DIGITAL VIDEO EARNS BETTER ROI THAN TV AND DISPLAY

By Ami Murphy Iannone, Creative Director - July 24, 2018

Old habits die hard… and so do outdated marketing tactics. If you’re looking for validation to try a new strategy, odds are that you’ll need to provide some compelling evidence. We know that ROI is the holy grail for marketers, so we’re here to help you explain how digital video can earn you better ROI.

The forecast ain’t looking great for traditional TV. Most marketers know this. But many brands are still comfortable maintaining their TV spots despite its decline in viewership over the past several years. We know that changing traditional ways of executing marketing budgets can be scary. But we also think it can be exciting.  

Digital video’s effectiveness over TV:

• Targeting audience

Advertising through and alongside digital video provides some of the most advanced audience-targeting opportunities in all of marketing right now. Social channels and search engines allow you to pinpoint your ideal consumer viewer with freakish accuracy that is just unrealistic for traditional TV. Technology partners can provide an exceptional amount of data on the content your target consumers are paying attention to across channels as well as potential opportunities for expansion into other categories they care about. This kind of data can also unlock opportunities to expand that target audience.

• Tracking success

Just as the data exists to find your target consumer and deliver content to them directly, digital video also allows you to evaluate the effectiveness of that content. With the right data sets, you can determine whether or not your message was delivered and whether or not your consumer took immediate action on that message. Not to mention the capacity for real-time conversation and engagement around digital video that cannot happen natively with TV. Digital video can serve as a barometer for the sentiment around a brand or campaign through its ability to garner real-time reaction from viewers.

• Maximizing value

A major reason that digital and social programming is cannibalizing the traditional TV market, even for shows that still maintain network air times, is the freedom it provides for the viewer. Digital video provides the opportunity for content on demand, so too does advertising on digital mediums. Instead of hoping that viewers will tune in at 8 pm Sunday night and catch your branded commercial during a break from programming… why not tie your brand’s placement to a digital “broadcast” so that whenever a viewer decides to watch content they will encounter your brand’s messaging.

Additionally, digital video is malleable. You can repurpose digital video into different lengths and formats to share it across channels, adding even more exposure opportunity and value to your initial creation investment.

Digital video outperforms still images.

Not only is digital video a better investment than TV, it also outperforms other forms of digital content. Business Insider’s Digital Video Advertising Report outlines the nitty gritty:

Video ads perform better than standard display ad units. In-stream video ads, including ads that play at the start (pre-roll), during (mid-roll), and after (post-roll) video content, yielded click-through rates (CTRs) that were 18x higher than HTML5 banner ad units in February 2015, according to Google's Rich Media Gallery.

Yep, you read that right: Eighteen. Times. Higher.

Part of the reason that digital video is blowing still-image ads out of the water is that the social networks are creating infrastructures that drive and reward video posting. Check out How Social Channels are Prioritizing Video.

Download our e-book to find more stats and tips to help you sell your team on a video-first strategy this year.