Why we’re all in on performance branding – and how it can transform your growth.

The Secret to Getting People To Watch Full Video Advertisements

Bryan Karas

August 28, 2018

NBC recently partnered with YouTube to promote the upcoming season of the network’s sitcom “The Good Place.” The video ads encouraged viewers to watch the full six second ad by rewarding them with exclusive access to a “sneak peek” clip of Season 3.

Okay – I see you NBC – and I like it….

67 percent of people surveyed stated that they would watch a full 15-second ad in exchange for rewards or kickbacks – discounts, free streaming music, in-game rewards or premium content. This sort of opt-in video advertising is a potential remedy for ad fatigue. Which is crucial for brands that saturate the social networks with display ads, retargeting etc…

What does this mean for advertisers? Well…we’re going to have to take a chapter out of the mobile gaming playbook and start providing exclusive access to premium content…

Open the floodgates

Gated content isn’t a new thing. Until recently, a consumer that came across gated or “premium” content would be required to give their email address in exchange for access. It works great in B2B but it never really came to fruition in the B2C world.

Well, here we are…

Take a look at the advertising landscape. The consumer is bombarded with ads more than ever – and not just on digital platforms. The use of ad-blockers are way up and research states “80 percent of marketers say opt-in provides a better consumer experience and generates higher ROI than other formats.” Makes sense…

Opting-in is a win-win

There are a bunch of platforms out there already using some sort of “opt-in” ad format – YouTube, Spotify and mobile gaming apps are certainly some options.

TrueView, a Google property, is built on the promise that you’ll only pay for a video ad when someone chooses to watch it. These types of opt-in ads show up in-stream, either before or during a video uploaded by a YouTube partner. They also work as discovery ads on YouTube and on the Google Display Network.

Spotify has over 90 million users on their freemium ad-supported model. They use Sponsored Sessions audio ads to let users opt-in to a 30 minute period of uninterrupted ad-free listening. Mobile gaming apps let advertisers use something called Rewarded Video Ads – these opt-in ads appear between levels and unlock special perks and in-game rewards.  


Case Study: How Hefty Cracked the 6 Second Video Ad Nut Wide Open

Hefty created a short six second video ad to drive awareness to a larger branded campaign called #PartyHefty. The campaign topped the Youtube ads leaderboard and the Hefty team took away three major insights for future video advertising on YouTube.


Sh*t You Need to Know

FB is adding pixel to Groups to let you track engaged users

Facebook is testing more A/B testing tool for organic page posts

Instagram tests new recommendations feature to boost content discovery

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About the Author

Bryan Karas

CEO

On a mission to save businesses $100M in wasted marketing spend by 2026. CEO at Playbook Media/ GrowTal, Angel Investor, Startup.

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