Average of 1.8 seconds watching a video ad on social media
LESS THAN TWO SECONDS
The research yielded some interesting insights. It turned out that the average consumer spends less than 2 seconds (about 1.8) watching a social video ad. Even for the ads that scored best on engagement, the consumer’s attention span never passed 5 seconds. In addition, the willingness of consumers to watch an ad on social media is a whopping three times lower than for TV!
If we zoom in further on the differences between social media and TV, we see that 7% of consumers watch a social media ad in its entirety, versus 65% for TV. We also see similar differences in what consumers remember about an ad afterwards – after seeing the ad, unaided brand recall is on average 13% for social media, compared to 48% for TV. For assisted brand recall, social media scores an average of 40%, with TV doing much better here too at 71%.
EARLY BRAND CUE IS CRUCIAL
The lower scores of social video advertisements (compared to TV commercials) concerning recall are not too surprising, given that consumers also lose attention way more quickly when watching these videos – remember the less-than-2-seconds average viewing time! This not only makes it important for marketers to make their social video advertisements stand out immediately but also to include a clear brand cue as soon as possible. Our study reveals that such a practice indeed produces (significant) positive results. Among advertisements in which the first brand cue appears within the 2-second mark (i.e., before consumers scroll further along in the feed), unaided brand recall levels are 1.4 times as high as those for advertisements in which the first brand cue only appears after two seconds.
FORMIDABLE COMPETITOR TO TV?
While social video advertising has become a great competitor to TV advertising in terms of potential reach, it cannot command the same attention-grabbing (and: attention-holding) power and impact on the brand’s prominence in the consumer’s mind. However, the potential benefits of targeting social video advertisements to a specific audience are undeniable. The variation between the different advertisements that were tested in our study reveals that with the right creative execution and branding, social video advertisements can also be highly successful in shifting consumers’ knowledge of, and attitudes towards, a brand.
THE RULES OF SOCIAL MEDIA ADVERTISING
The temptation is great to utilise socia media l based on in-house developed social ads or as a simplified “clone” of a TV. But social media has its own laws. You need to know the creative effect in advance and adjust it instead of carrying out campaign optimisation during the campaign itself. Furthermore, a realistic environment is needed to pre-test video advertisements and measure the real ‘stopping power’, the impact on memory and creative quality. However, this realistic environment goes far beyond the ability to watch or not watch. The research must take place on a mobile phone (the device with which social media is primarily consumed) and must consider this volatile way of consuming. Not just the study must be adjusted to the medium – but also the creative. As a marketer, never fall into the trap of watching the full creative to judge it – rather, base your first impression of a new social video on the first 1.5 seconds. In a short space of time, the message and brand must be clear. And is the video sufficiently attractive to watch in its entirety? All this input forms the basis for further optimisation of the creative and for improving message recall, brand recall, and engagement.
Lead Generation to improve your Business
A business that does not have any lead generation plan is a slouch. If you’ve been avoiding your lead generation strategy of late, the following points will certainly make you stop and rethink your decision.
1) It Can Help You Increase Your Profit
If done correctly, lead generation can enhance your company’s potential to reach the right prospects. This is done by using appropriate messages, offers, and content to create an interest in these particular groups of people. When you do this right, you’ll be able to attract the attention of qualified leads, making it simpler for the sales team to turn them into customers.
2) It Develops New Business Opportunities.
Lead generation isn’t just about searching for potential customers. It can also help you identify new business opportunities. It could be that a non-competing company reaches out to you to organize a webinar. It’ll be an energizing partnership for both parties, resulting in well…more leads.
3) Create Visibility and Increase Awareness.
Maybe you’re a new company that just launched with no experience. Perhaps you’re a well-established company that’s been operating quietly for a long time, or you’re now looking to have more eyes on your business. Creating awareness and visibility is essential to turn the tide to your advantage. It can seamlessly be accomplished by creating content that your viewers are interested in and sharing it via the social networks they follow.
Call/ Book appointment now on 08033989937 for your Social Media ads and email marketing.