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Digital video marketing has become the new trend. While fully understanding the value of digital video marketing, we need to evaluate the effectiveness of digital video more accurately. How to determine whether a digital video has achieved the set business goals, and how to select the indicators of digital video marketing evaluation?
Text / Wang Yonggui, Guo Xiaoxiao
In the digital era, the development of mobile communication technology has greatly improved the efficiency of digital video information dissemination. Correspondingly, marketing activities based on digital video technology are increasingly favored by marketers and consumers, and the application of digital video as a new media form in digital marketing practice is becoming increasingly prominent.
Biteable's digital video marketing data shows that in 2021, more than 1.9 billion YouTubers watched 1 billion hours of marketing digital video every day, 72% of consumers tend to browse digital video when learning about products and services, and 86% of corporate marketing campaigns typically use digital video as a medium. At the same time, data from the CNNIC Internet Survey Report (49th) shows that as of December 2021, the scale of digital video users in mainland China has reached 975 million, and digital video advertising expenditure is expected to increase by 26% in 2022 to reach 49.2 billion US dollars. In addition, market research institute IDC has predicted that the market size of digital video cloud infrastructure and solutions will reach $31.4 billion in 2025, and the compound growth rate of the digital video cloud market will continue to maintain more than 30% in the future. It can be seen that the vitality of digital video applications in marketing communication is increasing rapidly, and the era of digital video marketing has come.
The value of digital video marketing
According to the American Marketing Association (AMA), video marketing refers to "the integration of video elements into marketing activities to serve the marketing goals of building customer relationships and enhancing the image of brands, products, and services." In general, successful video marketing is often inextricably linked to attracting and sustaining consumers' attention to digital video." The rapid evolution of digital technology has dramatically expanded the types of video elements and the value they can play in marketing campaigns. In the current digital era, the types of video are no longer just fixed advertising digital videos for TV and outdoor screen devices, but have developed a series of videos that can be received, played, shared, commented and uploaded anytime and anywhere through laptops or smart mobile terminals, including brand videos, product videos, customer recommendation videos, live videos, explanatory operation videos, corporate training videos, entertainment videos, etc. The value of these videos in marketing campaigns has also been further enhanced, resulting in a higher level of digital video marketing. In a nutshell, the value of digital video marketing is mainly reflected in four aspects: the high efficiency of information dissemination, the satisfaction of personalized needs, the excellent effect of brand communication and the satisfaction of sharing desires.
Value 1: High efficiency of information dissemination
With the rapid development of the Internet, computers, image technology, etc., the way human beings obtain information is also changing rapidly. In the fast-paced digital age, digital video is gradually replacing text, pictures and other media and becoming the preferred way for people to obtain information. Compared with text, pictures, GIFs and other communication media, digital video media is faster, carries more information, and is more acceptable to the audience. For the same information, using a digital video medium that integrates text, graphics, and animation, the recipient of the information will be more willing to accept it, and the interpretation of the content will be easier and accurate. Especially for some high-tech new things, the introduction of graphics or three-dimensional images will greatly improve the efficiency of disseminating information, and the degree of information distortion will be lower. In addition, for situations that need to be relayed, the accuracy rate of information dissemination can reach almost 100% through digital video recording.
Digital video presents product attributes more vividly (high-definition, dynamic, 360-degree), while the use of background music provides viewers with rich sensory information, which often influences information processing and amplifies the impact of relevant information on consumer decision-making.
In addition, the interactive features of digital video, such as zooming in/out and pause/replay/forward, allow customers to check different product attributes at the desired speed. Based on the advantages of digital video media in information dissemination, marketers should make reasonable and effective use of digital video to disseminate the products, brands and culture of enterprises.
First of all, the amount of information content. A 10~15 second digital video can contain a text introduction and graphic display of the product. The audience can have a three-dimensional understanding of the product, including the shape, function, sound effect, usage method, operation process and brand image of the product.
