Why Vertical Video May Be the Next Frontier | MMA Global

Why Vertical Video May Be the Next Frontier

Wednesday, June 8, 2016 - 2:00pm to 3:00pm EDT

Watch the Webinar:

As Snapchat has increased in popularity, so has vertical video, and for obvious reasons. The burgeoning social app is vertically-oriented, as are other, highly personal services such as Facetime and Skype. As this Webinar featuring presenters from Rubicon, Inmobi and Virool points out that’s leading to increased interest in vertical video.

The interest is occurring against the backdrop of exploding interest in video, and in mobile video advertising. According to figures presented by Rubicon:

  • 25 percent of time watching video is now spent on digital, including desktop and mobile.
  • 90 percent of millennials watch some TV online weekly, as do 58% of older adults.
  • 23 percent of people watch TV show clips on their phones.

Meanwhile, there are huge expectations for online and mobile video ad spending over the next four years, with the vast majority of buyers saying they will spend more in online video during the course of this year:

  • Online video is expected to grow from $9.8 billion to $13.4 billion by 2019.
  • Mobile video is expected to grow from $8.7 billion to $25.7 billion by 2019.
  • Programmatic video will hit $5.37 billion in 2016.
  • The programmatic video figure is more than half of the total predicted video ad spend of $9.59 billion.

It’s easy to see why video is expected to explore. According to Nielsen, people have a much higher emotional response to video advertising when it’s delivered on that most personal of devices: the smartphone.

While those figures point to the strength of digital and mobile video in general, what makes vertical video so special?

As a full-screen experience, that goes from edge-to-edge of a user’s screen, there’s evidence to support that it’s even more immersive than mobile video in general; vertical video has extremely high in-app completion rates of 94 percent, by one measure. Simple re-purposed video from other formats, however, doesn’t do that. While a video shot in portrait mode takes up the entire screen and creates an immersive experience, a video shot for horizontal, when viewed vertically, takes up only one quarter of the screen. Therefore, as mobile begins to move from second screen to first screen status among many users – particularly millennials, it’s important that marketers begin to shoot specifically for the format.

The importance of vertical video is beginning to take hold in the online publisher community, with some sites, such as the Daily Mail, looking to make 100% of their video vertical. It has found that engagement is higher, users are more satisfied and there’s a higher completion rate.

Inmobi has found that another key to high user engagement and interaction is using end cards at the end of a video that encourages them to download an app, watch a video or complete another action. Its research shows that one-third of users are more likely to interact with the brand after seeing an end card and that user engagement with video is two times greater with end cards.

What was found is that vertical video has 9X the completion rate as opposed to horizontal video inside a mobile environment….we’ve been

Those in the industry also emphasize the importance of using end cards that carry a specific call-to-action to make the video experience more valuable. According to Inmobi, one-third of users are more likely to interact with the brand after seeing an end card message that encourages them to download an app, watch a video or complete another action. The company also says that user engagement with video is two times greater with end cards.

Publishers such as the Daily Mail are looking to make 100% of their video vertical, because engagement is higher, users are more satisfied and there’s a higher completion rate.

Vertical video formats are developing as it grows a foothold. While InMobi demos an in-app interstitial in the Webinar, Virool showed a format that runs within the editorial experience, beginning to play when 50 percent of the unit is in view on the user’s screen.

Check out the Webinar to see vertical video in action, and to discover more about pricing and producing for this hot mobile video category.

Speakers: 
SVP, Head of Video
Rubicon Project
Vice President, Head of Global Sales
Virool
Head of Programmatic Partnerships
InMobi
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