New Research Indicates Agencies Are Increasing Focus On Video Advertising

According to a new report by Interactive Advertising Bureau Australia, the digital video advertising market grew fourty-one per cent year on year in Q4 2020 to become the dominant display advertising format

Video investment continues to significantly outpace the rest of the ad market and is set to continue throughout 2021 according to new research. The Attitudes to Digital Video Report released on Thursday by IAB Australia found that sixty-eight per cent of agencies expect investment in digital video advertising to increase in 2021.

The report also found that ninety-four per cent of agencies using digital video for increasing brand awareness expressed satisfaction with their campaign results, while the ability of digital advertising to reach audiences at scale was identified as the number one reason why fifty-nine per cent of agencies continue to use or recommend digital video advertising.

IAB also provided a preview of key video advertising data points from its PwC Online Advertising Expenditure Report scheduled to be published in full next week.

That report shows that video advertising grew fourty-one per cent in the final quarter of 2020 to reach $642.7 million, making it the fastest-growing digital advertising segment, attracting more than half of digital display advertising.

Over the calendar year 2020, digital video advertising investment grew seventeen per cent to over $1.9billion.

Video creative and metric alignment were identified in the Attitudes to Digital Video Report as two key areas the industry must focus on to support the continued growth of video advertising.

It found that nearly four in ten agencies rarely or never develop digital video advertising creative to the specific media environment.

Consensus from leading advertising effectiveness research vendors is that creative is a key driver of campaign effectiveness. Given the strong impact from creative, the potential upside in developing strong impactful video creative adjusted for the media environment is significant.

The Report also found a mismatch between campaign objectives and metrics selected by agencies to measure success.

While eighty-one per cent of agencies used digital video advertising to increase brand awareness, only thirty-eight per cent used brand awareness lift metrics to evaluate their campaign success, opting instead to use delivery metrics such as reach and frequency, completion rates and CPM.

Additional findings from the Video Report include:

Reaching audiences at scale is the number one reason fifty-nine per cent of agencies use or recommend digital video advertising
Increasing brand awareness is the predominant objective for digital video campaigns with eighty-one per cent of agencies reporting using digital video for increasing brand awareness.
Digital video advertising is also used by agencies to increase purchase/action intent (sixty-one per cent) and increase sales or conversions (fourty-seven per cent).
Seventy-eight per cent of agencies using video advertising for increasing sales or conversions were satisfied with their campaign results
Thirty-seven per cent of agencies are not yet preparing for people-based marketing that will enable planning, activating, and measuring interactions across media into the future when third-party cookies are no longer available to use.

Gai Le Roy, CEO of IAB Australia said, “the growth in digital video advertising investment over the last few years has been phenomenal, fuelled by continued innovation in environments, formats as well as an explosion of CTV opportunities.”

“This Report helps to identify key areas for industry focus and development to support the market in 2021 and beyond.”

James Young, Co-Chair of IAB Australia’s Video Council and Managing Director Australia for Magnite added, “The findings of this study further underscore the importance of video as a central part of marketers’ omnichannel advertising strategies.”

“No other advertising medium is more effective for brand building and mass awareness. From our vantage point in the industry, digital video growth is being fueled by the ability buyers have to tap into premium, long-form video with effective reach for their campaigns.”

The full report can be download on the IAB Australia website.

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