I’ve been around video internet advertising for some time now, and too many times it is just not done very well.  But when it works, it is amazing.  I’ve seen video dress up an accounting firm and make it fun and inviting, while selling the business.  Here are some tips when integrating video in internet advertising.

1. Get people to watch the video.

Obvious, yes.  Done well, rarely.

Pay attention to how the video works with the internet advertising platform.  If it starts with a still shot with a “play” button on it, make sure the first frames of the video has an “ad” on it with your company name so at least there is some name recognition even if they don’t play the video.

If there is a 10 second “pre-roll” of the video, as is the case with ExchangeMyAd.com make sure there is some movement or action that draws people’s eye to the video and makes them want to click to see the rest.

2. Make sure the video isn’t too long.

A good rule is to keep the video to 30 seconds, maybe 60 seconds if it is really good.  People just won’t wait forever to get to the good part, especially with internet advertising—they don’t have to, and they know it.
If it takes a while to explain your business and 30 or 60 seconds won’t do it, consider using a teaser video (like a movie trailer), and then post the full length version on your website.

3. Actually sell your product in the video.

Don’t get too caught up with a cool concept that the product or service is diminished.  This video is intended for internet video advertising, emphasis on the advertising.  People need to clearly know what you are selling and become loyal to your business for that product or service.  Cool is fun, just not always effective.  You must find a way to make the video advertising cool and effective.

4. You don’t have to use video.

Video is cool, it is powerful, but it isn’t the best for every business.  Some businesses prefer to use flash ads without video, because for their business it has shown to work better.  However, the right internet video advertising platform, matched with the right business and campaign is amazing to behold.

Technorati Tags: internet advertising, video advertising, video internet

Internet Video is here to stay.

First, a quick discussion on video.  Why is video such a powerful tool?  Before video the choices were print media and radio.  Both have their benefits, but the downsides are that they only appeal to one of the human senses.  Video comes along and suddenly it isn’t just graphics, but motion graphics—so not only is it visual like print, but the motion of the video catches attention.  Additionally, the audio helps to convey the message.  So attention is grabbed, visual people see the images, and the audio confirms the images—it is very persuasive.

Video on the internet has been very exciting.  Exciting to the tune of 13.5 billion videos watched in the US alone, 92 videos watched per person on the internet in a single month–according to Comscore.  Why is internet video so popular?  You can see anything you want whenever you want it.  Crazy stuff, stupid stuff, educational stuff, funny stuff, business, etc.—you name it, you can find it. 

When it comes to incorporating video in internet advertising…well people are still trying different things and figuring out what works.  Companies have tried using the video as the advertisement.  Many times, however, they start off with a still shot that doesn’t let anyone know what they are about to watch, and if the video isn’t clicked on no form of advertisement took place.

Enter the videos in internet advertising that just automatically starts playing.  First, it is annoying and makes you not want to go back to that page.  Second, it is annoying.

What does this have to with the Ad Exchange Program with ExchangeMyAd.com?  Everything.  I haven’t written much about it, because I wanted to get people up and running with the program first—patience everyone, we are told we’ll be ready to go any day now.  However using video in internet advertising is an important topic. 

The ExchangeMyAd.com platform incorporates video in internet advertising in a different way.  There will be a thumbnail sized portion of the ad that indicates that there is a video to watch—this reserves the rest of the ad space for the ad.  The video in the thumbnail will play the first 10 second of the video over and over to draw attention.   Then when the video thumbnail is clicked in the advertisement the flash viewer expands to show the video.  This process doesn’t trigger any pop-ups.  While the video is playing the person watching can click on the video to go on to the website, just like the ad itself. 

To check it out and learn more about the Ad Exchange Program, click here.

In the next article, we’ll discuss some things to keep in mind as you incorporate video in internet advertising.

Technorati Tags: ad exchange program, exchangemyad.com, internet advertising, video

In my view, “impression” based internet advertising is riddled with problems.  That said, if you just want to get your message out there without a concern for response rates, you can negociate a good deal.  On the other hand, pay for performance (click, lead, acquisition, subscription) campaigns don’t always do online “rich media” advertising justice–what I mean is maybe you intended to drive an online response, but the ad actually gave you a foot in the door that isn’t tracked.

Due to these issues and others we chose to partner with a company called RealVu Technologies, www.realvu.net.  RealVu technology tracks when our ads actually come into view on a person’s screen, and is then tracked as a “view“.  You can see this in action on www.exchangemyad.com, or by going to the RealVu site linked above.  Look above the upper right hand corner of the ad and watch for when the red checkmark appears in the RealVu logo.  This gives us a few advantages when it comes to exchanging ads. 

1.  Whether or not someone places exchange ads on the bottom of a page or buried on some obscure page in their website, credits on ads will only be earned when they are “viewed” by someone for a full second.  By the way, this is great for someone that hasn’t been able to sell the remnant space on their site.  Let me restate that, you can now monetize remnant space on a website with this technology–or at least use it for earning exchange ads.

2.  You will get the reporting to show when and where on the network an ad was “viewed”, and the ability to compare impressions to views as well as click rates.

3.  Since you can see the response rates of your ads on the sites it showed up on, you can stop your ad from showing on sites with lower response rates–making your campaign more effective.

The list of benefits for the RealVu technology goes on and on, but that list will provide subjects for future blog entries.

Suffice it to say, you can rest assured that your ads are fairly exchanged.  That is the bird’s eye “view” of the Ad Exchange Program.

Technorati Tags: ad exchange program, exchange ads, impressions, internet advertising, RealVu Technology, view