There’s not much question that web video and online video advertising in particular are on the rise. According to a recent BrightRoll survey of individuals at leading ad agencies, 65% of respondents plan to shift campaign dollars from TV to online video advertising. We were thrilled at the opportunity to share that info. But for some reason having to do with cliffs and lemmings, it’s important to know not just the fact that money is shifting, but why it is shifting. So we thought we’d help you out.
One reason is that the audience is shifting. Advertising dollars must go where the eyeballs go, and according to a survey by eMarketer, Americans spend 6% more time online yearly, versus an annual 1% decline in TV viewing time. While the total number of hours we spend watching TV is still significantly more than we spend on the Internet, when you combine the amount of time spent on mobile devices with Internet time, that gap narrows quickly.
Another reason for the shift is that the Internet offers advertisers the ability to target a highly-defined audience. With television, the most advertisers can hope to do is to buy spots during a show whose audience roughly matches the brand’s target demographics. (And then, of course, hope that audience keeps their bums in their seats during commercial breaks—a problem we’ve discussed before.) Increasingly, technology allows Internet advertisers to put their videos directly in front of users KNOWN to be part of their specific target demographic.
Finally, along with the ability to target a very specific audience comes the ability to engage that audience in conversation. The Internet provides a space where advertisers can not only post their videos, but can also interact with viewers, entering into community with them and garnering brand loyalty through relationship. Those consumers then draw friends into that conversation, spreading a brand’s message organically and virally.