Are Video Advertising Pushing More Conversions Than Other Advertising?

The question is straightforward, are videos performing better than other advertising online which include banners and text ads and all the new stuff that is happening. On the face of it there are a lot of impediments that video content faces online evident from our own existing experiences in India. However, there are some interesting numbers that we have been noting that suggests that videos might in fact be faring better than other media.

Let’s start by the trend internationally. In an article covered in Entrepreneur.com in May video advertising views showed some remarkable numbers.

According to a 2008 report by eMarketer on consumer media habits, the number of online video advertising viewers in the U.S. grew from 59.6 percent of internet users in 2007 to 67.2 percent of internet users in 2008. That number is expected to skyrocket to more than 80 percent by 2012.

With players like Hulu and YouTube having gained a lot of ground this isn’t surprisngly really, but it does present a pretty picture for those in the video business – they have the crowd.

Now let us see what’s on the Indian front – Looking at some of the numbers we have seen as well as heard right here at WATBlog, videos are bringing in views as well as conversions.

In the WATShow that we last posted with Naren Nachiappan of Jivox mentioned their numbers as around 100 video campaigns with over a million views each in the last 8 to 9 months, and the surprising performance of pre-rolls and video banners (watch the show). Earlier today I blogged about the Voltas campaign. According to the numbers that came up video advertising gave a 5% CTR which was nearly 5 times more than banner advertising.

In another release that came in May some noted that an  E&Y and AC Nielsen report suggested that online video advertisement market is set to grow exponentially at 300 per cent in 2009 and has 85 per cent higher brand recall, compared to 54 per cent for the same ad on television.

In the same release, Saurabh Bhatia, of Vdopia Inc, confirmed a growth of over 10 times in video consumption among users.

What can be driving these figures?

On one hand one might think that the way video advertising happens on the web pre-rools and embeds primarily viewers have no option but to watch these ads. However in that case, the other side can show numbers of higher CTRs and the engagement of video banners which aren’t auto play.

In my opinion the deal is in the content. Videos are web friendly and unlike banners or text which unfortuantely can become dead pan soon, videos often grab attention initially and then depending on how well the ad is conceptualized engage the viewer. With growth in infrastructure and technology this is bound to increase further.

Another small reason that works to the advantage of videos are the brains behind it. Videos give creative directors who are neck deep in traditional media a chance to compete online. Banners and text are purely digital, to create exceptional ads you need to have a mind with a digital bend, this probably might not be the case with videos (speculating here) because videos have a traditional bend. Creative people might be more equpped to create better video ads therefore than web ads, say even having the same commercial run on TV and the web.

So the questions for you are two. Are the above numbers valid enough, and do you personally think that videos can get better conversions online. Secondly, if you do then what are the reasons for it?