Secondly, the form in which the information is presented. The glyph, size, and placement of text, the tone, quality, and loudness of sound, the color, blank, and proportion of graphics, the switching speed of animation, and the matching degree of text, sound, and graphics will all affect the efficiency of digital video information dissemination. A good form of presentation can achieve the effect of visual, auditory and multi-sensory dynamic connection cognition.
Finally, the consumer's digital video viewing experience. In addition to the richness and logic of the content, the fit and artistry of the information presentation are also closely related to the format of the digital video export and the resolution of the playback. In this regard, the mainland has established secure and advanced network communication facilities, such as the ""Dual Gigabit" Network Coordinated Development Action Plan issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, which pointed out that the mainland will achieve more than 80% urban gigabit optical network coverage by 2023, providing consumers with a complete infrastructure to enjoy a more high-definition real-time interactive experience.
Value 2: Satisfaction of personalized needs
Anderson's "Long Tail Theory" distinguishes between two types of economy: economies of scale and economies of scope. In terms of product diversification, economies of scale refer to product systems with fewer varieties and lower costs, while economies of scope refer to lower costs with more varieties. The short head (mass) is the economy of scale, while the long tail (personality) is the economy of scope. The core argument of the long-tail theory is that the diversification of varieties will bring more choices to users and better meet the personalized needs of users, which is a value-added way that can effectively avoid price wars. In addition, in most cases, the sum of individual needs is greater than the needs of the masses.
The modern media communication platform has a low threshold, diversified communication channels, and at the same time, the digital video content is streamlined and lively, which makes the information content of digital video present a viral diffusion and dissemination, with strong information dissemination, wide range and strong interactivity. Traditional marketing is limited by economic scale, technology, etc., and is dominated by mass communication. In the digital era, digital video communication can solve the needs of personalized communication, and the development of big data algorithms has greatly realized the accurate push of digital video information. In this context, digital video platform companies need to face up to the diversity of digital video marketing. For general enterprises, in the face of the different needs of consumers, precision marketing through digital video is an effective way to cultivate consumers and obtain loyal customers.
Value 3: Excellent effect of brand communication
One of the misunderstandings of digital video marketing is that enterprise marketers believe that embedding a company's products or services into digital video is digital video marketing, and hold the traditional advertising placement thinking. Effective digital video marketing considers integrating a company's products or services and brand concept into a specific scenario, so that consumers naturally accept this value. Therefore, one of the key values of digital video marketing is to achieve brand communication that integrates into the scene. Marketers must innovate scenarios that conform to popular culture, refine the core culture of the brand, and appropriately integrate them into a digital video to meet the aesthetic needs of users, gain emotional recognition from users, and establish a strong connection between users and brands.
For example, for the consumption scenario of the Spring Festival, the digital video marketing campaign carried out by vivo mobile phones on the eve of Chinese New Year's Eve in 2022 perfectly integrated the brand into the scene of the Spring Festival reunion, and this digital video received high likes, popular retweets and multi-user comments in a short period of time.
First of all, the digital video was released on Douyin the day before Chinese New Year's Eve, and the Spring Festival atmosphere created by the digital video coincided with the reality of going home for the New Year.
Secondly, the digital video shows festive elements such as red lanterns, pot throwing games, reunion parties, etc., supplemented by warm colors, and at the same time, Mao Buyi's "Seeing Words Like Faces" is used as the background music to create a warm atmosphere as much as possible, which is highly consistent with the real Spring Festival scene.
Thirdly, digital video takes the hot topic in modern social life - the difficult reunion of children and parents during the Spring Festival as the starting point, and shapes vivo mobile phones into a link between wanderers and relatives who cannot reunite with their relatives during the Spring Festival, and integrates it into the brand culture.
Finally, present the product clearly, including the product description and brand image. In less than 5 minutes of digital video, a virtual Spring Festival scene was constructed, which integrated the vivo brand culture, connected the user's reunion emotion, accurately selected the release time, and vividly disseminated the brand value through a clear, exquisite and dynamic digital video.
