Marketer perceptions about the purpose of digital video advertising—branding versus performance—is changing, with the travel category one of the strongest proponents of performance. This is one of many findings of a research report commissioned by Eyeview and conducted by Sequent Partners at the end of 2016.
As explained by Sequent’s Jim Spaeth at the recent Beet.TV Leadership Summit titled Outcomes and presented by Eyeview, there’s still a strong perception among marketers that digital video is for branding. “It was a way to reach the people they weren’t reaching with linear TV,” Spaeth told the audience in a one-on-one interview conducted by Matt Prohaska of Prohaska Consulting.
This is despite the fact that some of the research participants “had experiences and points of view that conflicted with that branding bucket.”
Specifically, the research found that 55% of respondents said digital video is for branding and 40% said it was to drive sales. “I wish this had been a longitudinal study,” said Spaeth. “You can sort of feel that emerging group of people saying digital video is actually good for sales.”
Some respondents fall into the category of “the Jedi knights of marketing” in that they view video as useful for both branding and sales.
While companies in the travel space “were the leaders” in seeing digital video as generating and converting opportunities, other categories view things differently. To some automotive marketers, it’s “good at generating traffic, as opposed to ‘I sold more cars,’” said Spaeth.
Some CPG marketers consider digital video to be shopper marketing. “I’m going to get people in the store. It’s not going to actually put the Velveeta in the cart.”
One-on-one interviews yielded proof that marketers understand the benefits of personalization but see a complicated path to execution, according to Spaeth. “They’re terrified of the process and the cost. The minute you can simplify that and make it work for them and make it affordable, it makes a huge difference.”
According to the research, personalization of digital video ads can increase ROI by 200% to 300%, according to a handful of cases alluded to by Spaeth.
This video is part of a Beet.TV leadership summit on video outcomes presented by Eyeview. For more videos from event, please visit this page.
