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Mobile Video Campaigns Grow 22% Quarter over Quarter

Digital video is making serious inroads on mobile devices, according to new data shared by mobile video ad network Rhythm New Media. The mobile company has seen big jumps in the number of advertisers using mobile video, and also on the reach of mobile video.

The number of marketers using in-stream video in their mobile campaigns has grown 22% quarter over quarter, and now 93% of advertisers are using in-stream mobile video, up from 76% in the fourth quarter of 2011 across Rhythm’s network. That’s tremendous quarter over quarter growth and underscores the rapid pace at which mobile video is becoming a norm in consumption and advertising. Categories that are gravitating towards mobile video in large numbers are auto and consumer packaged goods — both have seen a 25% bump in the number of mobile video campaigns they have run year over year. Since so many consumers are using their mobile phones in retail stores to look up product information, many CPG marketers are also including interactivity options with their videos, such as the ability to tap to a product site, or to a sweepstakes, said Ujjal Kohli, CEO of Rhythm.

Engagement rates are high too with mobile video and average about 89% for both 15- and 30-second ads. Compare that to the stated video completion rates of many YouTube partners, which often hover in the 15% to 30% range. Mobile offers high engagement because most users aren’t doing other activities as they are when watching videos on the computer. “Being active is the enemy of brand building. My theory is if someone is watching media on a handheld device, they aren’t doing anything else,” Kohli said.

Last year about 375 brands ran video campaigns on the Rhythm network including Intel, HP, Microsoft, Charles Schwab, Verizon, Kraft and Procter and Gamble. That’s up from 29 brands in 2009 and 150 in 2010.

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