Though you may not have heard the term just yet, chances are good you've come across an outstream video ad while browsing the Internet sometime during the past year. This new type of display ad takes the form of an auto-playing video that is inserted into a traditional display ad space, typically between paragraphs of text or images.
This ad format is quite different from the preroll or midroll ads that have been used extensively on YouTube and other streaming video services, as it does not require a publisher's video for placement, making it a far more flexible ad format to use. And that's not its only benefit.
Viewability Is the Name of the Game
Because outstream video ads can be placed anywhere and designed to play only when in view of the browser, they're capable of achieving 100 percent viewability. And even though some marketers may worry that consumers may eventually ignore these ads in the same way they've learned to gloss over other display ads, it looks like that hasn't happened so far — MarketingLand reports a recent study which found that browsers actively watch outstream ads for 25 percent longer than other types of video ads.
Making a Lasting Impression
While consumers see plenty of ads on any given day, few of those ads make truly lasting impressions. However, the same study reported by MarketingLand found that outstream video may be one of the best types of ads for brands trying to craft campaigns with the goal of boosting awareness.
According to the study, 42 percent of respondents who viewed these video ads were aware of the brand measured in the study, and 65 percent of respondents who were exposed to outstream formats were aware of the ad upon video completion. In addition, the study found that outstream ads created a 10 percent lift in brand awareness over other video ad formats, which is especially important for small and midsize businesses looking to branch out and grow their customer bases.
Growing Pains
Though this all sounds like good news, marketers shouldn't completely abandon their current video ad formats entirely, as outstream video does have its downsides. One particular challenge with outstream ads is they don't always play well on mobile devices, which is a big problem if you're trying to reach consumers on the go or are depending on traffic from social media.
Another problem with outstream is that if consumers don't have their sound on already (as they would for a preroll or midroll ad), they won't hear the ad, which can render it ineffective even if it's completely viewable. A quick way to combat this, though, is by adding subtitles.
Outstream video advertising is a great option for marketers looking to try something new with their campaigns. Local businesses interested in this format can convert some of their existing pre-roll ads into outstream video and place them alongside their own current web content for a low-risk trial period. If the format performs well in a native setting, marketers can then expand it into their larger marketing campaigns, replacing banner and display ads on third-party sites with outstream video where possible and allocating the budget as necessary.
