Businesses can’t turn their back to video advertising online anymore.
More than 1 billion video views have been delivered to advertisers via the YouTube Promoted Videos program. In addition to sharing news that the video-sharing site recently hit the billion-views milestone, YouTube today announced some changes to Promoted Video Ads. Let’s review the Promoted Videos program, look at the latest changes, and hear what a couple of advertisers think about it.
YouTube announced “Sponsored Videos” back on Nov. 12, 2008. The first campaign was “Penny Pranks” by Office Max. At SES New York 2009, I interviewed YouTube Product Manager Matthew Liu about Sponsored Videos, which was later renamed Promoted Videos. He called the program “AdWords for YouTube.”
Promoted Videos allows you to promote your video against search results on YouTube, against related videos on YouTube, or against content across the Google Display Network. You can set up Promoted Videos campaigns using your Google AdWords account. Similar to what you do with pay-per-click (PPC) search engine marketing, you can determine how much you would pay for a video view and set a maximum budget.
Thousands of advertisers have taken advantage of this ad format to entice likely customers with videos about everything from the Mighty Wallet to a cure for bad breath. Large and small companies this ad format to reach wide audiences with movie trailers, recipes, and ideas for Halloween. And politicians and political activists used Promoted Videos to argue for a proposition or against an issue. YouTube served its 500 millionth Promoted Video view on Oct. 28, 2010.
Today, YouTube rolled out three changes to Promoted Videos:
Google Australia plans to add more original content to its video website YouTube in a bid to appeal to marketers’ rising interest in online video advertisements.
According to Nick Leeder, managing director of Google Australia and New Zealand, the company has built a solid stable of marquee advertisers for YouTube over the past year. “To get more revenue, YouTube needs more content. We need to figure out what it is that users want more of and then find a way to give it to them,” Leeder said in a statement. “A lot of the content people look at on YouTube is short-form. Is that the nature of YouTube or can we run long-form video on it?”
Google does not run advertisements in or next to user-generated content on YouTube. However, if someone posts content that is extremely popular, Google asks them to become a “partner”. Partner agreements allow Google to run ads with content. It’s been reported that Google’s head office in the United States plans to spend $US100 million on original content for 20 new channels on YouTube.
Leeder said while Google Australia is unlikely to invest in original video content, he “wouldn’t rule it out”. According to research company Nielsen Online, YouTube’s Australian audience has grown strongly over the past year, rising from 6.55 million in May 2010 to 7.25 million in May this year. It now ranks as the fourth most popular website in Australia, with Google at number one.
Nielsen research also reveals almost three quarters of Australian businesses are dedicating at least 10% of their budgets to social media marketing, with YouTube forming an increasingly important part of this.
Another article that should be near & dear to every social marketers heart…ROI from Social Media.
Companies are not only getting the word out about their brands using social media such as Facebook and Twitter but are also making money.
Many business executives have not found sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Myspace, and Linkedin useful in making money. Building genuine online relationships that are also good for the bottom line is not so easy. There is a lot of trial and error. But while monetizing social media is difficult it is not impossible. There are companies that are getting the word out about their brands using social media and are turning a profit.
Take The New York Jets. The NFL team launched their Ultimate Fan social game in September 2010, which was the first revenue generating Facebook app to be backed by a pro sports team. The application lets football fans do online what they would normally do at home and in stadiums—root for their favorite teams and players, predict game scores, and hold a virtual tailgate party with other fans from across the globe.
This a a good article from Search Engine Land about how social is affecting search and speaks to how Google is pushing the social aspects in SERPs.
The recommendations of our friends and colleagues have always been one of the most influential drivers of sales. The same is true online. Consider the research:
- When asked what sources “influence your decision to use or not use a particular company, brand or product,” 71 percent claim reviews from family members or friends exert a “great deal” or “fair amount” of influence. (Harris Interactive, June 2010).
- Ninety percent of consumers online trust recommendations from people they know; 70 percent trust opinions of unknown users. (Econsultancy, July 2009).
- Fifty-three percent of people on Twitter recommend companies and/or products in their tweets, with 48 percent of them delivering on their intention to buy the product. (ROI Research for Performance, June 2010).
We all have limited time. Relationships are a way to help us quickly figure out what is most relevant and trustworthy. Our friends and the online community are helping us make decisions.
Just as you’re more likely to buy from a trusted merchant, you’re also more likely to click on an ad from an advertiser you like or your friends like.
Google took their first step toward monetizing relationships with the addition of the +1 box on text ads:
This is a natural evolution of AdWords. But, it’s only the tip of the iceberg of how social media will impact paid search advertising.
Google is starting to monetize not just what you do, but who you are.
