Short-form pre-roll digital video ads will likely garner significant investment from advertisers in the next six months, according to April 2017 research by Trusted Media Brands (TMB). It found that 58% of US agency and marketing professionals polled who are involved in digital or mobile advertising and who place digital video pre-roll ad campaigns said they definitely will use the format.
Other formats, like live stream and long-form, will also attract spending, though not as much. A plurality of advertisers is still considering whether to invest in these digital video pre-roll formats.
For example, more than a quarter (28%) of respondents said they definitely will invest in live stream formats in the next six months. But almost as many (27%) said they definitely will not.
Many of those polled are on the fence about live streaming formats—45% said they might invest in the format. But the space is certainly growing, with big players like DirecTV, YouTube and most recently Hulu investing in live streaming.
Interestingly, TMB also found that 28% of respondents will definitely invest in user-generated formats within the next six months. In the past few months, there have been some controversies surrounding ads appearing on Facebook and YouTube next to inappropriate content, some of which was user-generated.
But 45% of advertisers are still considering whether to spend on the format. Given the current climate regarding user-generated content, they may choose not to. Over a quarter (27%) said they definitely will not invest in the format.
Premium formats will also definitely see investment in the next six months, though not as much as short-form will.
So what makes that particular format so popular?
“Our metrics show videos being viewed, but many impressions are viewed for less than 3 seconds,” said Frank Amorese, senior media director at Heineken USA. “Advertisers need to front-load their messaging on Facebook and make sure the first video frame has thumb-stopping power. If it doesn’t, people scroll right past the ad. Right now, we are moving away from trying to tell a story that takes longer than 6 seconds on Facebook.”
—Monica Melton