It is no longer a secret that the average consumer’s attention span is decreasing due to their ever-dwindling amount of free time. As a result of this, more and more people on the internet are turning to video on the web for information, news and entertainment from their home PCs, laptops and mobile devices.
Over the past few years, online video viewing has become a widespread cultural sensation and a new marketing model outlet for businesses. The site that has become popular with the advent of Internet video is YouTube. This online video phenomenon creates countless opportunities for the promotion and marketing of companies, especially those doing business online and beyond.
As personalized entertainment becomes more convenient than ever, people are experiencing bursts of entertainment anywhere and anytime. Video consumption has gone through the roof and to address this shift in consumer behavior, we need to develop a new marketing model when it comes to video strategy and advertising.
In a new era of consumer behavior, when people go online to look for answers, discover new phenomenon or make a decision, they are very often turning to a device for help. In advertising term, we call it micro moments and they are increasing happening in visual worlds like YouTube every day.
These constant moments of intent are reshaping the purchase journey; consumers want the right information right away. Brands’ opportunities to get connected with people through video have exploded into millions of these moments. However, to be successful at video micro-moments, you have to know how to identify them and strategize on how to maximize them.
Intent trumps identity in micro-moment world and video micro-moments generally fall within four categories: I want-to-watch-what-I’m-into moments, where people are actively seeking videos on their passions or interests; I want-to-know moments, when people are seeking to learn something; I want-to-do moments, when folks are looking for step-by-step guidance on how to make or do something; and I want-to-buy moments, when they are using video to confirm before they buy.
Brands should make sure they are useful and relevant in these four video micro-moments by analyzing their consumer’s behaviors on YouTube. They need to expand the focus from just who consumers are to what they really want online. In a micro-moments world, intent trumps identity any day.
Here are three major ways to make sure you are staying useful and relevant in moments that really matter to consumers—when your brand has a meaningful role to play based on what folks online really want:
Map the micro-moments where your audience’s goals and your brand’s goals meet.
People come to YouTube or any other video platform millions of times each day, searching for videos that meet their interests wants and needs. Think of your consumer’s journey as a collection of these video micro-moments: What are his basic needs and questions, and were does he look for them? Once you’ve decoded your consumer’s micro-moments, figure out your place on the map: Where does your brand have the influence to standout?
Always be where your audience is seeking with valuable content that answers their needs.
Once you are able to decode how your brand maps to consumers’ video micro-moments, you can then build a plan to be present when people are searching. The very first step in doing this is creating useful and valuable Video content that adds value in those crucial micro-moments. The second is making sure your brand shows up when they need you, with paid and organic search, for example, or alternatively with shopping ads on YouTube.
Help your customers find you, even when they are not actively searching, with relevant video advertisement.
Even when folks are not actively searching for answers, brands can thrill them by showing up with messages that is relevant to their interests. This could means going beyond narrow interest targeting and connecting with people based on signals of context and intent.
Choice-centric ad formats are an effective way to show that your brand understands and regards people’s intent; when someone decides to watch your ad, it’s a significant signal of their interest. Context is also important. First, there is the context of video. Video ads feel more in sync in a video context than non-video setting. But beyond sharing video ads during or before video content, you can share your ads when people are in the mood for that message. The purchase journey over time has been fragmented into hundreds of micro-moments. It is therefore very important that brands be present in these micro-moments with useful and relevant videos.