Video advertising is growing at a fair rate of knots, with it being applauded as a high-engagement medium across many industries; but what about it's effectiveness in the B2B realms? ExchangeWire speak with Amay Velu (pictured below), head of operations, Videobeat Networks, about how B2B firms are turning to the unlikely medium of video advertising to maximise their return.

Traditional image display advertising has become a large part of online advertising. As an add-on to a large scale campaign, it can serve as a reminder and a brand enhancer to viewers. However, rich media marketing is much more integral to the marketing mix, especially for firms operating in the B2B space.

In recent months, we have worked with multiple B2B companies, all of which focused entirely on display advertising. Their marketing struggle in maintaining lower customer acquisition costs is understandable; and I can sympathise that it is tempting to be swayed by the far more 'economical' CPMs that traditional display advertising has to offer. This difference between traditional display advertising and video advertising manifests itself through key KPIs and targeting methods.

Click-through rates

The difference between video and display is quite evident in their click-through rates (CTRs). Video CTRs are the highest of any of the advertising mediums – our average CTRs being between 3-5% across our B2B clients. Video advertising also helps get increased post-click conversions, due largely in part to the fact that it makes the product, or service, far more memorable and engaging than a static image.

Amay Velu, Head of Operations, Videobeat Networks

Some could argue that the dynamic nature of traditional display advertising allows firms to target users based on their actions, which is far more effective. However, dynamic video campaigns perform far better, because they give you the opportunity to build a dialogue. A perfect example of this can be found in recent campaign of ours, which focused on retargeting viewers based on their actions on the webpage – it more than tripled previous conversion rates.

However, there is also something to be said for the post-view conversion rates that a video campaign can drive. During AB testing of post-view conversion rates for programmatic advertisements, we found video performing at 6.3 times the display ads for post-view conversions.

Engagement

Although click-through rates are an important KPI to judge the performance of a campaign, this is not the main reason for advertisers to choose video. Brand contact and engagement with the advert is far higher than with display campaigns. Non-skippable video formats have view rates above 90%, helping to deliver their message.

Having run both display campaigns and video campaigns on Facebook, it is easy to see the difference in post engagement. Video advertisements receive far more comments, likes and clicks for audio (where the viewer engages with the initially silent video in order to turn its sound on). Building a community on social media channels is invaluable for B2B firms, allowing them to keep their clients and potential clients up to date with improvements and innovations in their products and services.

Brand awareness

Often, in instances where brand awareness within the target audience is strong, running a display campaign can have a favourable impact on customer acquisition costs. In the B2B space, many firms lack this brand awareness; and, more often than not, their services or products need to be made clear for this very reason.

Investment into rich media creatives provides B2B firms with an opportunity to explain their product or service and capture the attention of businesses that require them. More so than any other marketing medium, video marketing allows firms to accomplish this with ease. This is especially true for B2B firms providing services, giving them an opportunity to clarify the solutions and USPs, which is essential for new customer acquisition. Creating this brand awareness also provides firms an excellent opportunity to build trust with their potential client base, an activity which is highly suited for video advertising.  

Display as an add-on

I understand that the temptation to use traditional display advertising; however, this method is comparatively ineffectual when helping to build trust with potential customers. Display should be used as an add-on to a campaign, not for the campaign itself. It serves purely as a reminder for the rest of the creatives, and as a space to click for a product or service that is already familiar to the consumer.

Business Insider states that traditional display advertising will only grow by 3% this year, yet video advertising is due to grow by more than 20%; and is showing no signs of slowing down – indicating that, in the coming years, these numbers will be separated by an ever increasing margin. Ultimately display ads are not as targeted as well-placed SEM, and nowhere near as engaging or expository as video advertising, providing a strong case in favour of migrating to video advertising.