by Jivox
So you took the plunge and created a video ad – but how do you know if it’s working?
Early search and display advertising focused on measuring impressions, which was a measurement borrowed from the TV world. But impressions were not a very effective way to measure ads online, because, as advertisers soon found out, the fact that an ad is displayed on a Web page doesn’t mean someone actually saw it. That’s why search and display advertisers moved to focus on measuring clicks rather than impressions.
But even clickthrough is becoming outmoded: clicks don’t measure engagement – the most important barometer of whether an advertising program is working in today’s ad-saturated world. Every marketer has experienced a campaign with good clickthrough rates that does not end up sending customers to your door – mostly because the clicks were an attempt by users to get rid of the ad rather than engage with it!
The great thing about video ads is you can actually measure audience engagement. Here are some of the audience engagement metrics you should track, above and beyond clickthrough, to see if your online video ads are working:
- Ad Replays: This metric reports how many views of the ad resulted in a “replay”. A replay of an ad means a user wants to see it again — indicating interest in the product or service being advertised or simply that your ad was fun and engaging.
- Ad Pauses: An ad pause is an important engagement metric, because it often indicates a person pausing the ad to view it later. To be truly accurate, you should track “unpause” events to make sure the person has come back to the ad.
- Ad Listens: Most websites require video ads to be played with the sound turned off so as not to distract or annoy people who came to the site for another purpose than watching the ad. Video ads are usually set up to have the sound come back on when a user mouses over the ad or clicks the un-mute button. Either activity shows a person was interested enough in your ad to want to listen to it.
But these simple-to-measure engagement metrics are just the beginning. Another way to track engagement is by including click-to-action features in your ad – something Jivox offers to every advertiser. Click-to-action features, such as an email link, chat button, coupon downloads etc., directly capture leads and indicate precisely how the viewer has interacted with your ad. Here are a few examples:
- Email, SMS, IM, Chat: Allows audiences and potential customers to contact a business in real time while still watching a video ad or clip.
- Play a longer version of the ad (infomercial): Allows audiences to engage at a deeper level by providing more information.
- Coupon redemption: Captures user interest at its peak by enabling consumers who see a video ad to take action on a special offer or share it with friends. [see also "I Love Beer – And Other Great Video Ad Promotions."]
Measuring ad engagement isn’t hard – now that you know the basics. In a future post, we’ll look at ways to test different ads to see which ones are the most engaging. Stay tuned!
Tags: marketing videos, online advertising, Online Marketing, online video advertising, online video marketing, smb marketing, Tips, video creation tool, video marketing, viral video
