ADOTAS – Today’s entrepreneurs are creative in marketing their products and services. They realize that the advertising landscape is changing rapidly. What worked yesterday may or may not work today. Well, the newest advertising method that is taking the world by storm is Click to Play or CTP video ads. These ads combine and old age favorite – contextual ads and give it a modern video marketing edge. In essence, this type of advertising incorporates the best of the static world and combines it with video marketing for an outstanding partnership that is hard to beat.
Here’s how it works – Click to play advertising feature a static image file within the video ad itself. This format encourages users to click on the ad so that they can view the full video. Once the reader performs the desired “clicking action”, they are presented with a play rate that features the entire advertisement. Advertisers typically bid on these video ad spots, the same way as they bid on text and graphical ads. If you’re considering embarking on your first click to play advertising campaign, consider these advantages and disadvantages:
Advantages of Click to Pay Ads
CTP ads are less expensive than other advertising models. CTP ads are less expensive than pay per impression. With pay per impression, the advertiser pays whenever the ad is displayed. So even if the ad is displayed but no one clicks on it, the advertiser still pays for that impression. On the other hand, with click to play, the advertiser is only charged when someone expresses interest and actually clicks on the static ad or video. So, in essence, the advertiser only pays for sincere interest in the advertised product or service. This leads to a higher return on the investment that benefits advertisers tremendously.
CTP ads give advertisers a key marketing advantage. Advertisers can combine this advertising method with methods like text and graphical ads. In addition, CTP advertising is a dream comes true for brand marketers. With contextual text ads it is more difficult to establish a creative ad that entices readers. With copy and graphics, it is much harder to persuade and motivate viewers to take action. With CTP advertising, you combine images and copy to create a true user experience that engages the readers, captures their attention, and strengths the business relationship.
CTP ads provide advertisers with laser-focused geo-targeting. With CTP ads, marketers can target specific markets and split test their ads to see which one is more effective. This helps them determine which video offers the greatest return on their investment. Once the advertiser finds a hot video ad, they can further expand their demographic targeting and create more videos and expand the concept to TV and radio campaign.
CTP ads drive immediate traffic to the advertised site. Once someone clicks on the static image and video, they have a vested interest in the content. They are more open to learning about the advertised service or product. Plus, the advertiser gets immediate traffic within a short time period. With a stellar CTP ad, the company can experience an increase in sales the same day the ad goes live. Plus, with a realistic budget and good ad bidding, the company can appear on the first page for prominent keywords and knock their competitors out. This gets them the exposure they need to make sales. Plus, advertisers can focus on better content and less time worrying about search engine optimization.
CTP ads help advertisers stay within budget. Just like other types of advertising, individuals can set their advertising budgets and their CTP ads will be displayed as long as they are within budgetary limits. Once the budget is maxed, the ads stop and they don’t go over. This is a wonderful budgeting tool for advertisers.
Disadvantages of Click to Play Ads
Difficult to get CTP ads approved. Ad networks, like Google, are very specific about granting CTP video approval. If the advertiser violates any of their requirements, their ad won’t be approved and they run the risk of getting their domain and/or Google ad account suspended. Here are their requirements in a nutshell:
1. The opening image can’t be animated and it must be smaller than 50 KB and it must be in .GIF, .JPG, or .GIF format.
2. The video must be 336 X 280 or 300 X 250 and posses at least 14 frames per second. It must also have a 4:3 aspect ratio and must be 4 minutes or less.
3. The video must be encoded at a volume less than -12 db.
4. The opening image and playback must be relevant to the site and can’t contain inappropriate language.
5. The video can’t have any Google trademarked items and must be appropriate for all ages (kids through seniors).
Ad creation violations can lead to account suspension. Although you can resubmit the unapproved click to play ad for further review, you have to fix all violations before it will be approved. In addition, you run the risk of getting your domain suspended and your entire Google ad if violations are continuously found.
Viewers may “opt out”. Since the video doesn’t automatically play, readers are not forced to watch the video. So, they may or may not view it. In fact, some prospects will even “opt out” entirely. This can prove to be a waste if the advertiser doesn’t connect with the viewer and entice them to see the video.
CTP ads require outstanding copy and visuals. One of the biggest challenges for advertisers is that they must present enticing copy that will inspire the viewer to click on the ad. Since the viewer isn’t being forced to watch it, the marketer has to really use stellar copywriting skills that makes the upcoming video irresistible. This can be extremely hard for the novice copywriter.
In conclusion, CTP advertising is the new kid on the advertising block and it makes sense to evaluate both the pluses and minuses before giving it a try. However, those advertisers that take advantage of it, often report that it is well worth the effort. What do you think? Have you tried CTP advertising? Will you?
