Video campaigns provide many new opportunities for performance marketers to test and optimize in real time. David Rodnitzky, CEO of 3Q Digital, shares ways to get started.
Last year, I made my case for performance marketers to take online video more seriously. Digital video, I wrote, is just as effective as the most bottom-of-the-funnel search engine marketing campaign. In short, video has significantly more potential than brand awareness.
Even if people don’t take direct action immediately after seeing a video ad, there is still a halo effect associated with video.
For example, we’ve seen recent cases in which videos meant to drive upper-funnel results increased conversions at the bottom of the funnel. In other words, even if people don’t take direct action immediately after seeing a video ad, there is still a halo effect associated with video.
An insight like this shows us that performance marketers have an edge in video advertising. We have a built-in instinct for seeking out KPIs that signal the real impact on our bottom line, like clicks and conversions. When applied to video marketing, that instinct can lead to better success at every stage of the funnel.
Today performance marketers have even more tools at their fingertips to test and optimize in real time, which means new opportunities to make the most of your digital ad dollars. Here are three ways better measurement, brand insights, and creative testing can boost success metrics in your next video marketing campaign — and win over new customers.
Understand the connection between upper-funnel video and search
Efficiency is an obsession for performance marketers. We’re always looking for new ways to do more with less, making sure we’re investing our resources in the channels that are most effective for our business.
That’s why it’s important to understand the growing connection between video and search. Eighty percent of people say they typically switch between online search and video when researching products to buy,1 meaning upper-funnel videos can lead to better performance for your search campaigns.
We tell our clients at 3Q that it’s worth investing in YouTube campaigns for this reason. CuriosityStream, an entertainment and educational video content site, has reported 32% lower search cost per acquisition when people watched a YouTube ad. This trend is consistent with Google research that shows that, on average, advertisers who run YouTube video ads in addition to Google Search ads see 3% higher search conversion rates and a 4% lower search CPA compared to advertisers who run Google Search ads alone.2
The takeaway is clear: Leaning into video marketing can lead to decreased customer acquisition costs, allowing performance marketers to reinvest those dollars into the channels that drive the most results.
Unlock growth opportunities with brand insights
Contrary to popular belief, brand insights like consideration and awareness aren’t just vanity metrics. When interpreted correctly, they can contribute to improvements toward the goal of the campaign.
At 3Q, we’ve written about the many new advantages that come with YouTube Brand Lift Study 2.0. Features like real-time results have helped our clients make smarter budget decisions with ongoing campaigns, boosting efficiency and serving that ultimate performance goal of doing more with less. For example, consumer genomics company Helix used Brand Lift 2.0 results to rework their budget mid-campaign and saw 2.3X higher consideration lift.
In short, brands that undervalue brand insights are leaving money on the table. These sorts of metrics can unlock tremendous value for performance marketers, and help brands better understand which creative resonates most with their audiences at each stage of the purchase journey.
Data’s potential for informing better creative and campaign strategies is now being used by marketers in every industry.
Take advantage of creative experiments
Gone are the days when we had to convince our creative teams that data is their friend, not their enemy. Data’s potential for informing better creative and campaign strategies is now being used by marketers in every industry, and performance marketers can get in on the action with experimentation and testing.
Data and machine learning are especially useful for helping marketers fine-tune their creative and media decisions. Bumper Machine, for example, is a machine-learning tool that can grab the most eye-catching parts of a longer video (like faces, brand name, product, or movement) and cut it into a sequence of six-second bumper ads.
Since shorter ads can help brands tell a story over time in nonintrusive, bite-sized clips, those small ads have big potential. In a study conducted by Ipsos, a video ad sequence of three six-second ads had a significantly higher impact than single 30-second TrueView ads on ad recall and purchase intent, with an increased average lift of 107% and 134%, respectively.3 Our teams have been impressed with the output of Bumper Machine, and initial testing is showing strong results.
Video has always been an effective channel to drive awareness, but performance marketers shouldn’t stop there. Embrace the power of digital video to boost efficiency in the short term and lay the foundation for growth in the long term.
