Intro to What Media Sellers Need to Know About Video and Mobile Advertising Blog Feature
Steve Bookbinder

By: Steve Bookbinder on May 4th, 2017

Print/Save as PDF

Intro to What Media Sellers Need to Know About Video and Mobile Advertising

Digital Media Landscape | Sales Tips

Digital media, specifically video and mobile, are changing the way we consume content, advertise to users and sell advertising to brands and agencies. This means new challenges to face, but it also means new opportunities to explore.

Media sellers must work towards expanding their knowledge and increasing their understanding of both video and mobile in order to help clients gain a competitive advantage.

What do you need to know and how can you apply this information to your day-to-day client conversations?

Let’s start with the basics:

video_tablet.jpg

What is video and mobile advertising?

Video Advertising is a term used to encompass a variety of different ad formats. The digital video marketplace includes platforms that extend to mobile, television, and an array of other technologies and devices.

Mobile marketing is the art of marketing your business to appeal to mobile device users. When done right, mobile marketing provides customers or potential customers using smartphones with personalized, time- and location-sensitive information so they can get what they need exactly when they need it, even if they're on the go.

In the U.S. alone, research firm eMarketer reports, one in three consumers watch video on their mobile devices and are giving it their full attention. And while the space available on mobile screens may be small compared to TV or PC screens, the effectiveness of mobile video content and advertising is set to reach new heights—particularly now that mobile video has taken a central role in influencing and enhancing the purchasing process.

So, mobile video doesn't just command our attention. It's also emerging as the best way to explore products and offers before making a purchase, which is why mobile video ad spending is already growing faster than any other digital advertising format.

Why is video and mobile advertising important to know about?

We live in an increasingly multiscreen world. Content is consumed on demand and everywhere, the sight, sound and motion of digital video offers unparalleled opportunities to tell brand stories, especially when combined with mobile advertising.

Cross-channel video advertising has transformed how brands reach users at key points of the customer journey. Digital video advertising empowers brands to build stronger connections along the path to purchase with niche-focused content delivered across an increasing variety of digital channels and connected devices.

Let’s take a look at a few stats to help paint the picture and emphasize the importance of producing valuable video content that is optimized for a mobile experience.

  • 1/3 of all online activity is spent watching video. (RendrFX)
  • 48% of consumers start mobile research with a search engine. (Smart Insights)
  • Mobile Offers are Redeemed 10x More Frequently Than Print Offers (eMarketer)
  • 90% of users say that product videos are helpful in the decision process. (RendrFX)
  • 80% of users recall a video ad they have viewed online in the past month. (RendrFX)
  • 92% of mobile video consumers share videos with others. (RendrFX)
  • 59% of executives would rather watch video than read text.(RendrFX)
  • More video content is uploaded every 30 days than all 3 major U.S. T.V. networks combined have created in the past 30 years. (RendrFX)

These stats are only scratching the surface of the combined power of mobile and video, but the key thing for you to remember is to be curious about this evolving landscape. Things are changing rapidly, so the more you keep up the better you’ll be able to guide your prospects and customers through this complex landscape like a pro...which brings us to our next point.

When does this come up in conversation?

It should come up in every digital conversation you’re having because mobile and video are key drivers in performance and conversions of digital campaigns. So, it’s safe to say video and mobile are here to stay and it’s time to get comfortable talking about them.

When you’re preparing for your next sales meeting, go to the advertiser’s site using your mobile device.  If their site is mobile optimized then they are ready, willing and able to take on mobile visitors.  If they are not, they are missing a huge audience of mobile users who are frustrated when the website doesn’t render properly on their phone.

Ask the advertiser how much of their traffic comes via mobile.

  • Are they presenting their mobile visitors the same experience as desktop?
  • Do they have an app?
  • Are they promoting app downloads?

