• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer, October 11, 2012

According to a recent Jun Group study, the vast majority of today’s online video advertising takes the form of 15-second pre-roll spots jammed in front of the video content that consumers are really after. At its core, opines the report, this is an interruptive practice that forces viewers to sit through something that’s likely unwelcome and irrelevant. Increasingly, consumers resent it.

Based on a sample of 7.7 million user-initiated video ad views pulled from incentivized video campaigns created for Fortune 500 brands across a number of industries, the study reveals brands growing more sophisticated in their use of video ads, moving from vague metrics like “viral pass-along” to a focus on tangible results like website visits.

The most recent set of data, says the report, shows some important shifts, both in how advertisers are thinking about online video and how consumers are responding.

While Facebook still plays a dominate role in the post-view engagement process, it’s influence is showing signs of decline, as consumers forgo the social networking site in favor of visiting a brand’s website. Consumers are becoming more interested in activities such as store locator usage, learning about the brand, and downloading recipes and coupons. While visits to a brand’s Facebook page are still the most popular form of engagement, the study shows thie to have dropped by 9% over the last year, while visits to the advertiser’s website rose by more than 20%, observes the report.

Finding the right consumers is critical. Targeting, using a pre-screening question to identify an individual’s interests or affi­nities, makes them 13% more likely to engage in a post-view activity. Getting a video ad in front of just the right audience can be an effective way to encourage engagement, says the report. Within this study, a pre-screening question such as “Do you own a cat?” “Do you enjoy cooking?” or “Are you in the market for a new car?” made a viewer 13% more likely to interact with the brand.

Conventional wisdom in the online advertising industry dictates that because today’s consumer has a short attention span, she’s unlikely to put up with longer-form ads, says the report. However, the report finds that when it comes to opt-in ads, length has less impact on a completion rates than anticipated. The completion rate for ads over two minutes dips to just 87%, as compared to 98% for 30-second ads. In addition, across all of the campaigns studied, 70% of all views came from videos over one minute in length.

Looking at the relationship between ad length and consumer engagement, last year videos over one minute long drove the most engagement at 4%. This year, videos 30-60 seconds in length drove the most interaction, countering the widely held assumption that 15-second videos deliver the highest performance.

When looking at the demographic factors at work behind video ad engagement, the study revealed that this is being driven in large part by consumers over the age of 55. Surprisingly, those ages 18-34 are the least likely to engage.

The Jun Group concludes by saying that “... by sharing this research, we hope to demystify online video, highlight new... (and) misunderstood opportunities... and better enable brands and their agencies to use online ad dollars effectively... “ 

For the complete free PDF file of the study, please visit here.