram being a photo-based platform when first launched, video in posts and stories has grown in importance, and it now dominates newsfeeds. In fact, six out of every 10 posts on Instagram are currently video. As an aspirational platform, Instagram has become a great place for brands to really sell who they are and the lifestyle they represent. Since Instagram is a mobile-first platform, videos shot vertically (9:16) are more aesthetically pleasing to its users. This content can be served both in the newsfeed and through brand-handle stories, offering the opportunity to target your audience at a variety of touchpoints.


Ad Network Video Pre-Roll
— This tactic is probably the most well-known of video placements. Ad networks hold advertising inventory on a large group of publisher websites (which vary by network) and place videos on those websites where organic video is served. Ads are served either as pre-roll or mid-roll. Brands can target users by choosing the content of websites where they would like their videos placed, or behaviorally target potential consumers and have ads shown to them regardless of the content of the website.

When creating great digital video content for your audience, there are a variety of platforms to serve and reach your target audience, both organically and paid. YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and ad networks are just the tip of the iceberg. At The Brandon Agency, we create thoughtful and effective campaigns with the best targeting available to ensure positive results for our clients. Need help navigating digital video or other paid media for your brand? The Brandon Agency can help with all of your digital and traditional media placement needs. Contact us to get started.

Courtney Olbrich

Courtney Olbrich

Media & Analytics Director

Courtney is our Media & Analytics Director, located in our Myrtle Beach office. She has over 20 years of experience in marketing and advertising, with a wide variety of clients. Hailing from Metro Detroit, Michigan, it comes natural that she is an avid sports fan. So much so that all of her pets are named after professional baseball stadiums!

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