Asking these types of questions will help you assess the advertiser’s level of mobile sophistication and will provide you with a better understanding of their situation. In some cases, offering to build them a mobile-optimized landing page makes sense so they can start taking advantage of a growing mobile audience.

Media sellers, and marketers alike, need to think in terms of creating video assets that fit the platform.

So, using a :30 second TV ad as a pre-roll is less effective than a shorter video.  While advertisers may be concerned about the cost of producing these assets, the impact of video content, particularly to a mobile user, should produce a lift in performance that offsets production costs.

Premium branded content publisher salespeople may need to explain these concepts to their customers and share the latest stats about video and mobile in order for them to understand the benefits and advantages of adding more video and mobile to their ad buy. Here are a few examples that will help you reinforce your message:

  • Video in an email leads to 200-300% increase in click-through rate. (RendrFX)
  • Including video on a landing page can increase conversion by 80% (RendrFX)
  • Combining video with full page ads boost engagement by 22% (RendrFX)
  • 50% of executives look for more information after seeing a product/service show in a video. (RendrFX)
  • 65% of executives visit a brand or marketer’s website 39% (RendrFX)

Or, if they are already using video, but not with you, you need to introduce them to your inventory which will likely be unduplicated and therefore an unexploited video opportunity that complements their current buy.

How can you apply this?

Media sales is less about selling products and more about providing solutions.

Given the performance of the combined power of mobile and video, these assets should be part of any solution set you’re recommending. Mobile and video can be used for reaching users at any stage of the consideration process.

For instance, when you look at users at the “top of the funnel,” the video and mobile approach works because you don’t have to be in the market to find a video or piece of content interesting. And at this point, advertisers are just looking to gain awareness and educate the user.

If you look at users at the “middle of the funnel,” you will find the video and mobile approach is even more effective at this stage. Users are increasingly conducting research via their mobile devices when considering a product or service, and most users prefer watching a video to learn more. This makes mobile delivery of video ads an optimal way to reach and engage mid-funnel users.

Finally, you have the “bottom of the funnel” users who are typically ready to take action. At this stage, the advertiser is looking to increase scale while optimizing their conversion rate, so the goal is to reach the right user, at the right time and place, with a message that matches their intention.

And, most important of all – mobile is a conversion machine. Users go from search to conversion more frequently on smart phones than desktops. People use their phone for a variety of reasons with different intentions, whether that’s finding a product or service, reading a review, grabbing a discount code or finding a cheaper price nearby. Creating the right mobile experience means building a seamless experience for the user when scrolling from awareness to consideration to conversion.

Conclusion

Selling digital media is an ever-changing experience that keeps you on your toes. I encourage you to be curious, read as much as you can and ask as many questions as you need, because at the end of the day what you know is worthy money. It’s your knowledge and understanding that provides value to your prospects and customers.

Talk to experts in the industry if you don’t fully understand how something works or want to understand the back end process of things. You may not need to know every little detail, but having a general understanding of all the elements involved in buying and selling digital media will help you become a more effective and successful media salesperson.

Understanding Ad Ops for Sellers

 

About Steve Bookbinder

Steve Bookbinder is the CEO and sales expert at DMTraining. He has delivered more than 5,000 workshops and speeches to clients all over the world and has trained, coached, and managed more than 50,000 salespeople and managers. Steve continuously refreshes his training content to reflect his latest first-hand observations of salespeople across industries and regions. Through him, participants in his workshops and coaching sessions learn the best practices of today’s most successful sellers and managers across industries. Steve understands that sales is a competitive game. To outperform competitors and our own personal best results, we need to out-prospect, out-qualify, out-present and out-negotiate everyone else, not merely know how to sell. Through his specialty programs in Pipeline Management, Personal Marketing, Great First Meetings, 2nd-level Questioning, Sales Negotiating, and Sales Coaching, Steve trains sales teams to master the skills they need to overcome the challenges they face in today’s world… and keep improving results year over year.

  • Connect with Steve Bookbinder