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Video Ads Optimized For Device Deliver Best KPIs

With Black Friday and Cyber Monday just days away, online video advertising should be kicking into full gear for the online holiday shopping season. Marketers would be wise to customize ads for the device, because those type of ads drive the best results.

That’s the finding of a just-completed study from video advertising firm Innovid that analyzed video ad engagement across screens using Crackle’s network of online TV and movie viewers. The study encompassed pre-roll and interactive video ads from brands in categories including auto, retail, CPG, entertainment, and travel that ran across desktops, mobile devices, tablets and connected TVs for a one-year period ending September, 2014.

The results showed that consumers experience ads differently on various devices. For starters, they are most likely to engage with an ad while on the small screen. Mobile phone viewers were four times as likely to interact with a video ad than those on a desktop, and twice as likely than those on a tablet. That may be because consumers are now accustomed to engaging with mobile video content, so when ads appear that enable interaction, consumers are more likely to participate. Case in point: Innovid found that 27% of smartphone viewers clicked through on an interactive ad from their mobile phone, compared to only 1% of desktop viewers who clicked through. That’s a useful finding for brands as they design cross-screen campaigns.

On the flip side, about 96% of connected TV viewers watched ads all the way through, but only 76% of mobile users did so, Again, that speaks to the device experience. Connected TVs are passive and drive more complete views, whereas mobile users can and do click away more easily. Similarly, smartphone users spent more time interacting with ads than connected TV users.

Overall, brands will see the best results when an ad is optimized for the screen. Optimized ads can deliver a six times increase in engagement, seven times boost in click-throughs, and a 25% rise in completion rates, the study reported.

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