Major growth in behavioral targeting
Digital video ads are a growing display format worldwide, as more users watch content via their smartphones and tablets, as well as on desktops. In the UK, the growth in digital video ad spending—the fastest-growing format—reflects the fast rise in consumption. In 2011, digital video ad dollars more than doubled, according to eMarketer estimates, and between 2012 and 2015, the format will grow by over 50% annually. By 2016, video will account for 11% of digital ad spending in the UK.
With so many advertisers putting dollars behind the relatively new format, finding the best return on that outreach is a major priority. Consumer goods, with its particularly strong ecommerce market in the UK, constitutes the greatest industry share of video ad dollars, at 23.5% in Q3 2012, according to the report “UK Video Market at a Glance Q3 2012,” from video ad technology company Videology. And consumer goods brands appear to be incrementally upping their video ad investment. A previous report by Videology, conducted only a few months earlier, in Q1, found consumer goods taking in just under a 21% share.
Entertainment also grew its share of video ad impressions by 1 percentage point, while financial services saw a 4-percentage-point decline, suggesting that advertisers in that industry were not as thrilled as others with the format’s performance.
The most notable change in how advertisers in the UK approached digital video was in their gender targeting. In Q1 2012, 60% of impressions went to men. In Q3, that was nearly flipped: 58% of video ads targeted women.
Younger consumers continue to be a highly coveted demographic for advertisers, and the rule applies to digital video as well. More than half of video ads went toward those between the ages of 18 to 34. This is a reflection of not only the overall value of the age group to advertisers, but also their higher incidence of viewing videos.
And these millennials must be living up to their reputation for watching video. Their share of targeting grew more than 10 percentage points over Q1, while those between the ages of 35 to 54 lost approximately 9 percentage points of share, according to Videology.
Demographics continue to be the No. 1 targeting method used by digital video advertisers in the UK to segment and reach consumers. Behavioral targeting, which incorporates more complicated information and analysis of what consumers have done, is a bigger challenge. But advertisers are moving in that direction. Pure behavioral targeting rose from a 2.7% share of video ad targeting to an 18.5% share.
Corporate subscribers have access to all eMarketer analyst reports, articles, data and more. Join the over 750 companies already benefiting from eMarketer’s approach. Learn more.
Check out today’s other articles, “US Gamers Race to Mobile” and “Tapping Digital to Make Heineken a 'Most Interesting' Beer.”