New Terms and Standards for selling Online Video Advertising

What are the key terms that advertisers need to know when selling online advertising to clients? Here is a summary of some of the terms and standards that are emerging in our industry.

The Ad Unit. The large number of ad units has caused an enormous amount of confusion due to the lack of real creative standards. Here is a simple problem that needs fixing. Advertisers must first understand and then evaluate all the options that are out there as well as educate themselves on emerging standards, which seem to be popping up every month. Some of these might be new and some are tweaks on old standards but examples include but are not limited to the following:

In-stream videos -- pre/mid/post-roll. These, in most cases, are usually accompanied by companion banners.
Direct response banners. These are banners that when clicked, the viewer is directed to a 3rd party website. The campaign is normally paid for on a cost per click, CPC, basis by the advertiser. Typically the targeting is context.
In-stream banners (also known as tickers, bugs or overlays). We have all seen the banners that appear in the player at some point while watching video.
Branded banners- When the banner is clicked a new window pops up, the advertiser is charged on a CPM basis regardless of how many number of clicks there are.
User-Initiated video ads – This consists of a banner that when clicked pauses content and plays a commercial. In this case, the advertiser is charged on a CPM basis for banner impressions, regardless of the number of plays that result from banner clicks. If the user clicks again he is directed to the advertiser's Web site.
Interactive video ads – these are pre and post roll video stream, interactive display ads hope to engage the consumer before moving on to the intended video content. Interactive elements allow the consumer to find out more information without having to leave the site.
Video banner ads – These are not associated with video content but are video ads that play automatically (hopefully muted for those at work or the library) on a page or play when rolled over by a mouse. I personally find these very annoying.
Player skin – There has been a number of players that have popped up that are doing this technique now. They are sponsored ad graphics that surround a video screen. Adbrite has a good example of this.


Different Terms. Due to the lack of creative standards we have now seen multiple business models sprout up as well. Knowing what they are paying for is crucial for advertisers (i.e. CPM, CPC or CPA) and what the payment method consist of—will this be an insertion order with net terms or is this an upfront payment? Can you opt in for a minimum buy or can the advertiser stop a campaign at their choosing – like in a sponsored search? Also consider, how the costs can be fixed and budgeted over the lifetime of the campaign?

Production requirements, Targeting capabilities. Who is going to produce and provide these new videos? Is that the job of the advertiser? What role does file size, formatting issues, video length play in their decision making process? How much information can they provide on the demographics they are looking to reach (i.e. region, zip code, male or female, time of day, etc.)? How targeted can you make the ad based on the above demographics?

Tracking. A major source of confusion for advertisers is who actually hosts and serves the ad – this is compounded by the various vendors and third-party ad servers available. Trust us. So what is the most effective way to track your campaigns performance? It is essential that advertisers find out who delivers the ad and how that company applies tags to track the amount of a video that was viewed, how users interact with the commercial, and then utilize tracking beyond the ad itself so they can determine performance.

Lastly,

Observe and Optimize. This is new for a lot of people and no one can really claim to be an expert. It’s emerging as I type, so it's key that advertisers expectations are kept in check. There is a huge opportunity in online video advertising but there is still a lot to learn and test out. Always track and review your results and never stop testing as my friend Zac at PaidGamePlayer says. Always Review and test consistantly, tweak your message and tinker with your advertising program and the campaign.


Let me know what I missed. Thanks