Television commercials and traditional advertisements are becoming a thing of the past.
As the next generation of tech-focused consumers saturates the marketplace, keeping up with these advertising trends is important. You either adjust your strategies or you risk having to close your doors for good.
So, where are consumers getting their information these days?
90% have said that they discover new brands through YouTube ads. 80% of shoppers say that they tend to switch between online search and video when deciding what to buy.
Set yourself and your brand up for success by plugging into the “show don’t tell” mindset. Keep up with current trends in advertising and generate quality video for the greatest potential of return on ad spend.
Here are 9 advertising trends for 2019 to get you started!
1. Web-Based Video Content
Focusing on optimizing your advertisements for web users gives you great potential for organic traffic.
More than ever, people are leaving behind paid television programming to switch to web-based streaming entertainment.
Reach them here by providing high-level, professional videos that give the best view of your products or services.
2. Full-Funnel YouTube Advertising
One of the best features of video advertising is that it offers you the chance to cater to the full advertising funnel.
- Reach your target customers at the brand awareness level with lighthearted, catchy videos.
- Generate interest by showing them how much better or easier their lives will be with your product or service.
- Compare your product with similar products to help answer questions they may have in the evaluation phase.
- Get them committed to your product by offering incentives, guarantees, or support.
- Finally, reel them in by offering special sales and deals at the purchase level.
By offering specialized content at each level, you will be optimizing this marketing strategy in full force.
Bonus: Take advantage of this structure by shooting all of your material at once. Tell your whole story and then chop it up and distribute it where it fits in the buyer’s journey.
3. Over-The-Top and In-Stream Advertising
OTT advertisements refer to those short, 5-15 second ads that play on streaming platforms that a viewer can’t skip.
This style of advertising allows you to lump viewers together into different groups so that you can target them based on their user profiles.
More and more people are switching to streaming alternatives for entertainment. Every platform requires the viewer to create an account or profile. This gives you access to their personalized data information like their region, age range, and viewing trends.
With over 70% of in-stream ad impressions on Facebook viewed to completion with the sound on, this is a valuable way to get your information out.
Additionally, you can control what sort of content shouldn’t be appearing alongside your ads. For example, if you’re running an ad to help people quit smoking, you won’t want a cigarette brand’s ad running alongside it.
4. Mobile-First Advertising Trends
Customers are more likely to shop online with their phones over any other means. It is vital that video advertising (and online shopping platforms) be compatible with this format.
Keep social media formatting in mind when producing video content. Many shoppers rely on clickable and shop-able social media ads. If you are showing them content, make sure they can click through to make their purchase, otherwise, you run the risk of losing them.
5. Customer-Made Content
Customers are more likely to trust the information or opinions of their peers on the Internet over those of a mega-corporation.
Take advantage of this by encouraging opinionated customers to share their experiences. This can be an actual video testimonial or a rave review they left on your site.
6. Influencer Content
Are you a new company or perhaps an established one looking to generate some positive feedback? Buy into social media influencers!
Depending on your product, this can be a powerful way to get your brand in front of a lot of people in a short amount of time.
For a current customer, you can offer them a gift card or free merchandise to introduce new products. Encourage them to focus on their continued business with you!
For new customers, focus on your brand and key products or services. Offer the influencer free product or services that they can review and explain.
Generally, it’s best to establish an agreement for how long your product review needs to stay on their platform. It’s also important to make sure they know you may use their images and video in your advertising campaigns.
7. Graphic or Animated Videos
Blend graphics, text, or animated characters in your video ads. This can be an easy way to tell a story for anew or online exclusive brand people may not have heard of yet.
Bring your blueprints or digital layouts to life in anticipation of a grand opening, use text or customer reviews to tell a story, or animate with generic characters to give viewers a chance to imagine themselves in their place. This creates a much more inclusive branding statement.
8. Cinemagraph Advertisements
Cinemagraphs are cool photo and video hybrid advertisements. Set the tone in your static advertisements by catching the viewer’s eye with some motion.
Some examples are a few strands of hair blowing in the wind, a single blinking streetlight, waves crashing on the sand, or sparks from a campfire.
Generally, a viewer will spend more time looking at a Cinemagraph ad than a photo because they want to see what else is moving. This means greater absorption of your messaging and higher potential for ROAS.
This advertising trend brings life and variety into your messaging, without distracting away from it.
9. Television Commercials
That’s right, television should still be on your radar folks! Don’t alienate or ignore your more traditional customers by forgetting to occasionally advertise on TV.
Think about the types of ads you are working on for the digital market and play to those trends for TV as well. Delight your viewer with ads that they won’t want to leave the room for or fast-forward through. Hit them right away with exciting content so they stick around for your messaging.
Where to Start
For newer, smaller, or more traditional companies, video advertising trends like these may be daunting.
But depending on your customers’ age, lifestyle, region, and shopping habits, video production could be a game-changer for your business! Learn more about your customers and decide what would be the most beneficial avenue to get them your information.
If you’re ready to get started on your video marketing strategy, contact us today.
