Thinking differently about online video

It really is an exciting time to work in this industry with our latest figures showing that £4.777bn was spent on digital advertising in the first half of 2016, which is a growth of just over 16% year on year. When you look behind the numbers there are two main drivers for the spike in spend…the growth of mobile, and the growth of video. In fact, video is now 30% of display, making it second only to banners as the biggest format.

For me, what’s exciting is the growing number of opportunities that brands now have to run video campaigns. Gone are the days where you need a video player, although pre roll is still a key format, to engage your audiences with high-quality video content.

With any emerging channel there are, of course, challenges and whilst the growth is great I still think there are a few hurdles to overcome before we truly understand how to capture the attention of the tech savvy UK consumer.

One thing I’d like to see more of is brands thinking a bit differently about how to approach online video. There are lots of things that make digital great and the ability to use data to inform the creative is just one of them. The more relevant the ad,the more likely it is to evoke emotion and ultimately drive results. 

With the rise of mobile, brands should also be creating video content that works on the smaller screen. People intuitively use their mobile in a vertical orientation so it makes sense to build mobile video creative that works, and doesn’t look out of place, when the phone is being held vertically. Mobile also opens up the huge potential of 360 degrees video and virtual reality, which I can really see playing a huge part in the future of marketing.

All of the above, and much more, will be discussed at our Video Conference, which is on 16 November, at the BFI on the Southbank. We’ve brought together the brightest minds in the video space to talk about how to take advantage of the tools available that make digital such an exciting place to be, and how video can drive your bottom line.

The conference is for all levels of experience, so whether you’ve just started your career in media, or indeed have years of experience you’ll go back to the office with some practical steps to make sure video works for your business. Not to be missed!