Video marketing is evolving more rapidly than ever and it can sometimes be hard to keep track of all the new features introduced by the top video networks, the new advertising options made available and the new stats flying around on the net. This is the first part of the Shakr TWIVM – This Week In Video. We’ll give you a full rundown of all the most important developments and news so stay tuned. Never want to miss a thing? Sign up to our email list. We’ll send you a weekly email with links to TWIVM, our best blog posts, and new and free video ad templates on the Shakr platform.
Pinterest takes first step towards video? Pinterest move towards one step towards video with the new
Pinterest move towards one step towards video with the new Promoted Cinematic Pins. Mashable reports that in search of more revenue stream and increased advertising features, Pinterest doubles down on promoted ads to get revenue. To help change that, the social network expanded its ad products on Tuesday by rolling out video ads called Cinematic Pins. Cinematic Pins work similarly to Pinterest’s current ad products, Promoted Pins, in that they’re formatted to blend in with other items in your home feed — except for the fact they’re motion-based. Gap, L’Oreal, Target, Unilever, Visa, Walgreens and Wendy’s are among the first crop of paid advertisers. Pinterest is taking a slightly different approach to video ads compared to companies like Facebook. Whereas Facebook’s video ads usually start automatically (without sound) when they appear on a device’s screen and stop when you’ve scrolled past, a video in a Cinematic Pin moves in relation to how quickly a user scrolls through. “Our view is that auto-play is interruptive,” Pinterest general manager of monetization Tim Kendall told Mashable. “Our new mobile ad format gives brands the ability to tell their story with motion. But critically important, it keeps users in control of the motion.”
It will be interesting to see how Pinterest develop this feature and it is very early in the game to say whether Pinterest will introduce real video ads, but this is at least a step on the way. The feature is only available to select partners at the moment so you’ll have to wait a while before trying it out. Pinterest is a very interesting platform for video so we watch this space for updates.
YouTube Adds Click-to-Shop Button to TrueView Ads
AdAge reports that you can now click to shop on YouTube. The video giant is tweaking its commercials to be more like interactive infomercials. A month after YouTube added interactive cards to its skippable TrueView ads, retail advertisers can now use those card overlays to include product information, images and links to purchase a product on a brand’s site. They can also use these ads to remarket to people who may have checked out a product on a brand’s site without checking out. The buttons will lead the viewer to the advertisers site to buy the item and early trial brands have had big success so far. This seems like a natural step for YouTube who is beginning to feel the pressure from the increased competition from Facebook.
This gives marketers a stronger incentive to put their product videos on YouTube and might be a powerful tool to increase ROI.
Spotify goes video
Spotify recently announced that it would go into the Podcast and video sphere. Adding video and other types of content could encourage people to spend more time using Spotify and, in the process, generate more advertising revenue. That could help the company keep a tier that’s free for you. But it also means that Spotify’s format — a monthly subscription that gives members unlimited access to songs — will become more complicated for mainstream consumers to understand.
If Spotify introduces video ads it can be an interesting experiment for marketers but it’s still very early in the game to know where this might end up.
Graphic: The growth of video advertising
Emarketer reports big video ad spendings, just like we’ve talked about before on the Shakr blog. Check it out here:
Conclusion
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