In addition, similar to the traditional TV commercials that repeatedly broadcast the digital video of the corporate brand, adding rich brand elements in the production of digital video and emphasizing brand exposure in the communication of digital video is still the key to brand promotion. For example, a short brand introduction at the beginning and end, a brand logo in the same corner, or adding a digital video watermark while working with the platform to rhythmically repeat the video to deepen the impression of the brand.
Value 4: Share the satisfaction of desires
The development of digital video has greatly satisfied consumers' desire to share, and consumers' desire to share includes interaction and self-expression. Among them, interaction is the way for consumers to regard digital video as a way to transmit information, emotions, knowledge and opinions with friends, and expression is to express consumers' feelings and thoughts with the help of digital video. Consumers' desire to share is a double-edged sword for enterprises. When enterprises can positively exert consumers' desire to share, they can not only realize the rapid dissemination of product information, but also establish a brand image, thereby forming intangible assets of enterprises and increasing the income of enterprises. However, when there is negative news about the company, the virality of this characteristic of consumers will bring immeasurable damage to the company. In addition, consumers respond differently to digital videos with different content, with some digital videos being more likely to share, while others are more likely to purchase. As a result, businesses need to have a clear view of consumers' motivations for sharing digital video.
Unruly's analysis of about 430 billion digital video views and 100,000 consumer data reveals that users' motivations for sharing digital video can be boiled down to two categories: social motivation and emotional motivation.
There are 10 main aspects of social motivation (as shown in Figure 1): first, Opinion Seeking, where I want to see what my friends think about what digital video involves, second, Shared Passion, which allows me and my friends to connect through shared interests, and third, Social in Real Life), which helps me socialize with my friends offline, and fourth, Social Utility), the content of this digital video may be useful to my friends, fifth, Kudos-Coolhunter, the latest news in the digital video, I want to be the first to tell my friends, sixth, the honor-Kudos-Authority, which showcases my knowledge, seventh, Zeitgeist, which deals with current hot events or trends, and eighth, Conversation Starting), which is an opening line to open an online conversation with a friend, Ninth, Self-Expression, which transmits the idea I want to express, and Ninth, Social Good, which is a digital video that helps others, I want to help others.
From an emotional perspective, consumers' motivation to share digital video is triggered by both positive and negative emotions (Figure 2). Unruly analyzed a digital video called "Puppyhood" and found that the top four positive emotions for digital video sharing were warmth (58%), happiness (56%), carnival (31%), and surprise (10%), while the top four negative emotions were confusion (8%), contempt (8%), disgust (4%), and anger (1%).
As a result, businesses can design digital video content that targets users' different motivations for sharing, while trying to evoke positive emotional responses to ensure that the content resonates.
Evaluation of the effectiveness of digital video marketing
Digital video is one of the fastest-growing online services in the digital age, and more and more businesses are choosing digital video as a marketing communication tool. In fact, in order to ensure the rational use of enterprise resources, whether it is the selection and implementation of enterprise business strategy, enterprise investment and employee performance evaluation, or the measurement of customer satisfaction, it is inseparable from the evaluation of the effect of digital video marketing. Here, this article proposes a variety of metrics, including playback and conversion, to measure the effectiveness of digital video marketing and help marketers optimize their digital video marketing practices.
Digital video playback metrics
Common digital video playback metrics mainly include playback rate, attention span, emotional response and follower growth rate.
Playback rate Playback rate is the percentage of the number of clicks on a digital video compared to the total number of digital videos visited. The number of plays is an absolute number, but the play rate reflects how engaging the digital video is released. Playback rate is a part-time indication of whether a digital video is attracting consumers' attention. However, to correctly evaluate the playback rate, it is also necessary to understand how the platform measures the number of views, for example, the Douyin digital video platform counts 15s as a view, and Bilibili counts according to the number of times consumers open the digital video.
