Pre-roll ads are 8-25 time more effective than in-banner ads, according to BBE which released a study that compared in-banner and pre-roll ads based on CTR. “Finding average click-through rates of 1.44% draws a real distinction between in-stream and in-banner ads,” said Matt Wasserlauf, CEO of BBE. This quote by itself summarizes one of the biggest problems we have in our industry today – we measure everything based on clicks and CTR. Big mistake…

Forget about the click…

First, in-stream ads and especially pre-rolls should not be measured based on CTR. Pre-rolls weren’t designed to draw clicks. A user who has just clicked to watch some video content and then prompted to see a 15 or 30 seconds pre-roll ad shouldn’t be expected to click to be taken to the advertiser site (if at all he or she can be expected to click to skip the ad). Pre-roll ads were designed to deliver a marketing message that will stick with user through rich experience delivered by video. Ideally, pre-roll ads should be measured using brand metrics (such as brand favorability, brand awareness etc.) or at least video completion rate (if a skip option is provided to the user). 

Second, even if CTR was the correct success metric to use for pre-roll ads, does a CTR of 1.44% really prove a good performance? Sure, a CTR of 1.44% sounds great when it’s compared to the insignificant CTR of 0.11% for standard banners or slightly higher for rich media units. But 1.44% CTR is still very low and more than anything else, a 1.44% CTR for pre-roll ads just highlights the low CTR of banner ads. But, again, forget about the click…

Unfortunately, even after more than a decade of online advertising we are still heavily focused on CTR. We still see different research papers focusing on CTR, agencies buy media based on CPC and advertisers measuring success by clicks. A better way would be to focus on more meaningful success metrics such as sales, leads, brand engagement (dwell time) and viral elements  such as sharing with friends and buzz. Did I say forget about the click already? …

And stop comparing…

Why does one need to compare pre-roll ads to banner ads (or any other ad format)? A well planned campaign should include many different creative formats to match and create different user experiences. Banner ads are designed to deliver a marketing message on web pages while the consumer reads some content. Pre-roll ads, on the other hand, are designed to deliver the same message inside video players while the consumer watches some video content. Banner ads create a magazine or newspaper-like experience while pre-roll ads create a TV-like experience. Hence, comparing between them is wrong, irrelevant and defeats the purpose of using different creative formats in first place.

The correct way to analyze creative and media would be to look at the campaign in holistic manner across all creative formats, sites and channels and then measure the synergy stemming from the diversified media and creative mix. Each ad, site and channel contributes something to the end result (whether it’s a sale, lead, brand awareness, etc.) as a standalone part of the campaign. However, the main objective should be proving that the whole campaign equals more than the sum of its standalone parts – ads, sites and channels. Showing that type of synergy would prove a successful campaign planning and execution.
Ronnie Lavi | Manager, Product Planning and Business Development

Following is an excerpt from an article I recently wrote for iMedia: 

“Online video is considered one of the most promising online advertising channels, with a forecasted ad spending of $1.67 billion in the U.S. by 2013 (according to JupiterResearch). Over the years, a seemingly endless procession of start-ups has entered the space, with myriad solutions touting inventory creation, ad management tools, and optimized functionality. Judging by projections and innovations, the in-stream space is the place to be, but that still doesn’t necessarily guarantee monetization.

Let’s face it, despite the hype, in-stream advertising has not lived up to expectations. So we, as an industry, need to take immediate action — or online video and in-stream advertising risk going the way of Second Life. ”

For survival recommendations, see the full article in iMedia.

Ronnie Lavi | Manager, Product Planning and Business Development

If you ever ran advertising campaigns across different channels (TV, print, online, mobile etc) then you probably wanted to analyze them together and really understand how the different channels impact each other. But our guess is you weren’t able to do so. We’re happy to announce that those days are gone. Today you can make a first step towards that goal by holistically analyzing your search and display campaigns. Curious to know what and how? Then read on…

Holistic campaign analysis across search and display campaigns has two key components: path to conversion analysis and cross channel synergies. The first component, path to conversion analysis, requires you to neglect the last ad or last click conversion attribution methods and start assessing all the branding events in the consumer pathway that you have overlooked so far. The last ad or last click methods are flawed and artificial since it’s clear that each consumer’s exposure to an ad (whether it happens offline or online) has some level of contribution to the consumer’s conversion at the end of the path. If you have the consumer’s path to conversion data, then don’t settle on the last ad or last click methods just because it’s easy and quick. If you don’t have that data, then go and get it.

Got it?  For the next step, click here to download the full marketing note on cross channel campaign analysis.

Ronnie Lavi | Manager, Product Planning and Business Development