Bryan BolanGoogle recently conducted a study to better understand video ad viewability. Yes the study is based on online video advertising but there’s not much difference when it comes to corporate video production and it’s viewability on your website.
Your videos need to be easily accessible. Unfortunately I see far too many sites burying their video content at the bottom of pages, or hidden altogether on pages that don’t get a lot of traffic.
The whole point of video is to accelerate business growth. It doesn’t matter what type of video you are wanting to produce. The goal is to inspire your clientele be it business or consumer to take the next logical steps.
Here’s the infographic Google published from the study. I’m going to take the same five factors and explain how they relate to your website. I’m also going to exclude the term ad or advertising so not to confuse the issue that we are focusing on your website, be it desktop, mobile, and/or tablet.
1. State of Video Viewability
If you have looked at the infographic, you see this part is a shout out to YouTube and it’s effectiveness with video advertising. But on a corporate video production level, this is just as important with your own website.
Your video(s) should be above the fold (portion of webpage that is visible when page first loads). Video is the most engaging form of content so why wouldn’t you want to have it visible for everyone to see. Do not bury it at the bottom of your page, nor have it as a hyperlink, and never assume people will find it on their own.
2. Device Matters
Mobiles and tablets are taking over the online experience. What’s one thing people do with these devices? Watch video, and tons of it.
Watching video on these devices is simple, saves times, people are much more inclined to share video, and they always have one with them wherever they go. This is a video gold mine, having your video content viewable on these devices is crucial.
3. Why Videos Aren’t Viewable
If you aren’t enticing your visitors to view your video content they won’t watch it.
Having a tab only (and no video player) that says “watch video” (or any similar call to action) is not an effective way to get your visitors to watch. Why would you put in all this effort to produce great video content and then bury it under some tab you hope they click on, or having it displayed on pages not frequently visited.
Less work for your visitor means better results for you. The only thing they should have to do is press the play button.
4. Player Size Matters
The larger the video player, the higher the viewability. Seems simple but I’ve come across a lot of sites where the video player (or thumbnail) is tiny and when I click to watch, it does not expand to a larger size.
What if your site isn’t configured for a larger video player? Talk to your web developer about video player options. After a quick conversation you’ll see that making a few adjustments to your site that makes video more viewable will have a positive impact on business growth.
5. Location, Location, Location
The positioning of your video on your website is crucial. As you can see from the Google report, top-middle is most ideal.
Corporate video production is just as much about strategy as it is about creative. In fact, I would argue strategy is more important. When strategic planning is in place, creative comes more naturally.
What good is a dazzling video is it doesn’t achieve a specific business objective? That includes viewability. That’s why a strategic approach to your corporate video production has a much greater return on investment than just producing video you or your video production company are guessing will work.
Is your website ready for video?
(231)
