Online Video Ads: Keep them Short and Engaging

A WebAdvantage.net study conducted on June 2006 found that the top concern among online video advertising buyers was "How to Keep Consumers Engaged with the Ad" based on 96% of the respondents in the survey indicating that they were "somewhat or very concerned" about this.

This of course doesn't come as a surprise because most online consumers are hard to please. Their short attention span is confirmed by a Forrester Research Online report which found that 75% of online users ignore the pre- or post-roll ads but are more amenable to ads appearing on the side of the video, especially if the ads come in the form of text links. As for in-stream video ads, according to research from Podzinger, most consumers are willing to tolerate online video ads if they're 15 seconds or shorter. The short attention span is not just limited to the ads: that same research also reports that most people watching online videos usually view no more than 15% of the entire video.

Despite the challenges, online video advertising is clearly poised for strong growth following the path of online search advertising: data from a November 2006 American Advertising Federation Survey of advertising executives points out that search advertising is considered to be the most effective emerging media (71% of respondents found it very or somewhat effective); Online video advertising is next with 40% of respondents finding it very or somewhat effective, ahead of other mediums such as Mobile, Blogs and RSS. Success should not be taken for granted however, so online video advertisers better keep their message short, engaging and relevant.

(Note: the research and surveys mentioned above were found in eMarketer)