Twitter, in partnership with MAGNA and IPG Media Lab, have announced the results of a scientific media trial examining the location of video ads within a social environment.
The resulting report, The Art of the Takeover: Optimizing What Consumers See First, reveals best practices for in-feed advertising as well as guidelines for utilising takeovers across in-feed video and website platforms.
The report breaks down key differences in effectiveness between Twitter’s Promoted Video ad placements: First View (Promoted Video at the top of the timeline) and ‘standard view’ (Promoted Video throughout the timeline).
Additionally, the study details how in-feed video ads located strategically at the top of the feed are twice as likely to be retained compared to similarly placed takeover ads on a website.
The study also found that regardless of location within the targeted social feed, upwards of 67 per cent of respondents found that ads served to them were not only relevant to their interests, but unobtrusive and ultimately, informative.
Here are the key findings from the trial:
- In a social environment, takeovers (ads at top of the feed) work harder than ads lower down.
- With its premium location, takeovers excel at building brand awareness, likely because they are on screen an average of 50 per cent more than ads lower in the feed.
- Takeovers outperform in social environments.
- Social takeovers are two times more memorable than similarly placed ads in a website takeover, likely because ads in a social environment feel more relevant and less intrusive to the user.
- GIFs and six-second ads at the top of a feed are an effective way to communicate, since they reinforce how users interact in a social environment, while longer ad formats at the top of a feed can further drive awareness due to a larger emphasis on the brand.
- A social post is more than just a video. With takeovers, many accompanying text strategies are successful because people spend more time with the video content at the top of a feed. However, posts further down are more effective when the accompanying text reinforces timely information and highlights product features.
