Just because you have an amazing TVC should not mean that you can just run this across a digital video platform.

The way users engage with video online differs greatly to how they view them on Television. Television commercials follow a cinematic approach where they start slow and build up to the climax, for online video we need to make sure we capture the users attention within the first 3 seconds. This is why it’s so important that videos are produced specifically for the digital environment.  

There is no hard rule as to how long a video should run for, as long as you capture a user’s attention early on you can run a video anywhere from 6 seconds to 2mins+. That said however, people are time poor and digital is fast moving so it’s important we use the right formats and understand different methods on how best to engage our audiences to drive success.

Online video formats

There are a number of different video formats that we run across the Google platform. All of these have a different purpose and are chosen based on what the key KPI a business is trying to achieve. Below is a snapshot of each:

• Skippable in-stream ads – Skippable in-stream ads play before, during or after other videos. After 5 seconds, the viewer has an option to skip the ad.
• Non-skippable in-stream ads – Non-skippable in-stream ads are 15 seconds (or shorter) and play before, during or after other videos. Viewers don’t have the option to skip the ad.
• Video Discovery ads – Video discovery ads consist of a thumbnail image from your video with some text. While the exact size and appearance of the ad may vary depending on where it appears, video discovery ads always invite people to click to watch the video. The video then plays on the YouTube watch page or channel homepage.
• Bumper Ads – Bumper ads are 6 seconds (or shorter) and play before, during or after another video. Viewers don’t have the option to skip the ad.
• Outstream Ads – Outstream ads begin playing with the sound off. Viewers can tap the ad to unmute the video. Outstream ads are designed to increase your video reach at an efficient cost.

You can find more information on the above formats here

The ABCD’s of effective video creative

Google has come out with some great tips on how to improve your video ads. The ABCD framework is data-backed and designed to be a guideline to reach a business’s marketing objective. Below is an outline for each aspect:

• Attract: Attracting your audience is all about hooking them early on to get them to tune in, some of the ways you can do this is to capture a user’s attention with visuals, having tightly framed shots of people and products, keep a fast pace and open with people on the screen. Whiskas Kitten Kollege is a great example using people on screen.
• Brand: Help consumers see and hear your brand which can be done by introducing your product or brand in the first 5 seconds, leveraging your logo to reinforce branding, differentiating your brand through personifications, characters or unique colours.
• Connect: make your audience think or feel something about your brand by telling a story with action, keeping your audience intrigued, making people the core to the story and experimenting with point of view.
• Direct: Get your audience to take action by making sure your offer stands out, giving them direction and making the call to the action audible and visible.

Along with the above guidelines, the below three overarching principles will ensure your video creative will be best optimised to drive success.

• Build for attention
• Build for sound on
• Build for mobile

Storytelling through Video

It’s so important to keep your audience engaged when creating online video content and storytelling is something that needs to be considered when producing your content. Google has identified 3 frameworks that have proven to work well for a number of organisations. We’ll explore these below:

Tease, amplify, echo

This framework uses short ads i.e. 6 second bumpers to tease and excite your audience, followed by long-form ads to amplify the message and build incremental reach and finished with another short ad to echo your message and spur action. This method is effective in building brand awareness and driving action.

The direct shot

This framework uses one concept, however tweaks the video slightly based on the viewers context so for example, if you’re a land developer you could highlight what’s important to your audience in different videos, i.e. family focus, vs. young couple, vs. downsizers. The concept would remain the same but the people in the videos would change. This method is effective in ensuring you are targeting your most relevant audiences.

The follow-up

The third framework serves a longer piece of creative, followed by shorter ads reminding them what they watched. If a viewer has watched to a certain point in your long form ad, you can target them with short form ads to remind them to take action, this method is effective in increasing brand awareness and ad recall.

You can view examples of the above frameworks through Google’s skillshop

If you want to learn more about choosing the right video strategy, get in touch today>>