Three Things Marketers Need to Know About the Future of Digital Video

In the evolving digital video landscape, Rich Sutton, Chief Revenue Officer from Trusted Media Brands shares three key points for marketers to know how, where and when to place their video content

The future of digital video is here and it’s time for marketers to know how and when to place their video content. I’m not a seer or a Harry Potter wizard-type. My crystal ball is a recent survey conducted with more than 300 marketers and ad agency decision makers. In a rapidly evolving digital video landscape, here are the three key points that marketers need to know.

1) Think outside of traditional video channels

Shockingly, YouTube is taking a backseat to social as a preferred platform for digital video distribution, with as much as a 10 percent lead.

While video platforms are still favored by the industry overall (59 percent), a majority of marketers rate social as by far the most important (65 percent). A hint to marketers that are neglecting social: do not overlook the social platforms – your competitors likely are not.

While both Facebook and YouTube have “live” offerings for consumers, Facebook Live has struck a cord with Millennials and Generation Xers alike.  In fact, it looks like Facebook has a leg up in the video platform race. Eighteen percent of marketers will definitely use live-stream video advertising in the next year and a full 71 percent say they “might”—Facebook Live and YouTube live are most likely to be considered.

What this means for marketers is more flexibility, specifically flexibility in planning and pricing, which results in more value for marketers overall.

2) When it comes to ad budgets, factor in programmatic

Digital video transacted programmatically will drive 32 percent of ad spend. And that may not be all. A recent eMarketer chart shows programmatic display hitting 63 percent in 2016. Programmatic video isn’t too far behind. Agency executives are particularly optimistic with 51 percent saying they saw increases ahead for digital video.

For marketers, this means looking closely at how programmatic is integrated into their entire marketing eco-system. For example, if you are moving your digital dollars programmatically, what are you doing with the portion of your digital buy that is direct? Programmatic is not just about automation, it also delivers a wealth of data to marketers. The question for marketers is: Is your direct budget delivering the same or better value?

3) Don’t overlook in-stream auto-play

Click-to-play video is still number one, but in-stream auto-play is gaining acceptance with marketers.

Thanks to Facebook, I’ve received a myriad of reactions to in-stream, auto-play and sound-off video, and I’m sure I’m not alone. Opposition seems low, and some buyers are of the mind consumers are “too lazy” to click and auto-play video is the best shot at exposure. How does the buying community feel?

Consumers are not all so keen. In fact, six in 10 don’t like auto-play videos, citing negative impact on the user experience, such as lack of control or sound being obtrusive. Yet, another 20 percent are neutral and 19 percent actually like them.

As for in-stream auto play, it seems the genie is not going back in the bottle anytime soon, and for that we can thank Facebook.

What this means for marketers is that there is now another tier in the video eco-system.  In stream auto-play brings a huge volume of video from premium publishers on to the market; video with a different, and lower, pricing structure.  In short, auto play gives marketers more choice. 

For marketers to succeed, they need to look at larger industry trends and keep up with the ever-changing sentiments from consumers. We can count on even more dollars moving into digital video, with social platforms continuing to drive innovation.  The trends favor the consumer appetite for shorter and deeper content with micro video and branded content on the rise.

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