DIGITAL MEDIA DIGEST: AUG ‘17
A monthly look at the world of digital from NORTH’s point of view
“Watch” Out: Facebook Enters The Video World
By Flynn Robertson: Assistant Media Planner
First Facebook came for Myspace, then it came for Snapchat, and now it’s coming for TV, or at least something TV-like. In case you missed the news, Facebook recently announced that they are going to roll out a new feature called “Watch” that will act as a home for video content produced exclusively for this platform. While I find the name a bit underwhelming (“Watch”? Really?), I am pretty excited to see what this Youtube/Traditional TV amalgam has in store for us.
First, a few details. “Watch” has already rolled out to a small number of users across all devices and will continue to be rolled out on a larger scale, first in the United States before heading international. For those looking into this as a money-maker, Facebook will split ad revenue with the content creators.
Facebook will keep its 45% and the remaining 55% will go to the content partner. According to Daniel Danker, “Watch” content will be shows that are “made up of episodes — live or recorded — and follow a theme or storyline.” Facebook has also stated that while they have funded some original shows they really want “any publisher/creator who is interested to be able to create a show in the future.”
Besides the obvious implications of personal entertainment involved with the release of “Watch,” we also have a two-pronged opportunity for the advertising world. The first: this is an additional environment to run your video creative on Facebook but alongside the content produced for “Watch”. This should allow advertisers to take the video content they already run on Facebook as paid media and run it in a more YouTube-esque pre-roll fashion. I’m not totally sure what advertising options will look like yet, but I’d imagine this kind of option will be good for both garnering completed video views as well as receiving more plays with the sound on.
The second opportunity: brands can create their own content and run it directly through “Watch” as a show, rather than running an advertisement against other creator’s content. This will be a good way for advertisers who want to get away from the look and feel of a more traditional advertising placement, but still want to create high quality creative content that appeals to the audience. After all, Facebook did openly state they wanted this to be open to any and all creators, and that should include brands.
I don’t think the arrival of “Watch” rings the death knell for traditional TV, and neither do I believe it represents impending doom for other online video services like Youtube. Rather, this could end up serving as a unique blend of the two, more of a supplement to both, and not a replacement for either. We will have to wait and see how this feature is received when rolled out to the masses, but I think it will be welcomed openly by both brands the public at large.
Stories: Snapchat vs. Instagram
By Kayden Cowan, Social Coordinator
In September of 2011 Snapchat launched the very first version of Stories, a disappearing pictures application like a scene from Mission: Impossible — “This message will self destruct in 5 seconds.” It was the anti-Instagram. A place to communicate the full range of human life and emotion, not just the filtered and carefully curated highlight reel. High school students quickly adopted this platform as their main social channel for communicating with friends (everyone and their Mom was on Facebook at this point…ew!).
It wasn’t until June 2016 that Snapchat launched their advertising API, Snapchat Partners. This long-awaited feature was positioned as a way for “[brands] to have a place where they can tell their stories…in a better way” says Imran Khan, Chief Strategy Officer at Snapchat.
One month later…
Oh hi, Instagram Stories!
In August 2016 Instagram launched their Stories feature. At first Instagram was scoffed at for directly copying Snapchat, but fast forward one year later and we now see a decline of 50% in average unique viewers per story on Snapchat and its monthly active user growth rate has dropped from 17.2% per quarter to only 5%.
Meanwhile, TechCrunch reported that half of the businesses on Instagram posted a Story in July, and IG Stories has 250 million users per day while Snapchat has 166 million users per day. Instagram has transformed into a one-stop shop for brands. They can showcase polished content on their feed, give fans a more personal behind the scenes experience in Stories, and communicate with them via direct message. One in five organic IG Stories by brands generated a direct message in June — this is a great way for brands to up their engagement organically and interact with fans directly.
Discoverability is one of the main factors leading brands away from Snapchat. Instagram makes it easy to find content you do not follow with hashtags and the discover page, whereas Snapchat makes it far more difficult to unearth new content. Also, with Instagram adopting the live video feature from its parent Facebook, Snapchat has a ways to go to continue to compete with IG Stories.
Here are some things for brands to consider:
- “Stories Fatigue” is a real thing! Know where your audience is. Influencers are straying away from Snapchat in favor of IG Stories where all their content can be contained on one platform. But young Gen-Zers are still using Snapchat (everyone and their Mom is on Instagram now…ew!).
- When it comes to creative, keep it in flow with Stories from friends and family. It’s an ongoing truth that brands are competing with baby pics and engagement announcements on social media. It’s even more apparent when it comes to the raw content in Stories. Brands will benefit from Stories that are less polished, use the in-app tools like stickers and filters, and have an in the moment/behind the scenes feel.
YouTube TrueView & Bumper Ads: Better Together
By Devon Brown, Performance Marketing Manager
Google released a valuable webinar yesterday as part of the Partner’s program. In it, they review the various types of ad formats offered on YouTube, as well as findings and recommended strategies to make video marketing on the platform most effective.
