5 Reasons Online Advertising is Catching Up With TV

YouTube and other sites catering to online videos is an increasing target for advertisers. With viral videos and the convenience of watching episodes of your favorite TV show becoming commonplace, the days of avoiding those pesky ads are over. However, for advertisers, they are increasingly convinced that promoting products on the web is just as effective as television.

A recent survey by BrightRoll pointed out that 64 percent of advertisers surveyed said that online video advertising is equally or more effective than ads on television. Moreover, 87 percent of those surveyed said that video was more effective than display advertising. With 70 percent of online users watching video, it’s no coincidence why advertisers are gravitating towards putting ad money on sites like YouTube.

“This year’s survey reveals that digital advertisers are looking to new technologies to help them connect and engage with audiences in a more impactful way, establishing meaningful metrics, deliver strong and maximize investments,” said Tod Sacerdoti, CEO and founder of BrightRoll in the annual report.

Here are five things to consider about online video and why it may be catching up with television in advertising effectiveness.

YouTube’s Aggressive Search For Revenue

Recently, YouTube has signed agreements with music publishers to promote their content and protect their copyrights. In return, the publishers agreed to have ads run alongside their videos. The publishing agreements—in addition to expanding the YouTube partners program and promoting original channels—is a way for the video site to court more revenue. A growing audience and YouTube efforts to mimic television practices means more incentive for advertisers to target the online video audience. With more opportunities for YouTube to ensure that advertising money is in their coffers (and the artists’ coffers as well), they will entice more advertisers to spend, spend, spend so they can get more, more, more.

Reaching A Growing Web Audience

A recent ComScore report pointed out that the average user spends more than 21 hours per month watching more than 200 content videos and a monthly audience of 180 million people. With those statistics in mind, it is an increasingly important demographic for advertisers to reach, especially with the growth of mobile devices—where 64 percent of advertisers will be willing to place ads. What makes it easier for advertisers to reach their audience, especially on YouTube, is that it is easier to post as many ads as needed without the limited amount of restrictions like television that relies on schedules. Since YouTube advertising is on a per-click basis, it’s more cost-effective for companies to choose web for aggressive campaigns.

A Vote Of Confidence—Sort Of

Advertisers who took part in the survey have much praise for online video effectiveness over traditional media like television, display advertising and even social media. Of course, more needs to be done. Even though advertisers are increasingly on the online video bandwagon, 70 percent of respondents are clamoring for more clear analytics to gauge a return on investment when spending on this ever-increasing venue. Still, more than half of advertisers surveyed think that direct response and search marketing is more effective than online video marketing.

Advertisers Are More Experienced With Medium

Since the YouTube partners program debuted five years ago, it changed the face of entertainment as talent based on video views made it lucrative for independent artists to make a name for themselves. When YouTube celebrities make money, advertisers want to make money with them. Now with five years of the partners program, those wanting to hawk their products on YouTube understand the audience that watch certain videos and can pinpoint them by targeting ads to specific artists or content. With YouTube becoming more like television, the tools that they give advertisers make selling more targeted than ever so related products will always precede a video.

Online Video Has Proven Itself

While many advertisers want that extra security to know whether their hard-earned dollars are spent wisely on YouTube, it goes without saying that advertising on YouTube has had successes. Of course, you may remember the Old Spice guy from two years ago, where a company used viral ads with a shirtless man asking ladies to tell their men to “smell like a man.” Once the ads became a water cooler topic, sales for Old Spice products increased 107 percent. The Old Spice guy proved that companies can use online video effectively to make its demographic buy more and more.