Make the Most of Your Digital Video Strategy: How Digital Publishers Can Get the Biggest Bang for Their Buck

Make the Most of Your Digital Video Strategy: How Digital Publishers can get the Biggest Bang for their Buck

Chelsea Huang VideoElephant INTRODUCTION

There are many great reasons why digital publishers should invest in video - contextual video content can increase user engagement and dwell time, more video placements equal new inventory, and video CPMs are consistently higher than display.

So why, then, do many consider the ‘pivot to video’ to be a failure?

Media’s big ‘pivot to video’ was prompted by: • a shift in media consumption from O&O to third-party platforms, • higher CPMs for pre-roll than display, • a far-reaching assumption that people prefer to watch videos instead of read articles, and • Facebook’s inflated ad viewership metrics, which were ultimately deemed miscalculated at best, and bogus at worst1.

Add a little herd mentality to the mix, and we saw nearly every digital-first publication axe writers and hire video producers en masse. In the end, thousands of people lost their jobs, in a ‘pivot to video bloodbath2.’

GROWTH IN DIGITAL VIDEO DEMAND

Yet while publishers have scaled down their video businesses as a result of these miscalculations, the appetite for digital video and ad spend only continue to grow. eMarketer3 projects that video ad spend will grow significantly faster than viewers in many markets. The U.S. will experience a compound annual growth rate of almost 13% by 2023. And if that’s not impressive, rates in the U.K., China and Canada will be even higher. Some key stats from eMarketer:

• The U.S. will experience a compound annual growth rate of 12.8% in video ad spend from 2019 through 2023. • By 2023, when the U.S. Census Bureau estimates the world’s population will near 8 billion for the first time, over 39% of earthlings will be digital video viewers. That’s up from about 35% in 2019.

The digital video opportunity is arguably bigger than ever, and digital publishers should turn to where they have the most control: their O&O. Whether you: 1. have made the costly investment in gorgeous original production, 2. consistently sell out on your pre-roll inventory, or 3. are crushing it on display advertising and want to attract some high-value pre-roll demand, there are several strategies that you may want to consider for a robust digital video business. After all, if 2018 taught us anything, it’s the importance of a diversified strategy.

PRODUCE SMARTER, NOT BIGGER

Video production tends to be the most costly and time consuming media output, especially in relation to article content, which writers can churn out quickly and cost-effectively. When publishers made the switch to short-form video-centric content strategies, many failed to consider profitability. They found that the equipment, tools and headcount needed to produce video at scale were actually putting them under the water.

That’s why the old adage ‘quality over quantity’ rings truer today than ever.

You may love your flawlessly shot and edited video on your favorite hometown band (and there’s definitely an audience out there for it), but if your audience follows you for home improvement tips, you’ve just flushed investment down the drain. Always keep a pulse on your audience, what they engage with, and ultimately, your brand.

That’s not to say there aren’t new audiences to be won with content that strays from your bread-and-butter topics. But rather than throw concepts against a wall and seeing what sticks, leverage social analytics and content discovery tools Use tools like Tubular Labs and CrowdTangle to see what content like Tubular Labs and CrowdTangle (now a Facebook people are engaging with. company) to see what people are engaging with across platforms.

Ultimately, thinking critically about new engaging content that resonates with your audience can only help to ensure you’re making the most of your production budget.

LICENSE THIRD-PARTY CONTENT

Consider the following scenarios:

• You consistently sell out of your video inventory, and your sales team is ready to bite into more. • You have a hardy display business, but you’re ready to open up new inventory on the page. • You’re only capturing a fraction of your page views with video views, and there’s a lot of growth to be had. • You have steady original video output, but could use supplemental video content to fill the gaps. If any of the above scenarios resonate with you, then licensing third-party content could be a good fit for your business. There’s no shortage of great video content being created, especially on broad topics like the financial markets, weather, health & wellness, cultural tentpoles like the Oscars (whatever format such events might take in the future), or major ongoing news events like COVID-19.

Publishers can leverage third-party libraries to add contextually relevant videos to article content, either a ‘perfect match’ video in place of a hero image, or related ‘learn more’ content in the middle or bottom of an article.

Whether you’re looking to grow your video programming to engage your audience, increase video supply for your sales team, or both, the third-party video is a great way to gain quality content at a fraction of the price of original production.

BRING IN BRAND BUCKS

Once reviled by audiences, branded content has become a ubiquitous, and even valued presence in digital publishing. Recent years have seen remarkable growth in both branded content RFPs sent, as well as the production of quality content that adds value editorially. This is only expected to grow, with native advertising firm AdYouLike suggesting that the industry will grow from $85.83 billion in 2020 to $402 billion by 20254.

Some branded content reads or watches like an ad or video spot, but it doesn’t have to. When done well, branded content should bring the publisher and its audience as much value as it brings to the brand funding the piece.

WSJ’s 2015 native ad for Netflix’s Narcos series5 is an unforgettable example. With video interviews with DEA agents, an interactive map of cocaine movement, and more engaging graphics, it was a worthy piece of interactive journalism. It continues to spur discussion five years later.

With premium revenue and brand equity to leverage, it comes as no surprise that branded content is running the full publishing gamut. From lifestyle publishers like Popsugar and Refinery29 focusing on great integrations, to premium news companies like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, they are embracing the gains of the innovative new format.

DISTRIBUTE, DISTRIBUTE, DISTRIBUTE

Content may be king, but without a proper distribution strategy, its kingdom is but a dot on a map. And in a world flush with great content, building and maintaining a kingdom is no easy feat.

Most digital publishers and video content providers have their social strategies down pat. They might also be launching their own branded apps and CTV channels. But these distribution channels all rely on the same thing - your existing audience. Your hard-earned original content deserves to be seen by as many eyeballs as possible. VideoElephant partners with top digital publishers, OTT distributors and channels, mobile streaming apps, as well as digital signage networks. This means accumulating incremental revenue and growing your reach, all the while helping to build your brand awareness and equity,

Even if you have your own licensing and distribution team, our team can supplement your efforts, so you can focus on securing the biggest accounts. We’ve been doing this since 2012, so our network is far-reaching. Beyond traditional media, we can actually help you reach new audiences at the doctor’s waiting room, ridershare vehicles, and inflight entertainment too.

Chelsea Huang Business Development Director VideoElephant

References:

1. “Was the media’s big ‘pivot to video’ all based on a lie?”, Vanity Fair, 17 October 2018, https://tinyurl.com/ybqcfpnb 2. “For digital publishers, the ‘pivot to video’ bloodbath is here”, Fast Company, 12 January 2018, https://tinyurl.com/ydbmm6qp 3. “Global Digital Video 2019’, eMarketer, 19 September 2019, https://tinyurl.com/y7anfqcw 4. “Native advertising sector predicted to be worth $400bn by 2025”, The Drum, 6 March 2019, https://tinyurl.com/yalydby4 5. “WSJ dives into ‘Cocaineconomics’ for Netflix ‘Narcos’ native ad”, AdAge, 22 September 2015, https://tinyurl.com/y9g3nwes

From industry-leading broadcast and media companies to unbranded digital video creators, and from general interest to niche topics, VideoElephant aggregates over 700 feeds of video content. With more than 2 million videos in our library, we’re likely to find great contextual content for your audience. Let’s chat!

Tel. + 1 646 688 0720 | [email protected] | www.videoelephant.com

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Issued: April 2020