Attention Span: In the digital age, gaining the attention of consumers is the primary goal of corporate marketing. Generally speaking, digital marketing videos are reached to consumers through devices such as computers, tablets, smartphones, or online TVs, and the viewing of digital videos is achieved through smart screens of different sizes. As a result, attention span, which is measured by computer vision technology or eye tracking systems, is a metric that can help marketers predict and understand online consumers from the perspective of digital video content. In addition, businesses can measure the quality and impact of digital video by the attention span (how long consumers spend on a digital video page).
Degree of emotional response One of the main reasons for the wide spread of digital video is emotional stimulation, so whether digital video can highly awaken consumers' emotions largely determines the exposure of digital video marketing. Technologies such as web-based facial expression tracking or webcams on computers can study real-time emotional responses to consumers' online viewing of digital videos without touching their privacy or in a lab context.
Follow rate The follower rate refers to how many consumers have followed the account entity of the digital video after the release of the digital video. The formula for calculating the fan growth rate is: fan growth rate = (number of fans added - number of fans dropped)/number of playbacks, which reflects consumers' recognition of digital video content and their expectations for the long-term value of the account entity.
Digital video conversion metrics
Quantifying digital video performance alone may not be sufficient. On the one hand, digital video views don't reflect who the audience is. In fact, who is watching the show is just as important as the number of people watching it. If the audience is made up of people who don't fit the image of the target customer, then the value of those views is quite limited. On the other hand, views metrics don't tell you if digital video is actually resonating with consumers. If the majority of the audience is watching digital video, it's a compelling sign that the business has chosen a good theme and created content that others find valuable. But can these valuable content improve the effectiveness of customer relationship management and promote the conversion of products, brands or services? Therefore, we also need some conversion indicators to measure the effectiveness of digital video.
Who's watching Ideally, with a professional player, viewers can locate which digital videos different consumers have watched on websites and landing pages by voluntarily providing their IP addresses, mobile phone numbers in the system, or matching with WeChat accounts. Have users seen the company's product overview, and if so, a digital video of the purchase link will be pushed to them with a price. In addition, who is liking, favoring, and sharing the product's digital video? This data can provide sales teams with rich insights into prospects' digital video browsing preferences to analyze customer needs and uncover marketing opportunities.
Conversions The extent to which digital video influences consumer action is also a matter of conversion rates. For example, click on the hyperlink below the digital video to register, test, or make a purchase. In addition, businesses can also conduct sales effectiveness tests in the digital video marketing process. For example, on a product page, whether labeling a product description leads to more sales than if it doesn't, or whether a different type of digital video converts, such as an explainer video showing how to use the product, will lead to more sales than a purely branded digital video.
Comments and social sharing Social sharing refers to how many times a digital video is shared by users on social media, which reflects whether the content produced by the digital video is in line with consumer preferences. In addition, users can comment on the digital video below, which is mainly an explanation, evaluation, appeal, expectation, and feeling of the digital video content. Often, comment sections are community-engaging, centered around the digital video itself, where unfamiliar netizens can have rich discussions around the digital video, and the content of these comments itself is constantly adding additional informational value to the digital video, which fosters a sense of ownership among those who choose to actively participate by commenting or sharing the content. As a result, a digital video that attracts a lot of attention tends to get a considerable number of comments and shares.
Spillover Effect Typically, digital video playback platforms prompt users to look for other digital videos related to the topic of the digital video, rather than just browsing a page and then leaving. Some platform companies often use algorithms based on the theme of digital video to further push similar digital videos to consumers.
The selection and evaluation of digital video marketing indicators profoundly affect the digital video marketing practices of enterprises. Establishing the right metrics allows companies to use digital video more strategically, and they indicate whether a digital video is achieving a set business goal. At the same time, companies should not only focus on digital video playback metrics, but also digital video conversion metrics, which will help marketers focus on creating appropriate content to meet consumers' message demands, which in turn will ultimately serve the growth of business performance.
About the Author | Wang Yonggui: Professor and Doctoral Supervisor of School of Business Administration, Capital University of Economics and Business;
Guo Xiaoxiao: Ph.D. candidate, School of Business Administration, Capital University of Economics and Business.
Editor-in-Charge | Gao Jingyang ([email protected])
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