One of the key strategies they reviewed was how to use TrueView and Bumper ads in conjunction with each other. First, let’s define both of these formats:
True View In-Stream
- Usually between 15–30 seconds
- Skippable at 5 seconds
- What most people would consider a standard YouTube ad
- Bought on a 15 second completed view basis
- Average brand lift is 12–16%
Bumper Ads
- 6 second non-skippable ad
- Bought on CPM basis — typically $6–8
- Average brand lift is +38%
Google reports that TrueView ads are best when viewers are not aware of your brand, product or offer because the longer format allows for longer, more detailed messages. Therefore, brand lift is lower because there is more detail to cover. Whereas bumper ads are extremely effective when there is some level of awareness already in place, and you want to reinforce the message. Therefore, brand lift is higher because you’re not starting from square one. When these two format are used together, brand lift rises to +78%, at a lower CPM. So how do you use them together? Here are three actionable strategies:
1. Create Sequential Messages
Use TrueView as your main message, and bumper ads to tease before hand, amplify, or echo afterward. Retargeting can be used to control the sequence of these ads creating a storytelling effect.
2. Let Current Awareness Dictate Ad Unit Mix
YouTube stated that a good rule of thumb is the more that people are aware of your brand, product, or offer, the more bumper ads can be used. If they are aware, they just need reminders. If they are not aware, they recommend a heavier ratio of TrueView ads in the mix. Here’s an example:
A popular local ice cream shop has introduced new flavors. Since the ads are targeted locally and most people are already familiar with the brand, location, and that they offer seasonal flavors, an 80% bumper / 20% TrueView mix makes sense because you just need to remind them that the new flavors are out.
If the same ice cream shop targeted tourists who don’t know the brand or the city, a 30% bumper / 70% TrueView mix might make more sense because you need to explain that you’re a popular ice cream shop that has seasonal flavors, and that you’re located downtown. The core message is the details, and the bumper ads are used to amplify the key points.
3. Use Guiding Principles To Make Creative Most Effective
The most important part in all of this? Good creative. Media smarts are all well and good, but they won’t go far with mediocre videos. After analyzing thousands of videos, Google has developed the following guiding principles for each unit:
TrueView Ads — The ABCD’s
- Attract — open strong within 6 seconds.
- Brand — naturally within 6 seconds.
- Connect — Use emotion, audio and pacing during the 10–30 second mark to keep viewers captivated.
- Direct — Clear CTA in the toward the end.
Bumper Ads — Three B’s
- Be brief- have one clear message. You only have 6 seconds, don’t try to do too much.
- Be clear and direct — Focus on the singular campaign goal and communicate to that end.
- Build for sound on- Expect them to see, hear, lean in, and be engaged. YouTube is not a passive experience like other platforms.
Google Improves Brand Safety Options
By Caroline Desmond, Director of Media Strategy
In a recent reboot of Google’s Display Network, Google announced more streamlined options for excluding certain types of content from display and video buys. With this change, Google is adding some site categories and recategorizing or removing others. In the new AdWords interface, these options are now referred to as “content options.” Brands will have a few months to make adjustments in AdWords campaigns. As Google notes on its support page, the transition to the new options will be gradual through the end of the year. Those running existing campaigns should manually update the options in their Display Network campaigns by that time. Any campaigns not updated by early 2018 will be automatically migrated over to the new list of content options, and some options will be removed at that time.
These new options are part of an on-going effort by Google to promote brand safety across its network. This effort was spurred by a series of incidents last March where brands pulled budgets because ads ran next to extremist content on YouTube. This latest attempt to improve brand safety across Google properties comes on the heels of cutbacks by big brands like Procter & Gamble. Although Procter & Gamble didn’t specifically call out Google, the company’s Chief Marketing Officer Jon Moeller hinted at brand safety concerns across Google and YouTube as a driver for their decision to make significant cuts to digital ad budgets that were not effectively growing brand equity.
So what specifically is changing in the new list of Google content options? The full list of changes is detailed here on Google’s support blog, but below are some highlights that could be most useful to brands given the current political climate.
- “Sensitive social issues” is a new category brands may opt to exclude from display and video campaigns, and it covers “content related to discrimination and identity relations, scandals and investigations, reproductive rights, firearms and weapons, and more.”
- “Crime, police, and emergency,” “death and tragedy,” and “military and international conflict” have all been rolled up under the content option for “tragedy and conflict.”
- “Content suitable for families” is another new content option that brands may also select to avoid controversial content.
There are some options that Google has actually removed as possible selections.
- “Gambling” and “error pages” options have been removed because Google automatically restricts the placement of ads on these types of pages
- “Forums, social networks, photo-sharing pages, video sharing pages” are no longer available as exclusions because these were created before the rise of user-generated content and social media. Brands can instead opt to exclude content related to “mature audiences”, “content not yet labeled” and “sensitive content.”
As Google makes moves towards greater brand safety, this will also likely drive Facebook to continue to do the same. The two media behemoths make up a duopoly of digital media ad spending with some reports showing the two companies combined accounted for 77% of digital ad spend in the US in 2016. Investments in original programming across both companies may also open the door to more premium, brand safe opportunities for brands to engage users.
